Life hasn’t exactly been kind to actor Nicholas Brendon in the past few years, as his former success as a TV actor on shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Criminal Minds has given way to a life of addiction. To his credit, he recently went to Dr. Phil for help corralling his problems, and also to his credit (for people who dislike Dr. Phil), he promptly stormed off the set when he got too uncomfortable. Check out a clip of that moment below, as shown on Entertainment Tonight.
Dr. Phil is well-known for being as blunt as can be with those he’s interviewing for his show, and apparently Brendon didn’t want to deal with a particular line of questioning when he appeared on Dr. Phil. While it isn’t quite clear how the interview kicked off, things apparently got testy once Dr. Phil asked Brendon if he’d been drinking. Brendon denied it, at which point he was told that alcohol could be smelled on him, and he was asked if it was from the night before. According to Dr. Phil, that’s when Brendon was thrown out of the hotel that he was staying in that was paid for by the show. It obviously wasn’t as bad as some of his past experiences with hotel rooms, for which he’s been arrested, but still.
Assuming there wasn’t an earlier line of questioning where Brendon was asked about other personal aspects of his life, it’s kind of strange that he would agree to a Dr. Phil interview knowing that his addictions to alcohol and medications were on the table for questioning, only to get upset about something. And if he actually was drinking, either before the show or just the night before, it’s even more ridiculous that he would get offended when it was brought up. The first step is admitting you have a problem, and if Brendon’s reaction is storming off the set, then he clearly wasn’t ready to admit anything at that point.
Something tells me he wanted to throw up something stronger than his thumb right here.
Brendon entered rehab over a decade ago, although that didn’t stick, and he was arrested at least five times over the next ten years, usually in connection to him being intoxicated in one way or another. We certainly hope that he finds the kind of help he needs, televised or otherwise, in the near future. Even though we’ll probably never get to see Xander Harris again in a Buffy reunion at any point, it’d be nice to know that he’d be able to do it if it ever happened.
