Two years into sobriety, Delevingne is reflecting on her relationship with drugs and alcohol.
Model and actress Cara Delevingne just shared some harrowing stories about her upbringing as a child star, including her first time getting drunk at age 8. While interviewing her for The Times, writer Vassi Chamberlain informed Delevingne that they had met back in 2001 at her aunt’s wedding. Delevingne replied: “You know I got drunk that day. I was 8, what a crazy age to get drunk.”
Delevingne took her first modeling job at age 10, and has been in the public eye to some extent for her entire life thanks to her famous family. She began acting in 2012 and began dabbling in music at the same time, while in 2017 she published her first novel. Over those years, Delevingne’s reputation for partying grew gradually, but she believes the real turning point was Burning Man 2022. Delevingne was on her way home from the festival when paparazzi spotted her at the Van Nuys Airport, and the embarrassing photos went viral.
“It was a stupid decision to go straight from a festival to work,” she reflected. “I should have waited a day. But it was going to happen to me anyway, there were plenty of photos out there of me looking wasted… Listen, I signed up for this, this is my job, it’s what I do. But without that would I be sober now?”
Since then, Delevingne has gone through rehabilitation, committed to sobriety and even utilized the 12-step program. She said: “I used to think drugs and alcohol helped me cope… but they didn’t, they kept me sad and super depressed. I feel like I’ve got my power back and I’m not being controlled by other things.”
Asked if she still follows the 12 steps today, Delevingne said: “I like meetings, I go to them when I can. Some people would say I don’t go to them enough. But I’m doing it my way and it’s working for me. Everyone’s different. You can go in a million times and it doesn’t work, some people go in once and walk out. Some do it who don’t need it.”
Delevingne’s mother, socialite Pandora Delvigne, also had a publicized battle with addiction. When asked how that impacted her own experience, Delevingne said: “I do think the older I get, the more I see how similar me and my mother are. She has managed to survive through so much. She’s whip smart. I think there are really beautiful things about my mother and really sad things too. It makes the whole situation complex. When I was younger I talked about it freely because I didn’t really understand it. But it affected me, so I felt like it was my right to talk about it. I feel bad about that.”
Delevingne just wrapped up a stint on the West End, and she has three upcoming film projects according IMDb. None have release dates yet.
