14 DAY TRIAL // Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, famous to US and international audiences for his roles on “The Tudors” and the more recent “Dracula” TV series, has hit rock bottom again.
Photos of him apparently under the influence, looking disheveled and drinking vodka in the streets of London have emerged online.
Meyers relapses, fans are worried
Meyers has a long and well publicized history with addiction, having been to rehab 3 times already in Malibu. He’s also been quite open on the topic, as well as on the fact that he had a tough childhood.
Last month, his girlfriend and fiancée Mara Lane, to whom he proposed after just 7 months of dating, was posting photos of the two of them in Ireland. He looked happy and sober, so his fans breathed a sigh of relief that he was still on the straight and narrow path.
The Meyers that emerged over the weekend, heading to a grocery store to buy alcohol, is no longer sober. The Daily Mail has the shocking photos, together with an account saying that Meyers was “initially turned down” when he tried to buy booze because of the way he looked.
Still, he “eventually [left] with two bottles.” He opened one in the street and poured the vodka straight into the cap, downing it right there where he stood.
He was dressed in jeans, which were unbuttoned, a stained grey T-shirt and a jacket, and had bloodshot eyes that indicated he was already under the influence when he stepped out to make his purchase.
For fans, the photos are nothing short of heartbreaking, especially given Meyers’ long history of abuse.
A liability in the industry
Meyers shot to fame in 2000 with “Bend It like Beckham” and has had several high-profile appearances both in television and on the big screen. “The Tudors” and “Dracula” remain though the roles he’s most famous for.
He’s also gained fame worldwide through his work in modeling and for his unconventionally handsome face. Because the tabloids love a bad boy, he got considerably more attention than he would have otherwise, but it soon became clear that he was more than just a bad boy.
A while back, when “Dracula” was still airing, word got out in the industry that NBC was so aware of Meyers’ troubles that they didn’t want to take any chances with him, especially since he was playing lead.
To keep him motivated to stay sober and clean, they had only signed him for one season and had refused to pay him upfront, on the condition that he would be fully remunerated once he was done shooting the full season.
“Dracula” was eventually canceled in 2014 after just one season after disappointing ratings, but Meyers wasn’t left out of a job: he has 3 movies scheduled for 2015, all in different stages of production.
🍀 Ireland 🍀 A photo posted by Mara Lane (@thelionandthelambchop) on Apr 7, 2015 at 7:36am PDT