Actor Simon Pegg told the BBC’s “Desert Island Discs” radio show Friday that he hid his alcoholism while working on the set of “Mission: Impossible III.”
“You become very sneaky when you have something like that in your life,” Pegg told the show’s host, Lauren Laverne. Pegg portrayed the role of IMF technician Benji Dunn in the iconic movie franchise, and reprised the role in a slew of subsequent films, according to his IMDB.
He says he developed the alcohol addiction while suffering through a number of mental health issues that started when he was a teenager. Pegg kept his struggles private throughout the course of shooting the film prior to its 2006 release. He attributes his recovery to the birth of his daughter in 2009, which forced him to seek help for the addiction.
Movie Star Simon Pegg Goes Viral With Sweary-Rant Aimed At British Politicians https://t.co/tNUH0cMkCc
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“You learn how to do it without anyone noticing because it takes over. It wants to sustain itself and it will do everything it can to not be stopped,” said Pegg. “But eventually it just gets to a point when it can’t be hidden, and that’s when, thankfully, I was able to pull out of the dive.” (RELATED: REPORT: ‘The Last Of Us’ On Hold Until After Writers Strike. Here’s What We Know)
Pegg will rejoin the “Mission: Impossible” franchise in the coming months for his fifth time in the role of Dunn. “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” is due for a summer release in the U.S., according to the trailer.