Alcoholism: Simon Pegg Recalls his addiction, says Tom Cruise is never to blame for anything
Simon Pegg reflected on his alcoholism, stating that he would have died “one hundred percent” if he hadn’t sought treatment.
In order to write his 2009 book, Nerd Do Well, the 52-year-old actor argues that revisiting his unhappy childhood triggered his addiction, saying that he used to rely on the “feeling of being numb” rather than the “chemical addiction.”
Pegg admitted in a recent interview with The New York Times that he was aware of his despair but “didn’t know how to escape it,” leading him to turn to booze, even at breakfast.
“Now that I think about it, it makes me sick,” the actor remarked.
He explained that admitting his problems was “extremely painful,” especially to those who cared about him, such as his wife Maureen and lifelong collaborator Nick Frost, so he “threw himself off a cliff at tremendous speed.”
Pegg recalls “sitting on a pavement eating pizza after losing his phone and thinking, ‘S**t,” while having little recollection of the 2010 Comic-Con in San Diego. ‘I must have a pitiful appearance.’
The actor stated he would be “100%” dead if he hadn’t sought therapy at The Priory Hospital because “that is [death] the final conclusion of that line of flight [addiction],” adding that it’s not “too dramatic to say.”

Pegg noted in his book that shortly after seeking therapy, he “opened a ziplock file in his mind” regarding his split parents and the “tough” connections he had with their new partners.
“It was quite tough for me to get along with both [my stepfather and stepmother].” They were inexperienced and immature. They were dealing with their own problems. During the conversation, he described himself as “the walking, talking relic of another romance.”
“It is incredibly upsetting for a child to be rejected by an adult. “Everything is under the supervision of adults,” he continued. “It’s like, what the f*** happens when an adult in a position of parental control doesn’t like you?”
Pegg went on to say that his stepfather used to ask him “what crap” he was watching on TV and once “cornered” him with a two-by-four block of wood because he didn’t sweep the garage floor with enough force.

Since he was 18, the English actor has battled depression, but he’s had the support of buddy Tom Cruise, with whom he’s had “deep chats and heart-to-hearts” throughout the years.
Pegg has admitted to being intoxicated on set during filming his first “Mission Impossible” film alongside Cruise in 2006. He admitted to being “a wreck,” recalling a time when he drank the entire mini-bar in his hotel room before shooting scenes.