Richard E. Grant says he owes his life to his therapist after suffering a mental collapse linked to his traumatic childhood.
The actor grew up in a household in Swaziland which was torn apart when his mother eloped with his father’s best friend.
Grant was left behind to be a raised by a father who swiftly began a descent into alcoholism.
The actor’s own mental crisis came at 42, the same age his father was when his mother eloped, and he sought help which he claims saved his life.
Speaking to Mr Porter magazine, Grant said: “My psychoanalyst looked like Karl Marx. I went for 18 months. I owe him my life. It led to a rapprochement with my mother.”
Grant’s father drank heavily after his wife left, and the British colonial empire declined.
The actor, about to embark on a season of awards ceremonies, remembers the violence and alcoholism of his childhood home.
He said of his father: “His whole raison d’etre, everything he had worked for, literally imploded at the same time.”
“By day, I adored him. But when he hit the scotch…
“I found out on his deathbed that he had never stopped being in love with my mother.”
Grant has starred alongside Melissa McCarthy as an alcoholic in Can You Ever Forgive Me? which has earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
The full interview can be read in Mr Porter.