John Goodman was able to make a living going from football player to actor. However, even during his most successful days, Goodman still faced struggles behind the scenes. Among those struggles, included Goodman wanting to go off the map, away from Hollywood.
In the following, we’re going to take a closer look at why Goodman made the decision to relocate. In addition, we’re going to reveal the other struggles he faced during fame, which included a battle with alcoholism.
We’ll conclude by taking a look at how his issues affected his relationship with Roseanne Barr, and what Goodman thinks about her today following the controversy.
John Goodman Had Enough Of Hollywood And Relocated To New Orleans
He was riding on a high living in Hollywood, and on one of the most popular shows on television. In addition to that, Goodman was even getting residuals from the press at the time. Still, this wasn’t enough to keep Goodman in LA. He made the bold choice to move off the map over to New Orleans during the later stages of Roseanne.
Speaking on The Off Camera Show, Goodman went in depth about his decision. “I didn’t want to say this to disparage LA, but I didn’t want her growing her (his daughter) up in a showbusiness environment. I was getting residual stuff from the tabloids for Roseanne, but I had enough. We found a secluded part of New Orleans and moved there.”
Goodman continues, “She went to a great school, and she loved it.”
Goodman was also in an early battle with alcoholism at the time. He felt that it was okay given that he was providing for his family, but learned soon after that his behavior clearly wasn’t right. Things got especially bad when Goodman was drinking on-set, and thought that nobody knew.
John Goodman used to drink while at work, and he felt as though his peers weren’t noticing. During an interview with People, Goodman elaborated on his dark times.
“I got so lucky, because I was still getting hired for things. But the fact is I was drinking at work — my speech would be slurred. I thought I was fooling people,” he admits. “But my cheeks would turn bright red when I was liquored up. I just looked like a stop sign.”
“She was scared for me, but she was more confrontational,” Goodman recalled. “She’d already had a husband go through the process.”
Ultimately, for Goodman, it was a long weekend of golf that completely changed his perspective.
“By the time Sunday morning rolled around, I was shaking — I was still drinking, but I was shaking,” he recalls. “I called my wife, which was like turning myself into the Gestapo. She made some phone calls, we got me into a treatment center, and I detoxed there and decided I liked the feeling. It’s been 10 years.”
That very moment changed Goodman’s life forever.
In recent years, John Goodman also discussed Roseanne Barr’s demise. Roseanne was canceled by ABC in 2018 following a racist tweet by Barr towards Valerie Jarrett. Goodman was very surprised by the response the tweet got.
“I was surprised at the response. And that’s probably all I should say about that … I know for a fact that she’s not a racist.” Barr even praised Goodman for defending her.
“No. At the time I remember going to some kind of junket where they saw the pilot, and then the interviews, and it just turned into attack. And that made me very uncomfortable with them just attacking Roseanne.” He adds: “Yeah, I felt bad for her. I just feel terrible about the whole thing. We had a great time. And I love her. She’s just her own person.”
Goodman added that despite all the controversy that had taken place, he was closing the door on working with her down the road.
“I don’t know. If she’d liked to… I just don’t know. I miss her,” he says. “I wish her well.”
At the age of 71, Goodman is still sitting on an impressive net worth of $45 million.
