Fear The Walking Dead actor Nick Stahl says his drug and alcohol addiction became so severe he ‘spent time on the streets’ looking to get his next fix.
‘Things got really bad for me,’ the 41-year-old actor told The Hollywood Reporter. ‘It’s a horribly cliché child-actor story, but I had a very unusual relationship to drugs and alcohol. I never had a brake pedal with it.’
In his interview Stahl also corrected rumors he was living on LA‘s infamous Skid Row during a low-point, telling the paper he was never a resident but was a frequent visitor to the ‘open drug market.’
Low point: Fear The Walking Dead actor Nick Stahl talked about his drug and alcohol addiction with The Hollywood Reporter, admitting things were once so severe he ‘spent time on the streets’ looking to get his next fix. He’s seen clean and sober in 2019 above
Early start: Stahl – who made his acting debut at just 14 in 1993’s The Man Without A Face – was introduced to drinking at a young age, calling his first drunk at age 13 his ‘first spiritual experience.’ He’s seen in 2001 above
Stahl – who made his acting debut at just 14 in 1993’s The Man Without A Face – was introduced to drinking at a young age, calling his first drunk at age 13 his ‘first spiritual experience.’
‘Suddenly, I had a freedom from thinking, from uncomfortability. I felt OK in my skin and I hadn’t really felt that before.’
Things escalated after he moved to LA at age 16, where he began dabbling in cocaine and methamphetamine.
‘I was pretty much hung over for every single day of work that I ever did,’ the Sin City talent explained.
‘As a kid, in my early 20s, through all the films, through In the Bedroom, through Terminator, through Carnivàle, through all of it.’
Still, Stahl said there were others hurting much more than him.
In the interview he also touched on his late Bully co-star Brad Renfro’s substance issues, revealing he had to have someone on set to keep him sober. Renfro died at 25 in 2008.
Speaking about Renfro, he said: ‘He was more severe in his addiction than I was.’
‘He just progressed to a point where he had to have someone on set with him to keep him sober.
READ RELATED: Expert Article: Ageing Is Not The Only Cause For Arthritis Of The Joint; Read About The Other Causes
Tough times: ‘Things got really bad for me,’ the 41-year-old actor told The Hollywood Reporter . ‘It’s a horribly cliché child-actor story, but I had a very unusual relationship to drugs and alcohol. I never had a brake pedal with it.’ He’s seen in 2008 above
Heavy: In the interview he also touched on his late Bully co-star Brad Renfro’s substance issues, revealing he had to have someone on set to keep him sober. Renfro died at 25 in 2008. Renfro is seen on the left above
‘I remember feeling my heart going out to him, just dealing with something that was bigger than him and he was just trying to function.’
Stahl’s struggles would ebb and flow through the years.
Soon after Stahl’s addition ‘started to get awful pretty quickly’ in LA, he tried to set himself straight with a trip to rehab in 2007, and then another stint in a Texas facility in 2009.
After moving to Austin, he married and had a daughter.
But things would spin out of control once more when the family relocated to Hollywood, leading to several arrests a missing persons report filed by his wife.
He stepped away from acting in 2012 to continue his recovery.
‘Not only did I learn how to live as a sober person, which I didn’t know how to do, but I learned how to have a life outside the business.’
He is now four years clean and sober.
And work is better than ever for Stahl, who was credited on seven different film/TV projects in 2021.
But he said staying sober always matters most, saying: ‘It’s more important to me than making films.’
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction please contact the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
Source:
