Vinnie Jones was an aggressive "lunatic" when he was younger and only learned to control his famous temper when he stopped drinking
The 59-year-old footballer-turned-actor was known for his fiery outbursts in his younger days, but he has been teetotal for more than a decade and he's now revealed he looked back on his past with the help of a psychologist and concluded he was deeply affected by his parents' divorce as a child
30 August 2024
He told The Sun newspaper: "It was my first kind of trauma in my life, because it wasn't common then. It was looked down on.
"I had a lot of aggression as a young man. And when I went to a psychologist, we pinpointed it back to the aggression, mental health and frustration.
"Put that in a glass and put beer with it, and then you've got a ... lunatic on your hands."
Vinnie eventually gave up alcohol following a heart-to-heart with Sex Pistols musician Steve Jones, adding: "We'd had a good drink one night and I phoned Steve. I said, 'I haven't got a problem'. He went, 'Yeah, you have'. He knew. Steve's 30, 40 years sober now. And he was the one I turned to."
Vinnie also credited his 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' director Guy Ritchie with helping him learn to control his temper, adding: "He said, 'We've all got a dog. Yours is a big [one]. You've got to control it. You've got to keep it in the kennel'.
"That helped me, what Guy said."
Since giving up drinking, Vinnie now leads a quiet life on a farm in West Sussex, England and he has no plans for a big blow out party to celebrate his 60th birthday next year.
The movie star concluded: "The old Vinnie would have had a big bash. I'm done with it all really."
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