Gerard Butler Finally Talks About Rehab Stint, Denies ‘Alcoholic’ Rumors

Gerard Butler was in rehab earlier this year, and he’s finally opening up.

The 42-year-old actor appears on November’s cover of Men’s Journal, and inside, he talks for the firts time about why he entered rehab at the Betty Ford Clinic back in February. “I think, on a basic level, I have a pretty addictive personality,” Butler told the magazine. “Both good and bad.”

Butler admitted to taking prescription painkillers after being injured on the set of Shattered in 2007. His discomfort over the next couple years came to a head when he filmed Coriolanus in 2010:

“It was like somebody sticking a spear in there,” Butler said of the injury. “It would get bad, and I’d take something. But I would always stop.” Making matters worse, Butler injured himself yet again in December 2011 while shooting the upcoming Chasing Mavericks. “I started taking more,” Butler says of the painkillers. “And I started taking them very quickly.”

Butler says he checked himself into rehab to avoid becoming addicted. “I was actually taking a minimal amount when I went in,” he explains. “It was more about becoming a mental warrior and not letting pain bother you. The [instructor] would say, ‘I don’t want to hear about your f—ing MRIs or your f—ing X-rays. Let’s go do kung fu, let’s meditate, and let’s learn how to say to the pain, ‘F— you.’ ”

On his experience in rehab, Butler recalled: “They really do rip you apart. But it’s like spring cleaning, you know? You get rid of a bunch of s—, realize a bunch more s—, and you make a plan.”

Butler also denied rumors that he had been using more illicit drugs, and that he is an alcoholic. “That really pissed me off,” Butler says. “I haven’t had a drink in 15 years.”

“Maybe a stronger person wouldn’t have needed to go,” Butler said of his rehab stint. “When you hear the word rehab, you think, ‘He’s a mess, he’s f—ed up.’ But I’m glad I did it. I’ve made a s—load of wrong decisions in my life. But I know I’ve made some right ones as well.”

Are you a fan of Gerard Butler? His next film, Chasing Mavericks, opens October 26.