Life lessons, secrets and rock-solid faith.
Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis has had a distinguished career in the entertainment industry. Actor, producer and author, she has succeeded in all her endeavours.
But her single most significant accomplishment isn’t her work.
It’s overcoming a ten-year secret addiction to opiates and alcohol.
If it weren’t for a Brazilian healer who caught and confronted Curtis on her addiction, she is sure she would have been dead by now.
Fear, Shame And Denial
Now over twenty years sober, Curtis is compelled to go out there and talk about her recovery because she believes the biggest killer of them all is keeping addiction a secret.
‘If it’s a secret, it will kill you,’ Curtis shares in this powerful interview with The Feed’s Marc Fennell.
‘If it’s not a secret, you may be able to save your own life.’
Because of the shame attached to addiction, Curtis believes it’s the reason why it is such a pervasive illness in society.
‘It is a secret shame that keeps people locked up in their disease,’ she’s quoted as saying. That’s why Curtis believes that addiction isn’t us and the stigma attached to it needs to be removed.
Curtis tells Fennell:
‘It is the most human thing to say I am in trouble, and I need help. We over anaylise it, we over verbalise it, and I think it scares people off because it seems daunting, but I can tell you from my own experience that the single greatest accomplishment of my human life was arresting my addiction to opiates and alcohol.’
When the Student Is Ready
When asked what her advice would be to anyone starting out on their recovery journey, Curtis replied knowingly:
‘The truth of the matter is that nobody is ready until they are ready. Nobody can hear things until they’re ready to hear them. So there would have been nothing I could have said to me that would have helped me at that moment. I had to come to that understanding myself and seek help the way I did.’
This is why Alcoholics Anonymous’s (AA) first step in recovery is: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
But it’s not simply admitting our powerlessness. We have to accept it; the situation isn’t gonna change unless we ask for help. And only we can do that.
And it was no different for me; it was only when I lost all hope of doing the job myself that my recovery genuinely started.
The Hero’s Journey
“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut
Curtis’s gift from her personal journey in recovery is her compassion and insight into the human experience.
Addict or non-addict, we all experience heartbreak and loss, but her message is clear: you have to, deep down, believe you will be okay.
No one makes it through adolescence without serious challenges or trauma or, as Curtis puts it, stepping on ‘broken glass’.
No one.
But the pain has a purpose: to make us grow.
‘This is the process of human evolution.’ Curtis tells Feller.
Curtis is clear that she’s an addict in recovery and has not recovered, but she’s working on it daily.
This has been my experience.
Instead of trying to control the outcome, I learned to be present, trust the process, lean on loved ones for support and have faith.
Thank You
“What is most personal is most universal.” ~ Carl R. Rogers.
In 2021, Curtis received the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 78th Venice International Film Festival and said,
‘I feel so alive, like I’m this 14-year-old person just beginning their life. That’s how I wake up every day with that sort of joy and purpose. I’m just beginning my work.’
When so many high-profile people shy away from talking about their struggles and frailties, Curtis courageously steps over the line of anonymity and privacy into a public conversation about addiction. And in doing so, she lights a path for those still suffering to walk.
By using her platform to share her humanity, honesty, and humility, Curtis’s recovery brings renewed hope and clarity for all.
Thank you, Jamie, for your service.
Click here to watch the entire Jamie Lee Curtis interview with The Feed’s Marc Fennell.
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Darren James 