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AE: I’m always the one with the six-hour wait.
ANT: [Laughing] Ah, not me. I don’t even have to pay for anything now. Now that I have the money to afford anything I want, nobody charges me for anything. I don’t pay for clothes, I get dinner for free, I don’t have to wait in line. Those are the perks. I got free valet today.

AE: So you gotta love this while you’ve got it.
ANT: I’m very blessed and thankful every day.

AE: Are you still sober?
ANT: I just turned three on June 16.

AE: Does that help or hurt your career in Hollywood?
ANT: Oh honey, I was a mess. I was a meth-addicted needle junkie. Nobody would hire me three and a half years ago.

AE: Do you feel pressure in Hollywood to use substances? We get the image that there are drugs everywhere.
ANT: I just go back to the images of where I was three years ago with a needle stuck in my arm, desperate for five dollars. That keeps me sober. God keeps me sober. My friends keep me sober.

AE: Have your friends changed since you’ve become famous? Well, since you became sober, I’m sure they have.
ANT: Since I became sober I had to get rid of all my drug using friends and that was easy. It turns out they’re not really your friends; they’re just hanging around for the party. But my really good friends are the ones who helped me realize I have a problem with alcohol and drugs are still my friends and the fame hasn’t affected them other than we’ll go out and they go, “You go up to the maitre de and let him know it’s a party of three.” Because 9 out of 10 times I’ll get recognized and we’ll get right in and we won’t have to wait. So that’s the only thing that’s really changed.

They are the greatest equalizers on the planet because you’re friends never have a problem telling you that you’re a piece of crap and to stop it.

AE: A lot of people in entertainment are surrounded by yes mean, by people who always tell them how great they are.
ANT: That’s why your friends are the great equalizer. They will tell you, “Oh God no, that outfit did not work.” Or “Why did you say that?” or “God girl, you’re a huge queen--tone it down.” You know? And those are your real friends, the ones that care enough, that care more about you than your feelings. I have those special kinds of friends so I’m blessed

AE: Are your friends in or out of the industry?
ANT: It’s about equal. I have five really close friends; three are in the industry and two are not.

AE: No problems maintaining your relationship with the two who aren’t in the industry?
ANT: No, because they’re so fascinated by the industry that they want to talk about it which is good because I’ve got a lot to say. And you know it’s great for me because when I don’t want to talk about that industry I can talk about their lives. One works at a restaurant and the other is a tailor so it’s like how’s your day and they’re like, “Oh it was the worst day...some guy came in and he wanted two suits and…” I just think, wow the network just threw $500,000 dollars at me and said, “Be funny!” I wish I was a tailor.

AE: I hear you’re a recovering Republican. Was that part of the drug addiction or what were you thinking?
ANT: I wasn’t thinking apparently. I come from New England and we’re a very Republican area, I come from New Hampshire. I was brought up to be Republican, love the Republican Party and never stray and tow the party line. Well what happened for me was Bush uttered the ban on gay marriage—he wanted a constitutional ban on gay marriage. And that’s when I said, “Enough. I can no longer sit back and allow this kind of tyranny to happen.”

So I made the switch and this past election was the first time I ever gave to a democratic candidate–-I gave the full amount the government allows me to donate. That was a big deal to me. I called my parents to tell them I was switching and that was worse than coming out of the closet. It really was. To call my parents and say I’m no longer a Tepublican was probably the scariest call—it was scarier than coming out of the closet because we are lifeline Republicans.

AE: And those are seen as core values.
ANT: Yeah. The greatest part of that conversation was that my mom switched also because of the whole ban. [She said] I have a gay son and nobody’s going to tell me he can’t be happy. It was amazing. I have the greatest parents in the whole world.

AE: I can’t believe a real Republican would ask for a constitutional amendment anyway.
ANT: That’s because for the first time in our country’s history the separation of church and state doesn’t exist. I think president Bush has really blurred that line so much so that people are blind because there is no separation at this point with him.

AE: And really divisive.
ANT: It serves no purpose other than to hurt and I can’t imagine he can’t see that. When people say he’s just sticking to his values I’m like, you know what? I like to stick to my values until I see that I’m hurting someone and then I have to reevaluate what I’m thinking. He’s got to know exactly what he’s doing and he doesn’t care.

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