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Wil Wheaton may have played one of the least liked characters in the Star Trek universe, but he’s become one of the actors most beloved by Star Trek fans. One of the reasons that Wheaton the man has won over so many fans, even the ones who hated Wesley Crusher, is because of his willingness to share about his life and his journey, which hasn’t been easy.
Wheaton has been open about his struggles with anxiety and depression. He’s spoken and written candidly about being emotionally abused by his father. He spoke to CinemaBlend earlier this year and detailed how his acting career was the product of an exploitative relationship with his mother, who was also his manager.
Time and time again, Wheaton has shared about the trauma he’s endured and the struggles he’s faced with the aim of helping others heal. Earlier this week, he opened up again, this time, about his struggles with alcoholism.
Wheaton Marked Five Years Sober With an Emotional Facebook Post
On January 10th, Wheaton shared an emotional Facebook post in which he detailed his struggles with alcoholism. In the essay-length post, Wheaton shared about how he’d spent years using alcohol to cope with the emotional abuse he’d faced as a child. He revealed that he’d spent years trying to reconcile with his parents, and when that didn’t work, he turned to alcohol to ease the pain.
Wheaton also divulged that by the time he realized he needed to get sober, he’d been drinking every day for quite a while. After sharing some details about the incident that made him realize he needed to stop drinking, Wheaton wrote about how his wife and best friend gave him the love and support he needed to get help.
The long post then detailed the nuance of addiction and the trauma that is often at its center. Wheaton wrote about how necessary it was for him to take responsibility for his actions and his decision to use alcohol to deal with his trauma. However, he also made it clear that sobriety had taught him not to take on other people’s mistakes, which meant accepting that his parents’ choices to abuse him were their own.
He ended the powerful post by expressing his gratitude for his sobriety and for the community that has helped him stay sober.
Thanking his TNG Family
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Toward the end of the post, Wheaton reflected on the fact that his Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) castmates had been more of a family to him than his parents. He thanked them for the role they’d played in his life and his journey to sobriety.
The closeness of the TNG cast has been well-documented over the years, by both the media and the actors themselves.
Earlier this year, Wheaton wrote another emotional post, this time on Instagram, in which he gushed about his TNG castmates. He shared a picture of a star-studded Zoom call that included Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, LeVar Burton, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes and himself. In the caption, he explained that in a non-pandemic year, they’d all be getting together to celebrate Sirtis’ birthday, so this year they were doing it virtually.
Wheaton then wrote about how his TNG castmates were the only people who’d ever loved him “unconditionally, unselfishly, simply because I exist.”
Wheaton found the family he needed by joining the Star Trek universe just like so many fans who have found their people by connecting with other Trekkies.
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