How Balthazar Getty 'Struggled' with Billionaire Family's Dark Legacy — and Survived Scandal

Despite growing up in one of the wealthiest families in the world, Balthazar Getty struggled to find his place in and make peace with the family's complicated legacy, part of which is portrayed in the new movie All the Money in the World. His great-great-grandfather was the cold and miserly J. Paul Getty, who was at one time the world's richest private citizen and in 1973 famously refused to pay the ransom to return his kidnapped grandson John Paul Getty III, Balthazar's father.

The actor, 42, who recently appeared on the new season of Twin Peaks, has admitted that although it took him a long time to do so, he's proud of what it means to be a Getty and has made peace with the high-profile struggles in the family's troubled past.

"I struggled with it a lot as a kid and overcompensated," he told PEOPLE in 2014 of being known as a Getty. "I didn't ever want to be labeled a rich kid, because I wasn't. The structure of how [family trusts] work didn't allow me to be at that point. It was very ironic, this assumption made by people coupled with the fact that I had a very tough upbringing. We didn't have anything material-wise, that didn't happen until much later. I would overcompensate in my behavior by being wild or getting into fights. The kind of stuff that rich kids don't do."

The former Brothers and Sisters star has had his share of struggles. He made headlines in 2008 for an extramarital affair with Sienna Miller — Balthazar and his wife Rosetta eventually reconciled after a two-year separation — and also fell victim to the family's history of issues with substance abuse and admitted to doing "too many drugs" himself.

"It's no secret that my father and grandfather had major drug addiction problems, and addiction runs rampant in many families," he told the Evening Standard in 2016. "If you add wealth and celebrity on top of that, it can be lethal. A lot of people do drugs and alcohol to self-medicate," he added. "For me, it was about the search for higher consciousness."

• For much more about John Paul Getty III's kidnapping and the Getty family's dark history, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

Balthazar said the reason that the children of very wealthy parents often fall victim to problems with substance abuse is that they inherit money they didn't earn and don't have any sense of purpose or fulfillment that isn't tied to money.

"There is something called the Bread of Shame and that is when you get money or things that you didn't earn," he explained. "That is why rich kids for the most part are f-----– up. They end up in rehab or we see them on TV making all these bad life choices. In my belief, that is bread of shame, because you were given something you didn't earn. One way you can counteract that is if you give a lot. That is the way we have raised our children. If you have money coming you can't help that. You were born into that. But how can you offset it, you can give. That is what I have taught my kids."

The happy father of four also admitted that he's very proud of the family legacy and all the philanthropic work the Getty family has done over the years via their foundation and museums.

"We come from Scottish-Irish immigrants that came over here in the 1600s with nothing and built a dynasty," said Balthazar. "We have two museums in Los Angeles. We do a lot of work around the world. We know with wealth is the great opportunity to share."

He also revealed that the family has grown much closer over the years and take an annual vacation together in Europe.

"Every year in June we spend a week as a family together in Europe, there is about 40 of us," he said. "We are also a family business so we interact a lot. Many of my best friends are my cousins. Their kids and my kids are best friends. We are a very close family."

— with reporting by Mia McNiece