Why do most celebrities/actors/actresses turn out to be drug addicts

Drug abuse is rampant in Hollywood? No other industry house so many of these people who like doing drugs. Why is it so many celebrities turn to drugs? Is it the stress?

One reason is because they can afford it. And frequently they're given drugs for free, just by virtue of being a celebrity. John Belushi, who died at age 33 of a speedball overdose, practically had cocaine thrown at him wherever he went. Of course, there's always the excuse of "boredom" and "stress relief" for the use of drugs. But that's crap. Celebrities indulge in drugs to excess because they CAN.
I can't help myself!!!
Morley%20Safer
Easy, OP: 1) Lots of free time 2) Lots of "job stress" (e.g. last movie underperformed, difficult role) 3) Lots of fucked up family histories that may have spawned an escape from trauma 4) Way to deal with being in the closet
Low I. Q., big egos and lots of money.
Plus, don't you think you have to be a bit more "emotional" to be an actor? Melanie Griffith once said she thought actors felt things on a much deeper level than us simple folk.
[quote]Melanie Griffith once said she thought actors felt things on a much deeper level than us simple folk. She has nerve, calling other people "simple." I doubt Melanie Griffith yet knows all the colors and shapes.
Agree with R1. Mostly because they have better access and more powerful enablers. Those are really the only differences. Other factors (such as being sad, stressed, and/or exploited) apply to everybody.
No, no, no . . . "Simple" was my word. I have no idea what word she used. And she wasn't trying to be snarky. At the time, I thought her response made sense.
[quote]Plus, don't you think you have to be a bit more "emotional" to be an actor? Melanie Griffith once said she thought actors felt things on a much deeper level than us simple folk. Don't be a fool. NO. Miley Cyrus also asserted this a couple years ago.
I think a lot of actors have quite low self esteem, actually.
R10, Quite a few actors have said that acting is for particularly insecure people. However, they obviously compensate by being clinically narcissistic.
Is that true Op, or do you just hear about it more that the non-celebrity addict. They are out there but you just don't read about it in a tabloid.
"Why do most celebrities/actors/actresses turn out to be drug addicts" They don't. The percent of drug addicts in shobiz is not any higher than the percent of addicts in most other professions. You people are just making generalizations.
r13 is right. the rest of you sound like fraus in middle america who read tabloids and eat olive garden
We hear about drug use among actors/celebrities more often because they're public figures. In reality, drug use occurs everywhere, among people from all walks of life.
Right, but drugs flow freely (pun intended) for VIPs. I feel like drug culture is much more homogenous in certain professions.
R14 Eats phlegm quesadillas at Applebees.
They also do it to keep their weight down.
I think it depends more on the profession. I'm a college professor with a PhD in comparative literature, and just in my department alone, I know seven people who are in recovery. I'm actually one of them. Oxys and Roxis called my name EVERY DAY for a long time.
Well, I think most actors, at least the ones I met when I was working with regional theatre companies, are very fragile, unstable people. They may give you the impression they're solid, and affable etc. but that's their game face. They're always "selling." They're plagued by self -doubt and an unusual need for approval. They get a lot of rejection. A lot. They work in an industry where the unemployment rate is over 90%. Even if they have a couple of projects that are successful, or even wildly successful, they always feel illegitimate, and that it can all go away. All these famous actors you see out here? They are fronting tough. They are driven, ambitious, and even desperate in ways you can't even imagine. Look at Bradley Cooper. great example. You don't have to be wealthy & successful to be attracted to drugs.
Well if you worked at regional theatre companies r20, then you are truly qualified to make such a blanket statement based on the people you met. Thanks!
Most really creative people are big drug/drink addicts. Truman Capote hypothesized that it was because they look at things from all different sides and angles whereas "normal" people just see one image. They use something to slow down the pictures.
Working backwards through this hypothesis, I am a celebrity.
Creative people take drugs because they're so perceptive and sensitive? Bitch, puhleeeze!
Enough%20with%20the%20dumbass%20generalisations
Money and boredom. And the trailer trash mentality. 90% of celebs came from modest means; they don't know any better. Also - being subjected to sexual abuse as children tying to get into the biz.
Agreed. Wholeheartedly.
Yeah, getting into show business and STAYING in it could contribute to forming a concentrated group of paradoxical self-loving/self-loathing people, but it's not because they are more sensitive or creative than an "average" person. They're not. That's ridiculous.
R3, you forgot "keeping your weight down". Seriously, IMHO that's a big part of it, particularly for women. Young actresses are supposed to be extremely underweight to photograph well, a size 0 or 00, and cocaine and adderall will kill the hunger pains and make it easy to stay camera-ready.
Dieting is a gateway drug!
Was it this way before Hollywood? I know many actors have always been drunks (before drugs) but many more have not... I've read a little about the British stage and someone like Richard Burton or Oliver Reed would not have been out of place in Victorian theaters, but there are plenty of level headed Judi Dench types to balance that out.
Christ you flyover idiots kill me. Does it occur to you that the media isn't interested in covering insurance salesmen who are drug addicts?
R30, Um. I'm not a flyover. Maybe OP could have worded the thesis better, but come on. Yes, ALL types of people are addicts, and it's common. But higher percentages of people involved in certain groups are likely to use drugs, for a variety of convenient reasons.
[quote]No other industry house so many of these people who like doing drugs. Musicians. And writers, whose drug of choice is usually alcohol.
I have worked in the entertainment industry and managed restaurants. There are ALOT more drugs used in restaurants.
Melanie Griffith is right, artists need to feel things on a deeper level and are more sensitive (whether actors are really artists is questionable, since it's really a craft, as an actor you're not creating anything, you're mouthing other people's words).
[quote]Plus, don't you think you have to be a bit more "emotional" to be an actor? Melanie Griffith once said she thought actors felt things on a much deeper level than us simple folk. She's also an uneducated idiot. "Artists" are not more sensitive or emotional than anyone else.
[quote]Does it occur to you that the media isn't interested in covering insurance salesmen who are drug addicts? I would daresay that one is more likely to be offered cocaine at a recording studio, movie set or music/film industry party than in an insurance office.
But the ones who truly feel empathy are often those who have genuine passions for, say, special education and various human services. But interestingly enough, many of these people also seem to make good actors with a little nudge of direction. At the best improv joint I'd ever been to, the most brilliant performers were a social worker and an occupational therapist by day, respectively. But with the exception of some performance types, I think there's very little art in mainstream acting. People who make art their life might be profound, but it is often an exceptionally self-centered and insular profundity. That's to be expected, but it doesn't make them more sensitive than the next person. The manifestation merely shifts.
you people are such morons. r31 for example "higher percentages"? It's simpletons like you with your made up statistics that have lowered the bar in arguments.
Jesus, since when was this an argument, R38? Says the random gay browsing the fucking DL, taking everything literally and to heart. People in certain groups ARE more likely to use. Notice that I didn't specify percentage numbers OR types of groups.
For performers, I think it is the unrealistically high rewards for repeating a predictable performance over and over. New material creates growth, but the audience demands the old standards that created fame. It leads to boredom with lots of money attached. For musicians and actors, I think some of it stems from dealing drugs to make ends meet when they are starting out. I hear rumors about actors being former sex workers, but I wonder if they were actually dealing and the sex was secondary to gaining access to deep pockets for their product. Also, success means having staff to manage that success. Having people to manage your money, career, home, and social life is wonderful when you're working a 16 hour shift for 60-90 days. When the job ends, however, what do you do with your time besides promote yourself? Finally, happy celebrities (like good news items) do not sell media clicks/sound bites/interviews. You don't hear about celebrities who have a well-adjusted personal life because they are boring. Their adopted causes are boring. What comes out of their mouths is boring.
R30 and R38 are right. Go to any shitsville poor suburban area and you will find drug use is absolutely rife. It's everywhere in western society - from rich to poor and in any profession you can name. Drug users are usually people you'd pass in the street without giving a second glance, not some alien species from Planet Hollywood. Only two weeks ago some bar owner friends of mine were talking about a christmas party they hosted for an architectural firm where cocaine was offered to the staff. We only hear about it more in showbiz types because their personal lives are tabloid fodder. You people have been watching too much TMZ.
[quote]We only hear about it more in showbiz types because their personal lives are tabloid fodder. You people have been watching too much TMZ. Drug ADDICTION seemingly exaggerated? Probably. Drug use? No.
I agree with some reasons offered. I also think that creative types and people in out-of-the-ordinary professions tend to be more risk takers and trying drugs is another adventure they're willing to risk. I don't think they start off wanting to be an addict.
What R12, R41, and others have said.