John Mulaney Talks Sobriety: ‘I Am Very Lucky. I Have A Very Good Life’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Comedian John Mulaney is opening up about his sobriety journey, including the parallel SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE creator Lorne Michaels drew between his addiction and John Belushi’s as a warning.
While appearing on David Letterman’s MY NEXT GUEST NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION, Mulaney recalled a phone call he had with Michaels while in rehab.
“He goes, ‘I knew John Belushi for seven years. I’ve been talking about him for 48 years, because that’s the shrapnel that happens when someone goes down like that,’” the comedian and former SNL writer shared. “And he goes, ‘You know, John didn’t want to die. You know, he didn’t plan to. Just because it’s a story, just because it’s sort of set in stone like history, people don’t want to die from this.’”
Mulaney also revealed that he attempted to leave the rehab facility he was in after just four days, but one doctor’s words convinced him to stay.
“He didn’t argue or anything. He just went, ‘John. We both know how this movie ends.’ And that was it,” he said. “I just kind of nodded and went back to my room and stayed.”
Mulaney has been open about his struggles with substance abuse, making it a large part of his comedy routine over the years. He entered rehab in December of 2020 and is now sober.
While speaking about an intervention that his friends staged, Mulaney said, “I didn’t want an intervention… At that moment in time, I wanted to continue using drugs,” he noted. “Sitting here tonight, I’m so grateful to you [Seth Meyers] and to everyone there for saving my life.”
He has also talked about what getting sober has taught him about himself.
“I have, for some reason, set up various obstacles, in my own way, that have left me sometimes pretty rawed up, pretty disoriented and pretty unhappy, but I am at my core a happy person,” Mulaney said while appearing on THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT. “And it’s OK for me to protect that by living the life I want to live. I am very lucky. I have a very good life, and I don’t want to be the reason that that gets complicated.”
Mulaney is now focusing on his work as a comedian as well as being a father to his son, Malcolm, whom he shares with partner Olivia Munn.
Speaking about the birth of his son, Mulaney said he was “starstruck,” adding, “I went, ‘Oh, there you are.’ Like, you’re that thing I couldn’t find. I was looking in not good places, and then, oh, there you are.”
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