Gerard Butler is on the cover of Men’s Journal, in part to promote his new surfer movie ‘Chasing Mavericks’, which is based on a true story. In the interview, he talks about why he went to rehab, and how he almost drowned underwater and changed his life.
Talking about going to rehab at the Betty Ford center for three weeks in February, he says, “Maybe a stronger person wouldn’t have needed to go. When you hear the word rehab, you think, ‘He’s a mess, he’s f–ked up.’ But I’m glad I did it. I’ve made a s–tload of wrong decisions in my life. But I know I’ve made some right ones as well.”
He adds that he didn’t go for alcohol, and that he hasn’t had a drink in over 15 years. Instead he says that he went for a pain management program for dealing with his surfing accident - “I was actually taking a minimal amount [of pills] when I went in. 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–king MRIs or your f–king X-rays…Let’s learn how to say to the pain, ‘F–k you.’”
He also adds that the incident where a wave pushed him underwater for almost a minute changed his life, saying that he had ‘visceral’ flashbacks and his mind ended up in a bad place as a result.
