Aaron Sorkin revealed he suffered a life-changing stroke in November 2022.
The “West Wing” creator told the New York Times in an interview published Wednesday that he realized he was grappling with a major health issue when he began “crashing into walls and corners.”
“Mostly it was a loud wake-up call,” he shared, adding that his doctor said his blood pressure was so high he was “supposed to be dead.”
“I thought I was one of those people who could eat whatever he wanted, smoke as much as he wanted, and it’s not going to affect me. Boy, was I wrong.”
Following the stroke, Sorkin, 61, quit smoking cigarettes cold turkey and began exercising daily.
“I take a lot of medicine,” the “Social Network” screenwriter said. “You can hear the pills rattling around in me.”
Although he initially did not want to disclose his health scare, Sorkin said he decided to share the news in the hopes of helping even just one person to stop smoking.
In the midst of his recovery, the Oscar winner also feared that he would never be able to finish rewriting the book for the Broadway musical “Camelot,” which debuts April 13.
“There was a minute when I was concerned that I was never going to be able to write again,” he said, “and I was concerned in the short-term that I wasn’t going to be able to continue writing ‘Camelot.’”
Until recently, Sorkin could not sign his name, but he realized the skill was slowly coming back thanks to autograph seekers standing outside Broadway theaters.
Unfortunately, the “Newsroom” creator’s ability to taste food remains limited, but he does not want anyone to believe he is in poor shape.
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“Let me make this very, very clear,” he told the Times. “I’m fine. I wouldn’t want anyone to think I can’t work. I’m fine.”
While Sorkin only recently quit smoking, he has been candid in the past about getting over his cocaine addiction.
“My big fear when I quit drugs was that I wouldn’t be able to write anymore, the “A Few Good Men” writer told Men’s Journal in December 2017.
“Because if you’re a writer and you’re on a roll – and I was on a roll when I was high – you don’t want to change anything about the way you work.
“But I’m 11 years clean now, and I’ve been much more productive in those 11 years than I was in the 11 years prior. But even if I hadn’t been, it wouldn’t have been worth it [to keep using drugs].”
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