Jeremy Allen White Has Been to ‘Hell and Back’ After a Divorce That ‘Nearly Destroyed Him’

The last few years have been a roller coaster for Jeremy Allen White . The actor spent a decade doing underrated if excellent work on the lauded Showtime series Shameless until 2021. Then, in 2022, his popularity skyrocketed when he made his debut as The Bear ’s troubled tattooed chef, Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto — a character critics have branded “TV’s greatest emotional villain” and the “next great sympathetic anti-hero.”

With every episode, shirtless jogging photo and Calvin Klein underwear ad that has emerged since, thirsty fans have lusted after the charismatic star of the FX on Hulu show, which on July 17, set a new record with 23 Emmy nods, the most ever by a comedy series for a sophomore season.

During the wild ride, Jeremy has learned a lot about fame and what’s important. “If you don’t have a foundation outside of your career,” he said last year, “that can be a lonely existence.” Nearly two years ago, his foundation crumbled. In September 2022, Jeremy and his wife of three years, Californication actress Addison Timlin , 33 — with whom he shares daughters Ezer, 5, and Dolores, 3 — secretly separated. She filed for divorce eight months later.

“That’s when I was rocked the hardest … it’s taken me a year to find some footing again,” Jeremy, 33, admitted last fall after legal documents alleged he had issues with alcohol.

“He counts his blessings often. He knows he’s a lucky guy. He’ll also tell you he’s been to hell and back,” a source exclusively tells Life & Style . “Drinking too much, a divorce that nearly destroyed him, hitting rock bottom, finding peace and dating again — now he’s finally at a place where he can open up about his past.”

Jeremy Allen White’s Dark Days

While Jeremy’s career was on fire, his personal life was imploding. In early 2023, he won his first Emmy for his work on season 1 of The Bear . His wife’s divorce filing came a few months later, just weeks before season 2 premiered to even more buzz. ( Season 3, which debuted in June , broke records: With 5.4 million views in its first four days of streaming, it was the most-watched season premiere for any scripted series on Hulu ever, according to parent company Disney.)

All the joy and heartbreak of 2023 was “insane,” Jeremy confessed in November. “A lot of high highs, a lot of terribly low lows.”

Jeremy Allen White Is Doing Whatever It Takes

Last fall, in a bid to gain joint custody of his daughters, the Brooklyn native agreed to be tested for alcohol at least five days a week whenever they were with him. The devoted dad, who stocked the kitchen in his bachelor pad with ice cream and waffle makers so he could whip up treats for his girls, was also required to attend weekly therapy sessions plus at least two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings each week. “Jeremy loves his daughters and will do whatever it takes to keep them in his life,” says the source. “That’s why he agreed to the testing.”

He made other sacrifices, too. “With everything going on in my personal life, I thought, ‘OK, let’s just pump the brakes in general, and maybe you don’t work for a while,’” he said last fall. “I made this choice to not work for the rest of the year and just be with my daughters and just slow it all down.”

Jeremy Allen White Is Navigating Heartache

Addison and Jeremy are now successfully coparenting. They’ve been spotted at their daughter’s soccer practices and games, cheering her on — together. “They loved each other very much, but it was volatile,” says the source. Following their split, some reports claimed there were “trust issues” at play, while others suggested Jeremy’s filming schedule in Chicago had put pressure on the relationship. “

Jeremy doesn’t blame Addison for filing for divorce,” says the source. “He knew he was a big part of the problem.”

He’s turned things around, is dating again , just scored another Emmy nod and is preparing to play Bruce Springsteen in a new movie. “Jeremy is a good guy — he just got caught up in bad things, and his stardom didn’t help,” says the source. “The end of his marriage and the possibility of losing his girls was the wake-up call he needed. He’s grateful to have gotten a second chance. It was a tough lesson, but now he knows that fame and fortune mean nothing without his family.”