Ruin and Recovery: Jason Biggs’ Hard-Fought Journey to Getting Clean
Someone who spent his or her teenage years in the late 1990’s up to the early 2000’s would have probably heard – or even binge watched – the American Pie film franchise. This iconic sex comedy gifted pop culture a multitiude of memorable characters including Paul Finch, Chris Ostreicher, Nadia, Kevin Myers, Steve Stifler, Jeanine Stifler aka Stifler’s Mom, Noah Levenstein aka Jim’s Dad, and of course, Jim Levenstein. All thanks to Jason Biggs’ amazing work on portraying the character, Jim Levenstein’s infamous apple pie scene continues to be one of the funniest scenes in Hollywood films. However, while American Pie movies are all jokes and laughter, Jason Biggs’ real life is far more of a serious discussion.
Life before the international hit
Stardom started out early for Biggs. Pre-American Pie fame, Biggs had been acting as early as 5 years old. He is a New Jersey native, born in Pompton Plains to parents Gary Louis and Angela Biggs. His childhood was marked with taking on different acting roles, eventually earning his Screen Actors Guild for his appearance in a Pathmark TV commercial in 1988, gracing the television for the first time. With amusement, Biggs recounted the said acting gig in a 2015 TV Guide interview, saying “I remember I had to eat a doughnut in one of the shots. Over and over again. Awesome.”
But it was not until 1991 that Biggs would land his television series debut. Though short lived, Biggs was able to star in FOX’s Drexell’s Class, lasting only from 1991 to 1992 with 18 episodes. Following his small role in the series, the American Pie star would go on to be a part of HBO’s The Fotis Sevastakis Story when he was 12. The series was set to air but was unfortunately cancelled due to licensing issues. While the series didn’t air, Biggs was able to debut on Broadway in the same year through the Conversations with My Father production. In the years following his debut, Biggs would take on two more roles in various Broadway productions, including The Graduate as Benjamin Braddock in 2002 and The Heidi Chronicles as Scoop Rosenbaum in 2015.
In both the small and silver screen, Biggs had far more appearances. He starred in the 1994-95 soap opera As the World Turns, earning nominations from Daytime Emmy Awards and Soap Opera Digest Award for his role as Pete Wendall. His long list of filmography would then include Loser (2000), Saving Silverman (2001), Anything Else (2003), Guy X (2005) Eight Below (2006), and My Best Friend’s Girl (2008), where he would eventually meet his future wife, Jenny Mollen. He also lent his voice to Leonardo for two seasons of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012-2014). Across 22 episodes, Biggs appeared as Larry Bloom in Orange Is the New Black (2013-2019). In 1996 to 1997, Biggs briefly attended New York University at the same time he was in the TV series Camp Stories. He left shortly after, deciding to pursue his acting career full-time. 2 years later, Biggs would be Jim Levenstein for all the 4 movies of American Pie (1999, 2001, 2003, 2012), which turned out to be his breakout role becoming a pop culture icon worldwide.
Earning the coin: The rocky path to recovery
Despite a seemingly steady-going path, with a successful career and a happy marriage bearing 2 sons, Biggs personal life was not free of controversy and problems.
Apart from starring roles, Biggs also became frequented by controversies following his behavior from 2012 to 2014. The actor, who was a highly active Twitter user, had been repeatedly seen making insensitive statements online on numerous occasions. This counts his distasteful sexual remarks about Ann Romney and Janna Ryan in a Republican National Convention-related tweet, offensive statements about the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and the shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and even an inappropriate tweet about the untimely death of Eric Hill, a The Bachelorette contestant. With all these mentioned, Biggs tried to defend his action in an interview last 2012, claiming that “his real personality is so different from those of the characters he usually plays” and that his humor is “very fucked up”. He later apologized for the tweets.
On a more personal level, the movie star was battling a different problem altogether — alcohol and drug addiction. Though most of the star’s life has been under the spotlight since his childhood, little is known about his struggles. In an article from People last 2018, the now 43-year old actor admitted his toxic encounter with the addictive substances:
“I first tried to get sober over 5 years ago, when the weight of my obsession with booze and drugs became too heavy for me to handle,” the Orange is the New Black star bravely captioned in his Instagram post following his one-year sobriety anniversary, which the actor also realized: “Turns out this shit is hard.”
Biggs recently earned the silver coin from his recovery program after his one-year milestone. His wife for more than 10 years, Jenny Mollen, also celebrated his husband’s achievement by posting on her Instagram account as well.
“So proud of my husband today. Congrats baby. I know how hard you work. I see you. I love you,” Mollen said in a brief yet heartfelt caption, “Thank you for your fight.”
The movie star, on his same Instagram post, also said that “I’m as proud of it as anything in my life.” after running into some “fits and starts” that made him achieve a hard-earned full year of being sober.
As a much fitting conclusion, Biggs ended his message by telling the people who are sharing the same struggle that “there’s help”, and that “don’t be ashamed, we can do it.”
Now more than one year sober, Biggs is currently dedicating his time in acting for the sitcom Outmatched (2020), guesting in The Masked Singer (2020) and hosting for Cherries Wild (2021).
Also nearing your 1-year sobriety anniversary? Share it with us in the comments and inspire others with your progress! Or if you are still struggling why not reach out and speak to a therapist today
Leave a Reply