Colin Joliat
Back in his younger days, Michael Caine drank a bottle of vodka a day. If that sounds like the sort of thing I’d make up, that’s probably because it’s just that insane. The story comes right from the knight’s mouth though. Alfred had this to say in an recent interview with Radio Times:
“I was a bit of a piss artist when I was younger. I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day and I was smoking too, several packs a day.”
– Michael Caine, via The Hollywood Reporter
While reading that Michael Caine drank a bottle of vodka a day might sound like hyperbole, back in the day my friends and I did exactly that. We made up a holiday called 5th Day, during which we’d each drink a fifth of vodka on the 5th of the month. And unlike Caine, we weren’t dealing with the stress of performing in a movie or figuring out how to land the next job. Can you really blame the guy? We were just dumb, but he had real things to worry about.
Caine credits his 2nd wife Shakira (not that Shakira) with convincing him he should stop chugging ethanol. When someone who comes in third in Miss World says quit drinking, you say, “everything?” We all owe Shakira Caine a debt of gratitude because Michael Caine is a national treasure, which is exceptionally impressive considering he’s not from this nation.
Speaking of Caine’s early days, though, they also happen to be when he decided not to follow the same career path as Samuel L Jackson.
I don’t do any odd script because I’m broke and I’ve got to pay the rent, which is what I used to do, you know. When I started I used to do every bloody film that came along because I was 30 before I made it. I was absolutely broke with a completely broke family. So I did a lot of films that weren’t very good but they paid well. But that’s where I learned how to do it, as well you know.
TT: And now?
I do exactly what I want, when I want, where I want, with whom I want. Then it was the end of being a film star and becoming a film actor. I’m a film actor now. To be a film star you’ve got to be young and look like Brad Pitt and all that – when you get the girl. I don’t get the girl anymore, I get the part. [The Talk]
