Alex Winter feels "like a survivor" after being sexually abused as a young boy.
The 52-year-old actor was molested as a child actor in the 1970s by a man who is now dead, and he readily admits he felt silenced by the Hollywood system.
But in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Alex says victims now have the courage to share their stories.
Speaking to Adrian Chiles on BBC Radio 5 on Friday (02.02.18), Alex said: "I absolutely feel like a survivor. It’s hellish, to be totally frank. You know, it’s hellish. I don’t think anybody felt like they were going to be heard if they said anything about this type of behaviour, until very recently. I didn’t feel that I had any place of safety to unlock an extremely sensitive and potentially dangerous secret. The biggest light bulb I’ve ever had, since I was abused, was when this stuff started coming out, over the course of the last year. I never thought in my lifetime that I would ever be … sitting here talking to a BBC radio person about my childhood sexual abuse."
Alex was catapulted to global fame by the two ‘Bill & Ted’ movies – in which starred as titular character Bill alongside Keanu Reeves in the other headline role – and a third instalment is being made with a script written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, who penned the previous two movies.
Alex accepts that those films are no more than fun cinematic experiences, but they played a huge part in his life in helping him move on from his abuse.
He said: "The movies are what they are, they’re silly and all that, I don’t hold them in overly high estimation as works of art or anything, but we had a lot of fun making them. But for me personally, in terms of the experience… it was really, really helpful for me mentally. And it was a great environment. The world of ‘Bill and Ted’ is a very sweet and fun place to run around in."
Alex Winter feels like a survivor after overcoming sexual abuse
