Jason Isaacs tells fans NOT to congratulate him on reaching 22 years sober

Jason Isaacs has marked 22 years sober following his drink and drugs addiction.

The Harry Potter actor, 57, told fans not to celebrate his efforts and ‘congratulate’ him for making the milestone, because ‘he is and was useless by himself’, as he appeared to offer a sweet nod to his wife of 19 years, Emma Hewitt.

The star shared a picture of himself and his other half in 1998, just three weeks before he cut alcohol and narcotics out of his life permanently and he insisted although they may ‘look happy’ they weren’t due to his addiction.

On the anniversary of his decision to get clean, October 5, Jason took to Instagram to honour his wife, who he shares daughters Lily, 18, and Ruby, 15, with.

Jason wrote: ‘My beautiful wife Emma and I in Sep 1998 looking pretty happy. We weren’t. 3 weeks later, on October 5th, 22 years ago today, I managed 24 hours without taking any drugs or drinking alcohol.

‘I’d tried for decades, but was too smart, too capable and too successful to pull it off. Only when I admitted that I needed help did my life change. 

‘Thank you to every addict and alcoholic who’s ever lifted me up. I love you all – especially the mad ones. Which is most of you. There’s a few 24 hours under my belt now, but it’s only ever one day at a time. #AA #CynicsWelcome.’

He also discussed the occasion on his Twitter page, where he shared a similar message, but asked his followers not to tell him they were ‘proud’ of his efforts. 

Jason penned: [’22 years ago today I stopped taking drugs and drinking. I’d tried for decades, but was too smart, too capable and too successful to manage.

Thanking those who have helped him, he said: ‘Only when I admitted that I needed help did my life change. Thank you to every addict and alcoholic who’s ever lifted me up.

‘Please don’t anyone congratulate me or tell me they’re proud of me. I am and was useless by myself. Pride’s the worst part. If you feel the desperate need to click, retweet it to let other people know there’s a solution out there.’

Many of Jason’s followers respected and understood his wishes not to be congratulated, but sent him touching messages instead. 

One of his followers wrote: ‘As the son of an alcoholic, I understand your words thoroughly. Instead of congratulating you, I will send you good wishes for continued sobriety one day at a time.

While another said: ‘Okay I won’t, but I’m glad you did it. That you found that part of yourself that could let you heal. It’s hard to see what’s broken & battle internal demons daily. I don’t remember exactly when I quit, I just remember the knowing. About ten years ago I started a new journey. 

A third wrote: ‘Next month will be 22 years since I met the love of my life. Guess we both went through some stuff back then. Rollercoaster ride all the way. I will not congratulate you or tell you I’m proud. All I will say is… welcome to the other side.’

In August earlier this year, Jason, best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Potter franchise, revealed to The Big Issue that he’s dealt with ‘decades-long love affair with drugs’ that began with heavy partying as a teenager.

‘I’ve always had an addictive personality and by the age of 16 I’d already passed through drink and was getting started on a decades-long love affair with drugs,’ he said in a series called Letter to My Younger Self.

The English performer said his actions were ‘filtered through a burning need [he] had for being as far from a conscious, thinking, feeling person as possible,’ and that ‘no message would get through for nearly 20 years.’

Isaacs, who’s also been seen in the movies Black Hawk Down, The Patriot and Armageddon, opened about how he initially got drunk off of whiskey at the young age of 12, which led to immediate consequences.

‘The barman, who we thought at the time was a hero and I now realize belonged in prison, sneaked us a full bottle of Southern Comfort,’ he wrote. ‘We drank the entire thing in the toilet, then staggered out into the party, reeling around farcically.

‘I vomited, fell on and pulled down a giant curtain, snogged a girl, God bless her… ran out into the street, vomited again, tripped, smashed my head open on the pavement and gushed blood all over my clothes.’

The Golden Globe-nominated performer said that in the wake of the drunken incident – even with the ramifications – he was on a destructive path.

‘The next morning, I woke up with a splitting headache, stinking of puke with a huge scab and the memory of having utterly shamed myself,’ he said. ‘All I could think was… I cannot f***ing wait to do that again. Why? I’ve no idea. Genes? Nurture? Star sign?

‘I just know I chased the sheer ecstatic joy I felt that night for another 20 years with increasingly dire consequences.’

The actor, who’s been on TV shows such as Star Trek: Discovery, Awake, Star Wars Rebels and Brotherhood, said he had a turnaround moment when he realized how addicted he was, and how it had impacted the way he was viewing the world.

‘I remember there being a moment, not long before I got clean, when it suddenly occurred to me that if everybody I knew died, literally every single person, I probably wouldn’t mind that much,’ he said. 

The actor continued: ‘In fact, I might like it, because then it would be an excuse to sit in a room by myself and take drugs and everybody else would say, ‘Well you know, fair enough, you heard what happened didn’t you?”‘

After sobering up, he came to realise that it wasn’t ‘true and never was’ as he was always a loving and caring person.

‘The drugs weren’t a way of dealing with that sense of distance,’ he said, ‘the drugs were causing it.’