‘Halloween’ Actress Jaime Lee Curtis Reveals How Plastic Surgery Led Her To Have This Insidious Condition That Many People Suffer From

Addiction stories are not at all unique in Hollywood. Many stars battle substance abuse issues both away and in the limelight. One of them is veteran actress Jamie Lee Curtis, best known for her starring role in the iconic horror movie franchise Halloween. She retells her amazing story of addiction to sobriety in a recent interview for the cover story of Variety magazine.

Road to Addiction

Curtis’ got her first movie role in John Carpenter’s Halloween around the age of 20

As the 61-year-old actress and bestselling children’s book writer shared, her struggles began as a young woman in the entertainment industry. Although she was the daughter of two well-known names in Hollywood, Curtis wasn’t spared the criticism that performers often get.

She particularly recalls an instance when a cameraman made some comments about her ‘puffy eyes’ that ultimately led her to get plastic surgery.

According to the star, she felt so embarrassed when the man said that he couldn’t shoot her because of how she looked at the time. This was also when her addiction to the prescription drug Vicodin, which she began taking as a painkiller after the surgery.

Looking back, Curtis remembered thinking how the operation wasn’t really that painful and the drug was made to treat severe pain. Her story will resonate with the estimated 2 million people who eventually developed an addiction to painkillers after being prescribed to take them.

Shared Secret

The renowned actor passed away at age 85 due to a cardiac arrest in 2010

The actress’ struggles continued on for years although she became quite good at hiding it. In fact, she even describes herself as a ‘wildly controlled addict and alcoholic’ at the time. She also shared how she stopped her habit when she had to work and that no one knew about her substance abuse issues.

However, things came to a head when she happened to read an article called ‘Vicodin, My Vicodin’ on Esquire published in 1999. This prompted her to attend recovery meetings and work on getting sober despite the fear of being recognized and outed to the tabloids.

At the same time, she took notice of her father, ‘Some Like It Hot’ actor Tony Curtis, and his own struggles with addiction. According to Curtis, Tony turned to harder substances as well as alcohol. Meanwhile, her brother Nicholas had his own battle with drugs and, unfortunately, died of an overdose years earlier.

Road to Sobriety

Curtis has been married to her director husband Christopher Guest for 35 years. She credits him and the rest of her family for being supportive of her journey to sobriety

Luckily, she was able to pull through the dark time. Curtis is now celebrating almost 20 years of sobriety and seems to show no signs of coming back to old habits.

She even shares about her continued efforts to stay away from her old poison by asking hotels to refrain from leaving the mini bar in the rooms she stays in while traveling. ‘I bring sobriety with me’, Curtis says. What more, she also still attends recovery meetings when she feels like she needs to.