Jason Ritterbecame emotional talking about his relationship with alcohol when he first started dating his now-wifeMelanie Lynskey.
The Emmy nominee opened up about hisexperience with alcoholism early on in his relationshipwith theYellowjacketsactress during Wednesday’s episode ofThe Drew Barrymore Show.
Ritter, 43, continued, “It’s not as cute of a story as you would like to think. It was messy and interesting and weird. But mixed in the mix, [I was] dealing with some alcoholism issues.”
Melanie Lynskey and Jason Ritter.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
“At a point, I knew how amazing she was, and I thought she would be incredible for someone who deserved her, basically,” he said, choking up. (Lynskey, 45, quietly uttered “aw” and reached for his hand.)
“And I didn’t feel like I was that person. I thought [I was] a little bit too crazy,” he shared. “So it was only after like maybe a year into not drinking where I started to go, ‘Oh, maybe I can promise some things to someone else. Maybe I can be this person.’ It’s been like a slow burn.”
Araya Doheny/Getty
Ritter continued, “I knew she was incredible. It was working on myself enough to feel like maybe I can be the one for her, too.”
Wiping her tears away, Lynskey said of her husband, “He did so much work on himself. I’m so proud of him.”
Responding to the shock on Barrymore’s face, the couple jokingly apologized as Lynskey quipped, “It’s gonna get more fun.”
However, Barrymore said, “This is the fun. This really is.”
She added, “I haven’t had a drink — and I’m not sober, I don’t work a program — but alcohol was my poison. And I haven’t had a drink in almost four years.” (Earlier this month, Barrymore opened up aboutturning to alcoholafter her2016 divorce from Will Kopelmanin an interview withThe Los Angeles Times.)
On her show, Barrymore told Lynskey and Ritter, “The narrative that one creates is that I can’t be with someone, and I haven’t been in a relationship since I stopped drinking, and I’m really looking forward to, one day, not having that ‘bad girl’ narrative, the instability, the: ‘I’m not someone who’s right to not be with someone for their sake.’ "
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Ritter and Lynskey first met while costarring in the dramedyThe Big Askin 2013. They started dating shortly after and went on to star in two more movies together — the 2014 rom-comWe’ll Never Have Parisand 2016’sThe Intervention.
The couplewelcomed a daughterin 2018 and tied the knot in 2020 ina private ceremonyon their front porch. The actors are very supportive of each other’s respective careers, and they often praise one another on social media.
Last week, Ritter told E! News that watching Lynskey’s successes is"so satisfying, it’s so incredible,” adding: “She’s just been so wonderful for so long and she never really put a lot of thought process into anything else aside from her work. That was always the most important thing to her.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
source: people.com
