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Gerard Depardieu Says He Can Drink 14 Bottles Of Wine In A Day

The Huffington Post  |  By Cavan Sieczkowski

Posted: 09/19/2014 1:43 pm EDT Updated: 09/19/2014 1:59 pm EDT

French actor Gerard Depardieu revealed he can drink up to 14 bottles of wine in one, single day. That's a lot of vin.
Depardieu spoke about his drinking habits during an interview with the UK's So Film magazine.
"When I'm bored, I drink," he said. "Apart from occasional compulsory moments of abstinence. After undergoing bypass surgery (five times), and also because of cholesterol and stuff, I have to be careful. Anyway, I’m not going to die. Not now. I still have energy. But if ever I start drinking … I can’t drink like a normal person. I can absorb 12, 13, 14 bottles … per day. But I’m never totally drunk, just a little pissed. All you need is a 10-minute nap and voilà, a slurp of rosé wine and I feel as fresh as a daisy! I have to admit that when I start counting, doctors start worrying."
The 65-year-old actor made a conscious effort to cut back on his alcohol intake after undergoing an emergency quintuple bypass in 2000 following a heart attack, the New York Times notes.
In 2012, Depardieu was arrested for allegedly driving his scooter drunk after he got into an accident during an afternoon in Paris.
The star has admitted to living a life of excess, but says it has never hurt his persona in his native country.
“I think it corresponds to an image that the French love. Someone who is a bit of a rebel, who shakes things up, and is sometimes drunk. It’s a bit of this hooligan spirit which pleases Putin,” he said during an interview last year, referencing his friend and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He later added: “[I’m] drunk sometimes, but my drunkenness is part of my excess. I’ve never jeopardized investors.”