Not only was Peter Boyle brilliant on Everybody Loves Raymond, but he also gave Heaton advice that kept her sober. Heaton struggled with alcohol behind the scenes, but recalls crucial advice given by Boyle.
Patricia Heaton outside and waving at someonevia Instar
“You’re pumped up from the show. You just want to have a drink with everybody. You want to celebrate. You want to kind of have your adrenaline come down. How do you not — how do you keep yourself from drinking?’” she recalled asking. “He said, ‘You know, I just think about the first drink. And I think about it leading to the second one, and then to the third one, and I just walk through it in my brain. And by the time I think about that, I know I don’t want to be in that position.’”
“‘You“I just remember Peter talking about that, and so I would just think about it, and just think how I would feel at the end of the meal where I would have eaten too much, and then I wouldn’t sleep well that night because of the alcohol.”
Heaton continues, “If I gave myself that 30 seconds or 60 seconds to think about it, the urge would subside. And then I could get through the meal,” she added.
Heaton got rid of her demons and the late Peter Boyle proved to be a crucial part of that behind the scenes.
