Charlie Sheen Opens Up About His Path to Sobriety: ‘It Was Time to Make a Change’

Two and a Half Men actor Charlie Sheen has come a long way since he battled substance abuse two years ago. While recently speaking with Jay Leno, he recalled his long road to sobriety and revealed why he wanted to get clean.

“About a year-and-a-half ago, it just hit me that I knew it was time to make a change,” Charlie, 54, admitted on Jay Leno’s Garage. “And, you know, it didn’t require some crazy rehab stint or a shootout with the cops.”

“It didn’t require anything super dramatic and crazy and front-page news,” he added. Charlie was looking so healthy when he appeared on the show that Jay gave the Wall Street star a few compliments.

“Well, this is the new Charlie Sheen we’re seeing,” he said. “You look good!”

After Charlie got sober, his attitude started to change. “I’m excited to be excited again,” he gushed to People in January, and admitted that getting sober has been “the biggest change” for him. But now that he’s clean, he wouldn’t dare mess that up.

“All I have to do is flash on four or five scenarios that live on the forefront of my memory and just remind myself this is what happened,” he explained. “I don’t put myself in positions where dangerous things could happen. I just have a confidence and a focus, and a game plan and I stick to it.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqF54y2l64Z/

After learning a few life lessons, Charlie knows exactly  what to tell his kids — Cassandra, 34, Sam, 15, Lola, 14, and twins, Bob and Max, both 10 — if they ever have a question about something “dangerous or unhealthy.”

“I don’t come at them with judgment or anything but love,” he said. “My experiences can prevent them from going down a similar road and so the whole journey wasn’t a complete waste of time. I have all the data.”