Jason Ritter Discusses Opens Up About Alcoholism With Melanie Lynskey, Drew Barrymore

Since 2020, actor Jason Ritter has been married to New Zealand actress Melanie Linskey. Though they both come from similar work backgrounds, Ritter got particularly vulnerable when the couple appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show, where the couple discussed Ritter’s alcoholism and its effect on their relationship.

Ritter, the son of Three’s Company legend John Ritter, and Lynskey actually met back in 2013 on the set of The Big Ask. Another two mutual movies followed, where each enjoyed prominent roles. Lynskey happily announced their engagement in February 2017, and by 2019, outlets broke news that the two welcomed their first child. Their relationship has had all the traits of a happy love story but it’s not been without it’s hurdles, most notably Ritter’s alcoholism and the way it made him feel unworthy of Lynskey.

Jason Ritter and Melanie Lynskey had a difficult start because of his alcoholism

Lynskey and Ritter appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show recently, where they opened up about the road bumps that defined the early stages of their fairytale romance. “We were both going through very difficult times in our lives,” shared Lynskey. That “very tumultuous time” included breakups that both had gone through.

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All the while, Ritter was battling with alcoholism. “In the mix, I was dealing with some alcoholism issues,” said Ritter. “At a point, I knew how amazing she was, and I thought she would be incredible for someone, someone who deserved her, basically, and I didn’t feel like I was that person. I felt a little bit too crazy.” He also admitted that the actual romance with Lynskey was “not as cute of a story as you would like to think. It was messy and interesting and weird.”

Ritter wanted to be worthy of her and knew changes needed to be made

“I knew she was incredible,” Ritter said. “It was working on myself enough to feel like maybe I can be the one for her, too.” Work he did, and his efforts – and their results – were enough for Lynskey to notice. During the interview, she grew tearful at this point and shared, “He did so much work on himself. I’m so proud of him.”

Alcohol is a topic very personal to Barrymore also; she turned to drinking following her 2016 divorce from Will Kopelman, a personal battle she opened up about in an interview with The Los Angeles Times. Barrymore knew what Ritter had been thinking, when he felt unworthy, echoing, “The narrative that one creates is that I can’t be with someone.”

Though Barrymore hasn’t been with anyone since her drinking, she is “really looking forward to, one day, not having that ‘bad girl’ narrative, the instability, the: ‘I’m not someone who’s right to not be with someone for their sake.'” It’s a journey they have each had to go through in their own ways, deriving support from within and without.