Copycat star William McNamara who ditched Hollywood at peak of his fame opens up about drug and alcohol addiction battle

90s heartthrob William McNamara opened up about the battle with drug and addiction that derailed his Hollywood career as he returned to the spotlight this week.

McNamara, 61, became one of the hottest stars in movies thanks to his attention-grabbing roles in 's Copycat in 1995 and Stealing Home in 1988 alongside , but substance abuse curtailed his rise.

The actor later made a decision to pivot from acting to animal rights activism - and even went to jail in  for his efforts, while working on his long-term sobriety.

McNamara is now 21 years sober and attempting a comeback with his satirical series, The Trouble with Billy.

The series sees McNamara playing a fictionalized version of himself attempting a Hollywood comeback while trying to save his beloved dog.

Speaking exclusively to The Daily Mail at the Guru Beauty Awards, McNamara, whose addiction left him temporarily , said, 'I go to AA meetings still. You really can't stop. And people always ask me, like my mom says, "Why do you keep going to meetings? You don't want to drink, do you? " 

'I'm like, "No, but you have to help the newcomer." That's why, because there was a guy there that had 21 years when I walked in the door and he helped me. So that's why we do it. I don't want to drink. I could care less about drinking or drugs."

'I don't really think about struggles because I think I take responsibility for my life and I'm sure I could do anything.

'I'm not really worried about challenges. Really the challenges are how can I make the world a better place? That's the big challenge. What can I do to help others or help animals really?'

McNamara has spoken openly about his financial struggles after leaving his lucrative career, admitting he drained his bank accounts while he was working abroad.

He said, 'I got into animal activism. I became like a big time activist. I joined Sea Shepherd. I went to Japan. I went to jail there. I got in trouble in Australia doing a chicken thing. 

'And I had all this money that I'd saved up from... I was on a couple of TV shows and little by little the money ran out and that's the actor's life. It sucks.'

While McNamara is focused on working in independent productions, he blasted 'billionaires' for giving huge stars massive paydays while less well-known actors are paid paltry sums.

He said, 'I think the state of Hollywood is very, very different and it's interesting and I want to see where it's going to go, the verticals, the . 

'We have so much going on and the money is not as good as it used to be. It is for the big guys for Matt Damon who gets 20 million, but everybody else. They get 20 million for a movie and everybody else gets $1,000 a day if you're lucky a thousand a day... I think COVID has a big part, but I think it's all in America. 

'There's either billionaires or there's peasants...And everything's streaming, so the residuals are a lot less.'

McNamara reflected on his once glittering career and admitted his priorities have now changed in later life. 

'I don't really care about that (winning an award). I don't really think about that. I think the awards are kind of like watered down so much anyway and it's so political. I have an independent show. They probably won't even consider it unfortunately for them. They lose out' he said.

'I don't really think about retiring. That's the one great thing about actors. They need the old grandfather, the old crotchety old man. They're always going to need that guy. 

'So I might not be as aggressive as I was when I was younger so I'm not really desperate to work all the time, which is great. 

'I am a little more laid back in life. But when stuff comes up, especially my own stuff, like second season, I'm super excited. It's going to be fantastic.'

McNamara's Hollywood resume also includes a starring role with Jeff Bridges in Texasville in 1990, Montgomery Clift in Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story in 1995 and as a series lead on the CW’s Disaster Strike Force.

He previously told The LA Inquisitor that his drug problem 'really got in the way' of his acting career - and that when he took a break from acting, he assumed he could return at any time. 

'But as you get older… not so', he said. 

In 2025 McNamara won plaudits for his heroic efforts saving animals caught in the LA fires. 

McNamara had been going on site with volunteers from the Animal Advocacy Network and Viva Global Rescue, sharing videos of their efforts on social media as they search for animal survivors of .

The Out Of Hand actor is an old hand at taking care of animals, revealing that during the 2018 Woolsey fire in Malibu, he helped save numerous animals, including winner 's pigs.