"I drank for about 25 years getting over the loss of my father, and I took the anger out on myself. I did a good job at beating myself up at sometimes. I don't drink anymore, but my alcoholic head occasionally says different. 'Nil By Mouth' was a love letter to my father because I needed to resolve some issues in order to be able to forgive him"
About this Quote
The line “my alcoholic head occasionally says different” is doing heavy work. It rejects the tidy redemption arc celebrities are expected to deliver (“I’m sober, therefore I’m healed”) and replaces it with a more honest, ongoing negotiation. He splits himself into two voices: the public man who doesn’t drink and the internal narrator who still auditions relapse as a reasonable plot twist. That’s the subtext of recovery as maintenance, not transformation.
Then he reframes Nil By Mouth - a film famous for its unflinching domestic brutality - as a “love letter.” That’s the startling intent: to honor a father without romanticizing him, to turn rage into craft and craft into a kind of repair. Oldman isn’t chasing absolution; he’s chasing clarity. “Resolve some issues” sounds clinical because forgiveness, in his telling, isn’t a feeling. It’s work. It’s making something precise enough that you can finally stop drinking at it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Father |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Oldman, Gary. (2026, February 20). I drank for about 25 years getting over the loss of my father, and I took the anger out on myself. I did a good job at beating myself up at sometimes. I don't drink anymore, but my alcoholic head occasionally says different. 'Nil By Mouth' was a love letter to my father because I needed to resolve some issues in order to be able to forgive him. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-drank-for-about-25-years-getting-over-the-loss-18768/
Chicago Style
Oldman, Gary. "I drank for about 25 years getting over the loss of my father, and I took the anger out on myself. I did a good job at beating myself up at sometimes. I don't drink anymore, but my alcoholic head occasionally says different. 'Nil By Mouth' was a love letter to my father because I needed to resolve some issues in order to be able to forgive him." FixQuotes. February 20, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-drank-for-about-25-years-getting-over-the-loss-18768/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I drank for about 25 years getting over the loss of my father, and I took the anger out on myself. I did a good job at beating myself up at sometimes. I don't drink anymore, but my alcoholic head occasionally says different. 'Nil By Mouth' was a love letter to my father because I needed to resolve some issues in order to be able to forgive him." FixQuotes, 20 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-drank-for-about-25-years-getting-over-the-loss-18768/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
