Celebrity

More than Just “Hardwork”: James Franco Bares the Truth about Workaholism and Depression

When people talk about addiction, it’s always the drugs, the booze, and the excessive partying, that comes to mind — all the loud, vulgar forms, but never the silent ones. 

James Franco, however, has a different story to tell. 

The award-winning actor, author, director, producer and poet, who deserves to be considered as an artist rather than just an actor, has recently opened up about the addiction troubles that he’s been facing for the most of his career. 

In the cover story of GQ Magazine back in 2017, the artist openly shared about being lonely and how he lost his identity from being unable to separate himself from his professional persona, leading him to have a hard time building relationships with other people.

He said that he is an “extreme workaholic”, claiming that he was “addicted” to work and spent most of his time creating outputs from acting, producing, directing and many other things to have a lot of time away from his “feelings, people, and [him]self.”

The same could be said as he had showed up in 23 movies in a span of just three years, not even counting his works in the other fields besides acting.

A California Childhood 

Growing up in Palo Alto, California, Franco was known to be a rather rebellious kid mostly getting himself into a lot of dangerous situations or having run-ins with the law. “In my first two years of high school, I got into a lot of trouble with the police for minor things: graffiti, stealing, crashing cars”, he said in an interview with The Guardian.

Despite being a tough kid outside of school, the artist was known to be a very smart student inside the campus. Not only did he pass his subjects in high school — he aced them, marking one high score after another. “It was teen angst. I was uncomfortable in my own skin. I was shy. I changed my ways just in time to get good grades.”

After he graduated high school in 1996, he attended the University of California, Los Angeles where he studied English and Drama, and was quick to decide that acting was best suited for him.

It was due to this decision that Franco decided to quit his hardcore party lifestyle entirely. He then shifted his focus mainly on studying and working to find a career in acting.

During this time, Franco used to work night shifts at a local McDonalds fast food chain for a living, soon landing his first major acting role back when he was just 19. It was at this time that Franco swapped his alcohol and drug problem for a work problem.

When Working Hard Becomes Working Bad

Now at the peak of his success, Franco had come a long way from being a 19-year old guy working shifts at a fast food chain to make ends to being a part of numerous blockbuster films bagging countless awards and recognition. He was so good at his craft that he even got a nomination for the most coveted Oscar Award for Best Actor for his role at the cinematic masterpiece The Disaster Artist.

But the ever workaholic Franco never got contented and always felt like there was room for doing something more.

While on the set of his acting projects, he was also holding art exhibitions of video work on the side, in addition to teaching aspiring young actors at various universities like UCLA and NYU. The artist also enrolled in a PhD course to study English at Yale University, wrote books of short stories, collection of poems and novels — all while directing and producing other film projects. 

James Franco’s career is everything you would imagine a movie star’s lifestyle would be: the fame, the wealth, and the privilege to pick jobs that he wanted (and not NEED) to do. It is safe to say that with his hard work and dedication, the artist also played his cards right which came in handy in overcoming the tricky game of Hollywood. 

But just when the artist thought everything was going perfectly according to plan, the work-life imbalance finally started to catch up on him. Franco, although continuously adding to his already-long list of accomplishments, felt like there were some parts of him that seemed to be missing. Still feeling the gap that needs to be filled, he decided not to open up the void with anyone and kept those feelings to himself which proved to be unwise. 

“It was a gradual thing”, the actor said, looking back at the time when he suppressed such emotional struggle. “I hadn’t been in a relationship for a long time and was like, realizing how much I was running from feelings and people. And how much of my identity was wrapped up in work.” 

He worked day in and day out and did nothing else until he reached the point of exhaustion and people around him LOVED him for doing it, not knowing the toll it had on his health and sanity.

“The thing about work addiction is our culture supports it,” he says. “We reward hard work and success. But it can really mask addictive, escapist behavior.”

Though there is no question about his love for what he was doing, the artist actually went to the point where he had no other identity other than his job. He never got involved into a relationship with other people and he never really had the time for himself.

It was due to this “persona” that the people expected to see this type of work ethic on him every single time. Because of the professional, out-and-beyond image he has established for more than two decades (and still counting), everyone would always, always expect Franco to outperform and outwork each and every single person around him.

“Every interview I gave, people would tell me, ‘You’re known for doing all these things, are you a workaholic?’ And what I would hear was, ‘That means you work really hard. You work harder than anybody.”

Though people were seeing his “work ethic” as an amazing thing, Franco, being as smart as he is, quickly knew that this was a problem that needs to be addressed.

He recognized the problem with being a workaholic because it means, as the term suggests, being “addicted to something”. 

“And what’s underneath addiction? It’s about hiding from fear, from pain; it’s doing something to make yourself feel better. That’s exactly what I was doing and I had to really adjust my relationship to work,” he said in the same interview, showing his amazing self-awareness, “It’s really hard. I’m sure, like anything you’re addicted to, letting that go is difficult because it’s a coping mechanism to make you feel good.”

James Franco on the screens vs. James Franco on the streets

Now realizing that he had no time to enjoy because he was too occupied with his job, the artist finally decided to put a little bit of spice on his public persona. 

How did he do it?

Let’s do a takeoff back to 2017 AKA the year Franco was surrounded with gay rumors. 

It all started with the actor acting as a gay man on different occasions which then sparked rumors about him being indeed gay. He then added more fuel to the fire by saying in an interview that he was “gay up until the point of intercourse.” Then, he published a book of poetry entitled Straight James/Gay James to boot. 

“There was also a part of me that embraced that public persona who was just wacky and hard to pin down,” he said. “So I had something to do with it. But that persona also rose around me – it wasn’t as if I could just do that all by myself.”

He said that the public persona that he was portraying is “not him” and he said that he wanted to “have fun with it.”

But the actor was quick to stop and realize that what he was doing is getting a little bit out of control, and is now taking on projects that he “really cares about.” 

Looking back at those moments, he realized that he had been around, doing all sorts of things for a long time now, he was in the Hollywood industry for more than two decades now, and he said that “he’d be lucky if he had two more.”

Not caring about what other people think about him anymore, he is now taking his time to appreciate all the things that he had experienced and just enjoying life for what it is. 

“What I’m really conscious of is that I realize what a great life I have, so I’m truly trying to be grateful. Forty is a big milestone, but I feel like I went through my own version of a midlife crisis – so I don’t think I’ll hit another one at 40.”

Up to this day, Franco has now slowed down with his job and is taking things one at a time. He has now learned a lot with everything that he did and himself at a place where he has time to reflect and for the first time in his life, he finally has time for himself.

Put fame, drugs, alcohol, and childhood trauma, not to mention abusive past relationships together. What do we get?

A battle with addiction nobody knows about.

Known to the industry as “The Queen of Porn”, Jenna Jameson had an amazing run during her film career as an adult performer. She acted in the adult film industry during the early 90’s where she appeared in more than 100 softcore and hardcore films, winning her countless awards and recognition including 5 AVN awards — the porn-equivalent of Oscar’s — with one of her works being the best-selling adult DVD of all time. 

Enjoying her widespread success and popularity, it is almost easy to think that Jameson had it all from the start, and that is exactly where you are wrong. 

A Punishing Childhood

Unlike her performance in her adult films, Jameson’s difficult childhood was not bared to the public. 

Losing her mother at only two years old, Jameson and her brother spent most of their childhood at the trailer with her father and grandfather. Her mother died due to skin cancer, which ultimately led her father to bankruptcy and forced them to live in the trailer. Her father, who was a local sheriff, spent most of his time working. This left Jenna and her brother in the support system of each other.

During her teenage years, the soon-to-be porn star had already endured several sexual assaults and went out to live with her former boyfriend. This started her habitual drug intake.

At only 16 years old, Jameson decided to pull the braces out of her teeth using pliers and created a fake ID to work as an exotic dancer.

Her work as an exotic dancer caught the attention of one of the scouts from The Penthouse and offered her to model in adult magazines. Sensing this opportunity, the pornstar-in-the-making changed her screen name, changing her real surname Massoli to Jameson which is a reference to an Irish whiskey. From there, her career started to take off and the rest is history.

Fight with addiction

Despite being in an environment that will make her prone to abusing drugs and alcohol, the young actress showed little to no signs of being an addict at first. 

The adult performer seemed to be focused on reaching as much success as she can, and around the year 2006, Jenna Jameson co-founded her own site known as ClubJenna. This site was an instant hit and around that time and it immediately earned Jenna an estimated net worth of $30 Million.

It was also around this time that Jenna found her now ex-boyfriend and the father of her two children: Tito Ortiz, a famous UFC fighter. 

The couple was in a loving, monogamous relationship which made Jameson decide to stop acting in adult films to be fully committed to the athlete.

“I was in love with the woman,” Ortiz said when asked about her relationship with Jameson. 

Mesmerized by his love for the actress, the UFC fighter then continued to say, “she is a very smart, very bright woman, [and also] beautiful.”

Unfortunately, their relationship spiraled down when the fighter found out about Jameson’s drug use. Ortiz said in an interview with DJ Vlad that the exact incident reminded him of his parents. 

“She was eating 80 milligrams three or four times a day, and it became an addiction problem that I saw an exact resemblance of my parents,” Ortiz said in the same interview.

He then went on to say that the former adult film star had already spent around a hefty $8 million in total on substances like OxyContins, Xanax, Ambien, Suboxone and alcohol.

After being kicked out by her former partner, the adult film star then found herself living under the roof of her assistant, Britney Markham for a whole month.

In an interview with Radar, her former assistant was asked about the addiction and she responded by saying:

“I realized that Jenna didn’t want help after I became friends with her again and I let her live with me for a month. It was the craziest time in my life. I have never seen someone consume so many Xanax and so much alcohol.” 

And that’s not even the worst part. 

Markham also recounted that Jameson would even ask her or the others to “snort it up” for her as she was “too messed up” to do it herself. “She was also on Ambien and Suboxone. Her doctor cut her off of any prescriptions because she refused to go in and test,” she added. 

The industry that Jameson was working in most certainly didn’t really help her fight with her struggles. The actress found herself being heavily criticized by the public which she took deeply to heart. As a result, her problems with substance abuse grew out of control.

 “When I was young, I listened to every single criticism about my looks, my talent, my personality, even my coping skills, and I adjusted to them to please people,” Jameson explained. “It was tiresome. It depleted me. By the time I turned 40, I felt empty”

The Hill Turn

Still devastated about everything that happened, the actress one day realized that she had to change the course of her life and live better. The actress-businesswoman found herself reflecting about everything that had happened to her, “The past few years I’ve took inventory, I’ve begun to live my life for me, and slowly the true Jenna has come back to life. I forgot who she was. I was scared to show her, to really show her, vulnerable and flawed.”

This was the start of the actress’ change of heart. This time, she finally chose to stop taking opioids and other substances that could harm her health for good. 

But all of these things didn’t come without a struggle. Just as she thought she was coming clean, Jameson found herself sinking into yet another addiction — alcohol. Her withdrawal from drug use made her become reliant on alcohol instead for her to feel better, starting with a single drop of champagne, then to a glass of one, and, later on, a full-on alcohol addiction. 

“Then, as my life got a little more chaotic and a lot of sadness set in, I started drinking to curb that. And, I knew it was getting bad when I started drinking alone.”

Choosing To Be Fully Clean

When she saw the damage that alcoholism was causing both to her physical and mental health, she went out to seek help, volunteering to enroll herself in an addiction treatment at the Hazelden Betty Ford Drug Rehabilitation.

“It was scary,” the actress said when she first went into rehab. “It felt like a defeat,”

While undergoing the treatment, the actress received detox and in-patient treatment which ultimately changed the whole course of her life.

When she finally chipped out — “graduated” from the treatment — she went on to live a completely new life and gave more attention to her health, and her family.

She claims to have had fun during the whole process and when asked about her experience inside the facility, the actress had this to say, “From the minute I went on to attend group meetings, I felt at home and I felt accepted.”

After being totally recovered, there was still a glimmer of fear in the heart. But this time, it is about her overall physique now that she is totally sober. 

According to the actress, being intoxicated all the time made it easy for her to keep her body slim. “I’m being real with you. When I was in my addiction it was easy to stay thin.”

But with a few changes in her diet and her new workout routine, she managed to not only be in shape, but also have an amazing, healthy, and, most importantly, substance-free body.

Up until today, Jameson still goes on to attend some AA and NA meetings and is planning to live sober for the rest of her years.

Got an amazing recovery story to share? We are all ears for you! Let us know your stories in the comment section and help inspire people in facing their current situation, too. 

“If You Never Know Failure, You Will Never Know Success”: How Sugar Ray Leonard Recovered From Addiction 

A 1976 Olympic gold medalist. A 5-division world champion. A record holder of 36 wins, with only 3 loses and 1 draw, with 25 of his wins coming by way of knockout. A hall of famer. A fitting match for the legends in the likes of Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Wilfredo Benitez and, in their now famous trilogy, Roberto Duran.

Only a handful of people have the accolades that a man like Sugar Ray Leonard has in his resume.

This earned him the right to be considered as a legend in the field of sports and one of boxing’s all time greats.

Taking on the alias of another legend carrying the same nickname, “Sugar Ray” began mesmerizing the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s boxing scene as soon as he stepped on the canvas. 

Although gifted with an amazing talent, the boxing champ only wanted at first to compete in the Olympics and then go straight to college. 

But life had different plans for him. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofibiRX4ds

Shortly after he competed in the 1976 Olympics, his father, Cicero Leonard, fell ill. The situation then forced him to continue his stint in the sport of professional boxing in order to sustain the survival of his family.

His brilliance in the boxing ring, together with his confident, unassuming and overall “good guy” demeanor during matches, greatly helped him in winning not only the fights but also the hearts of the audiences, above all else. 

However, as time went by, the boxer, just like any other legends, had his fair share of lowlights both inside and outside of the ring.

When the Champion Becomes the Defeated

Not even legends like Sugar Ray are spared from facing a lot of demons on their own. 

The legendary boxer, at the height of his prime, suffered a devastating injury after a fight with another one of the boxing greats, Tommy Hearns. Leonard unfortunately had severely damaged his retina, to the point of detachment, even, and was warned by the doctors that if he would continue to fight — which is what he loved the most and felt the most confident at doing — he might be taking the risk of being blinded permanently. 

The disheartened athlete in turn began losing his mental soundness. Relying mostly on drugs and alcohol to save him from the pain of hearing the news, the once driven champ had lost every single amount of motivation left within him and ultimately decided to turn his head away from the sport he loved the most.

This turning point of his life led him to spending most of his time in the worst possible way — intaking insane amounts of cocaine and vodka, losing all his earnings amounting to more than $100 million for the vices, and completely abandoning any care he had about what taking such substances would do to his body. 

And it only gets worse from there.

Now a very frustrated man, the battle between his health and career started sinking deep. His slowly yet steadily dying marriage did not mix well with his pivotal eye injury, pushing him further to desperately look for something to help him with the suffering he was going through.  

The Gift of Having an Iron Chin: When The Legend Refused to Get Knocked Out

From being forced to retire at the height of his career to being totally absorbed by his drug and alcohol addiction, the boxing champ managed to prove his greatness once more both in the ring and in real life as he made his comeback to the squared canvas after he beat his own demons.

Unfortunately, while he was gone, the boxing scene had already changed face. Fighters continued to  evolve and improve over time, leaving the once acclaimed boxer on the sidelines.

As a natural born fighter, Leonard struggled to tame his fighting instincts and continued to fight despite aging. And, as expected, the said match didn’t end on a favorable term, garnering two losses and a draw in his last three/four fights.

Leonard, unable to catch up, had to see reality for himself the hard way.

The fighter went on to take the decision to retire for good as he lost his precious middleweight title in a final, deciding match in 1991 to Terry Norris, a rising boxing star at the time. 

“It’s no longer my time,” he proudly admitted defeat as he finally put his career to an end. 

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The boxer admitted in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that he had “many moments and many nights where, I will wake up and I won’t remember what the hell just happened that night.”

He then said that one of the main reasons why he got his hands on drugs and booze is because he was nowhere near feeling satisfied. 

“I wasn’t happy,” the boxer said in an interview with Hotboxin’, “as much as I had [possessions], I had low self-esteem. I didn’t feel good about myself and when I tried or was offered cocaine, it was one of those missing ingredients that I needed to feel better about myself. Then, alcohol became an issue because to me, alcohol and cocaine mix very well,” he then added.

Leonard openly admitted in that same interview that he nearly lost his mind because of the continuous, abusive intake of cocaine and alcohol, revealing he “nearly went over the bridge” as such self-destructive behavior became a habit he did every single day.

The boxer’s ex-wife, Juanita Leonard, used to say to her now former husband that he’s “two different people”  as he has been a different person when he was inside and when he was outside of the ring. This apparently struck a nerve with Leonard, causing him to seek help for his growing alcohol problem.

The former champ’s addiction got into an even more serious case after he finally decided to hang up the gloves and leave boxing for good. Facing the weight of his feet walking away from his passion, the boxer admitted that fighters like him had to “leave the ring they have dedicated all their lives into” all of a sudden and next thing they knew, they were already “burdened by drugs and alcohol”. 

Looking back to what it had been, the former boxing icon had a hard time shifting his focus back to the thing he treasured the most, leading him to make one bad decision after another.

Saved By The Bell: The Boxer’s Greatest Comeback of All Time

“I wanted my mother and father to see their son sober again before they left this earth for good,” Leonard shared as he talked about how he finally decided to cut drugs completely off his life.

In  his self-authored article entitled What We Need Now, More than Ever, the hall-of -fame boxer wrote that he almost “slipped out of sobriety” again after his father’s passing.

“When you’re an alcoholic, it’s times like those that test you the most. When you’re seeking comfort. When you’re confused or in pain. When the shit hits the fan.”

But, despite all the temptations, the boxer went on to live the next 14 years of his life completely sober — free from all the things he thought were an escape. He realized that all those things that he was turning into when things got bad were exactly the  problem.

Now a wiser man, he has been actively sharing about what it feels like to experience battling addiction. He also helps out other athletes like himself to avoid the things that he did back in his heydays. While continuously showing support and giving out a helping hand to those athletes who are going through the same problems that he used to struggle with, Leonard became a living proof that coming clean is possible. 

Do you happen to know someone who had to go through a similar thing? Let us know their recovery story in the comment section and help improve the lives of others through shared experiences.

The Heartthrob Drunkie: The Story Behind Rob Lowe’s Fight Against Addiction And Alcoholism

From being an actor, director and a movie-producer, it seems like the famous 80’s heartthrob has his hands all over the film industry.

But, despite the success he is known for today, it is no secret to many that the actor didn’t have an easy road to the top. He tried out for a lot of roles which didn’t necessarily have the same success as his other famous films.

Which leaves us asking: How did the Brat Pack member find his way to the main lights?

From a Brat Pack Kid To a Certified Heartthrob

Continuously working to find the role that would make him well-known, Rob Lowe got his first ticket to fame when he played the savvy saxophone musician in the movie St. Elmo’s Fire (1985). The film was a great hit and had been received well by the public, earning him the rights to be hailed “a certified heartthrob” during the 80’s.

Following this success, the then 21-year old Lowe began to star in one blockbuster film after another, starring in several iconic films like About Last Night (1986), Oxford Blues (1984), The Outsiders (1983), Square Dance (1987), and Bad Influence (1990), among others. 

But just like most celebrities, the fame, money and celebrity lifestyle took its toll on the life of the actor. From being an average guy to a movie star overnight, the actor developed a habit of being a party animal.

The actor was no stranger to alcohol, in fact, his first sip of liquor came when he was only 5 years old. The actor would describe alcohol as “terrible, yet amazing at the same time.” 

To add to that, being a part of the clique “the brat packs” which is a group of good looking young stars who played roles in coming-of-age movies like The Outsiders made him even more familiar with alcohol. 

During the span of said movie, adults on the set would casually pile up huge amounts of alcohol in front of the young stars on set letting them drink as much as they want.

From the Bad Influence to Under the Influence

Despite the fame, fortune, and success that Lowe went on to achieve, the actor seemed to be unhappy and dissatisfied with all the things that he accomplished.

Confused about the feeling of dissatisfaction, Lowe vented all his emotions in the traditional celebrity style, using drugs and alcohol as his way out, turning him into a “total drunkard”.

In an interview with Larry King, the actor was asked about the reason why he did drugs despite the success he’s had. Lowe then replied, “Because, for people like me who are IN recovery, you are born feeling empty.”

He then continued saying, “You are looking unconsciously, or consciously for something to fill that, and if you want to be an actor, or an artist or a musician, you think ‘Man, if I ever make it, it will fix me.’”

According to the actor, the fame and success he accomplished never really helped him patch a hole in his feelings. Hence, he found it in drug use and alcohol intake.

Continuing to use such substances, the actor never stopped living a wild celebrity lifestyle. This caused him to find himself stuck with a bunch of controversies and he soon found himself at the rock bottom.

Lowe was caught doing all sorts of crazy things during the height of his career. He was casually getting smothered with drugs and alcohol on a daily basis. These issues were amplified when a footage of the actor having sexual intercourse with two different women in his hotel room leaked to the public. Apparently, one of the girls that the film star has been messing with was an underaged 16-year old girl. The mother of the girl then went out to sue Lowe who was found guilty and was convicted to serving 20 days of community service.

This led Lowe to lose some of his friends. Not only that, but the actor who was actively engaged with politics and activism lost his most treasured credibility.  “I did a lot of work for a lot of people, and I traveled a lot of miles on behalf of candidates and the party and things like that,” 

This event caused the Hollywood star to think back and reflect towards his life in general, and led him into one of the most amazing decisions that he will ever make.

BEST DECISION EVER!

Living a very miserable life after the controversy broke, the disheartened Lowe was in the process of accepting the fact that he was “done” with his career, and he openly admitted it was due to his “wild ways” that his career had wound down. 

But the world had other plans for the actor. 

While he was on the verge of accepting the fact that his career was over, he suddenly had “a moment of clarity” as he describes it in the same interview with Larry King. 

“I was carrying something around with my wallet. And this was at the time where I couldn’t keep my sunglasses. I was losing my keys 20 times a day. I’m a spastic.” he recalled.

Despite being drunk and miserable, the actor kept something that will change the course of his life forever.

“I was able to keep a drug and alcohol counselors’ card in my wallet for a year. And so when I was ready, I had it, I made the call.”

His Shot at Redemption

Ever since going to the rehab center for counseling in 1999, Lowe has found himself having drastic changes in his life. He successfully stripped out alcohol from his life and is now happily sober for many many years. Around that time, the actor got his second chance with his acting career and has taken a different pathway, successfully transitioning from being a star in the silver screen to now being an equally big shot in the small screen. The actor found huge success in acting in several series like The West Wing (1999-2006), Parks and Recreation (2009-2015) and is also part of a newly televised series entitled 9-1-1: Lone star (2020 -).

When asked about what advice he would give to people with the same problems he had, Lowe had this to say — “Well, in my experience, if you are willing to get honest with yourself, if you are willing to take directions, you can GET SOBER and STAY SOBER.” 

“It’s a very very simple way to go about it. But simple DOESN’T mean EASY,” he added.

Recently on his Instagram page, the actor shared a very heartfelt message about celebrating his 30 years of sobriety:

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CABiElzFuAz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Due to his savage lifestyle back when he was still a kid, the actor learned how to appreciate all the things that he has in his life: his family, his wife, his career, and most importantly, his life. 

Up to this day, he continues to share his experience to serve a helping hand to people who are currently battling with addiction, celebrating his life far away from his old habits while continuously helping out others in getting away with their fixations.

Ever overcome a battle with addiction? Share it with us – Let us know your story in the comment section. Together, let us help others kickstart their way to sobriety.