When pictures of Balthazar Getty and a topless Sienna Miller kissing in Italy made headlines worldwide in 2008, the actor’s family life, as well as his career, took a considerable hit.

Now, sitting down with the Evening Standard, Getty is opening up about the affair that nearly destroyed his family and marriage.

“Without going down, you can’t rise again,” the actor says of his downfall.

Getty and his wife Rosetta would end up separating for two years after news of his affair went public, but the actor-turned-DJ now believes that the incident has made his relationship “stronger.”

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The cheating scandal, Getty admits, has also helped him come to terms with his public persona. “I’ve gotten more comfortable with who I am, where I come from, and being ‘a Getty,’ ” he revealed, before elaborating on the changes he made after turning 40. It was “time to put fire under my a**” he told the news outlet.

The milestone birthday would see Getty quit smoking, and leave his incessant complaining behind.

As a father of four, Getty now worries for the fate of his children — Cassius 16, Grace 14, Violet 12, and June, 8 — as he reminisces about his struggle with drugs and alcohol and the addictions that run in the family from generation to generation. “For me it was about the search for higher consciousness,” he continued. “They have their own journey and I’m doing my best to make them aware of the dangers, but also allow them to experience their own life.”

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He added, “at least five days a week we have supper together. No TV, none of that. We sit and talk,” he shares. “Everybody shares about their day. And I play with them – sports, games, play songs, drawing, painting, whatever it is.”

“Look, I do have a very full, very blessed life, full of great people who allow me to be very comfortable, and for that I am very grateful. So probably some of the clichés are true, but it doesn’t define me,” Getty concluded.