At first glance, it may have appeared easy to judge Jonathan Rhys Meyers as he staggered drunk around an airport.
It may also seem simple to dismiss him with an irritated tut and shrug, ‘just another well-paid actor overdoing it’. Onlookers snapped photos, sent them to the media and reportedly described him as “disheveled” and “intoxicated” just after 10am.
Look again. Look harder. Think again.
Beyond those shaky footsteps being escorted by police officers is a heartbroken man.
He and wife Mara Lane welcomed their first child, a son named Wolf, last December.
After the photos of Rhys Meyers, 40, staggering in Dublin airport were splashed all over the media this weekend, Mara took to Instagram to do what she never should have had to. She explained his relapse to the judgemental haters and folk with eagerly wagging fingers who poured scorn at him.
No, he is not a “bad dad”. As she explained, they suffered a miscarriage with their second child.
She wrote, “With much sadness, we open our hearts to share that J and I lost our second child, who was baking in the oven. Child was very very much wanted (right now especially by J, so he took the news particularly not so well) and we are still working with coping skills over here… when life throws you curve balls such as these. Depression is a real concern from past abuse as well as alcoholism which he was born with. He has been able to turn any ugliness and hurt in his life into art and is the strongest person I know.”
There is so much to understand in her words.
When you peel back the layers and begin to understand addiction you often find an ocean of pain underneath. Irish actor Rhys Meyers has had a well-publicised battle with alcohol addiction and spent time in several rehabs, trying to address his problems.
