French actor drinks 14 alcohol bottles a day

Paris, Sep 16 (IANS/EFE) French actor Gerard Depardieu, known for a prolific film career dotted with excesses, said in an interview that he drinks whenever he is bored and can knock back up to 14 bottles of alcohol in a single day.

"It starts at home with champagne or red wine, before 10 a.m. Then more champagne. Then pastis, maybe half a bottle. Then food, accompanied by two bottles of wine. In the afternoon, champagne, beer, and more pastis at around 5 p.m., to finish off the bottle. Later on vodka and/or whisky," said the actor in an interview with So Film magazine published Monday.

France's most famous actor, who now lives outside the country due to tax-related issues with the authorities in Paris, has taken part in many drunken scenes in airports or in traffic accidents, admits that once he starts to drink, he cannot stop.

"When I'm bored, I drink, apart from compulsory moments of abstinence. After bypass surgery, and also because of cholesterol and that stuff, I have to be careful," the actor says.

He insists, however, that he is "never totally drunk" and that "all you need is a 10-minute nap and a slurp of rose wine and voila to feel as fresh as a daisy."

"Once I start drinking, I can't drink like a normal person. I can absorb 12, 13, 14 bottles per day," said the 65-year-old Depardieu.

The actor does not deny that his excesses pose a risk to health and revealed that he has undergone bypass surgery because of cholesterol.

"Anyway, I'm not going to die. Not now. I still have energy," boasts the actor and owner of various wineries and restaurants. He has already announced plans to produce "biological vodka" from mountain spring water and other environmentally friendly products.

--IANS/EFE

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