Samuel L. Jackson, like so many Hollywood stars, has faced public battles with substance abuse, but he has also enjoyed one of the most fruitful recovery journeys. His acting career has now spanned a full four decades, with roles in both blockbusters and critically-acclaimed movies cementing his status as an A list actor. His filmography boasts a truly diverse array of roles, from Tarantino arthouse movies to the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy.
Despite a damaging crack cocaine addiction and an early career riddled with challenges and setbacks – not least of which being a childhood stutter that persisted into adulthood – Samuel L. Jackson is now one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, even though he is entering his golden years.
Early Experimentation with Addictive Substances
The pursuit of a passion for acting ignited during childhood by an aunt led Samuel L. Jackson to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta in the mid-1960s. While he initially studied marine biology, the lure of the stage proved irresistible. Jackson switched his major to drama, took on some theater work and started to overcome his speech impediment.
Samuel L. Jackson’s college years were marked by an era of change that culminated in the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. This shocking event prompted Samuel, along with other students at Morehouse, to demand reforms at their college. Regrettably, this resulted in Jackson’s temporary expulsion and legal issues. Despite this setback, Samuel returned to college and completed his degree in drama.
By the late 1970s, Samuel L. Jackson had met LaTanya Richardson, an actress who would become his life partner. The couple relocated to New York City to tackle the challenge of pursuing acting careers while also building a life together. The harsh reality of life in an expensive city for struggling actors prompted Samuel’s first use of addictive substances as a coping mechanism. This was to open the floodgates for decades of substance abuse.
Embed from Getty ImagesNew York: Substance Abuse as a Coping Mechanism
One of the main reasons for Samuel L. Jackson moving to New York City was the limitations of roles offered to him in the South – stereotypical or minimal parts in which he had no interest.
Despite joining a theater company for people of color and immersing himself fully in NYC’s off-Broadway scene, he was still unhappy with the quality of the roles that came his way. 1981, though, was a turning point for Samuel L.
Jackson met Spike Lee and Morgan Freeman while living in New York City. Both men were already well established within the entertainment industry. Morgan Freeman became Samuel’s mentor, urging him to set his sights higher when it came to acting. Spike Lee was a film student at NYU and he introduced Jackson to his visionary film projects, setting the foundation for future collaborations that would give Jackson’s career a welcome jolt.
Like many actors in the 1980s, Samuel L. Jackson was using a variety of addictive substances. His life at this time was still chaotic. As well as trying to get his acting career off the ground, Samuel also married LaTanya and the couple welcomed their daughter into the world in 1982. Just like many others, Jackson started using drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism.
Samuel had first experimented with recreational drug use aged 15. His use of substances escalated when he moved to New York in the late 1970s, a permissive period that witnessed relatively widespread drug use, especially among the acting community. By the 1980s, Samuel was drinking heavily, and he was also using marijuana and LSD. At this time, he also started freebasing cocaine, something that would create mayhem in his life for the following two decades.
Samuel L. Jackson did not consider himself a crack addict, though. Rather than buying small rocks of crack cocaine on a daily basis, Samuel would purchase larger amounts of powdered cocaine which he would cook into freebase cocaine himself at home. Despite this self-justification, Jackson found that abusing cocaine became more and more damaging.
In 1991, after almost twenty years of substance abuse, a sordid incident served as a wake-up call for Samuel: his wife and daughter, then aged 8, found him unconscious in the kitchen of their home, surrounded by the paraphernalia associated with crack cocaine.
After a low-key stint in rehab that same year, Samuel L. Jackson has been sober ever since, openly sharing his inspiring story to help others facing similar struggles.
Samuel L. Jackson Sobriety: Thriving Rather Than Surviving
Before his meltdown and subsequent recovery, Samuel L. Jackson only secured small parts in movies. Although his credits by this time included Coming to America and Goodfellas, he was not yet a household name in Hollywood. Once he sobered up, though, his life and career took a turn for the better.
Only two weeks after leaving rehab, Jackson was offered a role in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever. He played a drug addict and was able to draw on personal experience to flesh out the role. Hollywood players started paying attention by this stage.
In 1994, Quentin Tarantino offered Jackson a leading role in Pulp Fiction alongside John Travolta. This classic movie reinvigorated Travolta’s career and showed off Samuel L. Jackson’s talents to the world. After this, many offers of major roles in big movies began pouring in.
Now worth in excess of $200m million, it’s remarkable to consider that Samuel L. Jackson’s career only started getting traction after he sobered up at the age of 43.
While Jackson has conclusively shown that long-term sobriety has delivered critical acclaim, financial success, and global fame, he readily admits that he is not completely free of cravings and temptations for drink and drugs. Although he reports dreaming about relapsing, Samuel L. Jackson remains proudly sober today, living the best version of his life in ongoing recovery.
Start Getting Sober Today at Gratitude Lodge
When you are committed to recovery, we can help you from detox to discharge at Gratitude Lodge in Southern California. We have pet-friendly treatment facilities conveniently located in Long Beach and Newport Beach where you can engage with evidence-based addiction treatment away from the distractions and triggers of everyday life.
Begin your recovery from drug addiction or alcoholism with supervised detoxification. Over the course of one week, you’ll address the issue of physical dependence with access to medications and continuous care, both clinical and emotional.
During ongoing inpatient treatment, you can access personalized treatments that include:
- Medication-assisted treatment
- Talk therapies like CBT and DBT
- Group therapy
- Holistic therapy
- Family therapy
- Individual counseling
- Aftercare planning
Call 800-994-2184 and begin your recovery right away. You can also learn about other celebrity addiction recovery stories, like Daniel Radcliffe and Ben Affleck’s sobriety right here on our blog site.
