Ewan McGregor's alcohol alarm

Mar 29, 2010, 6:01 GMT

Ewan McGregor only misses alcohol when he's unhappy.

The actor - who gave up drinking in 2000 and embarked on a healthy lifestyle - has been teetotal for years, and admits he only ever feels the need for alcohol when he is upset or confused about something in his life.

He told Live magazine: "This November it'll be 10 years since I gave up, and I don't really miss it. Actually, occasionally I do. There are times when I think about it, but I always know that when I'm thinking about it there's something wrong.

"The problem isn't that I want a drink, it's that for me - as it is for a lot of other people - drink was a way to dull the pain of something else. For people who drink a lot it's a way of not dealing with emotions and feelings.

"I was just always somebody who liked to drink a lot. So now when I think about drinking I ask myself, 'OK, what is it?' It's not really that you're thirsty for a beer, because you haven't had a beer for years. It's often something else that's bothering me."

Ewan - who raises three daughters with his wife Eve Mavrakis - previously revealed he decided to overhaul his lifestyle once he became a father.

He said: "What kind of regret would I have had to tell my children or my wife that I was dying because of something I could have done something about? I didn't want to be that kind of man."