Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson opened up about his previous drug addiction

Samuel L. Jackson Gets Candid About Drug Addiction

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most esteemed actors in Hollywood. The movie star has appeared in several blockbuster movie franchises, including Avengers, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars, while also boasting a lead role in the cult classic film Pulp Fiction.

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Throughout his storied career, the Tennessee native has earned an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Image Award (NAACP) and Cannes Film Festival Award, among others.

Before he was an award-winning movie star, though, Jackson admitted that he struggled with addiction. Describing himself as a "functioning addict," Jackson recently opened up about his drug addiction before Hollywood came calling.

"During my addiction, I tried to do everything to make sure that [my daughter] was cool. We had a four-story brownstone, and she slept on the third level. So, if I was in the kitchen cooking cocaine and smoking it, I'd take a hit. Then my brain would say, 'Zoe is choking under the covers,' and I would run upstairs, look in the room and say, 'Oh, she's okay.' Then I'd run back downstairs and take another hit."

Despite his addiction, Jackson said he maintained his work ethic.

"I was still going to work and had a job. I was on Broadway, I was doing sh*t."

This isn't the first time that Jackson has shed light on his former drug addiction.

Jackson, 77, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter for a cover story in 2019, where he got candid about struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine in the 1980s and 1990s.

"I'd been getting high since, s—, 15, 16 years old, and I was tired as f—," he told THR about going to rehab.

Oddly enough, the first role that he landed after leaving rehab was playing a drug addict. Portrayed in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever.

"All the people in rehab were trying to talk me out of it. 'You're going to be messing around with crack pipes. All your triggers will be there. Blah, blah, blah,' " Jackson said. "I was like, 'You know what? If for no other reason than I never want to see you motherf—ers again, I will never pick up another drug.' 'Cause I hated their asses."

Jackson has been sober for 35 years since checking himself into rehab in 1991.