“As a true artist, you have both the need and the ability to reconnect with your creative energy over and over again. That’s what keeps you alive.”
Dr. Mihaela Ivan Holtz of Creative Minds Psychotherapy adds,
“When you’re disconnected from your creative energy for any reason, you feel like you’re dying inside.
“Simply said, it’s your responsibility to prevent anything or anyone from taking you away from your creative self.”
See much more in article Building Your Most Creative and Satisfying Life in the Arts.
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Danielle Panabaker cautioned in an interview years ago,
“You’d be surprised how many people are headed in the wrong direction in Hollywood, and it makes me very sad to see these people with so much potential at such young ages getting involved in things that they should not be getting involved in.
“I try to surround myself with people who won’t encourage me to do bad things but people change and I’ve lost friendships because of it, because of decisions people have made.
“I prefer to be safe and healthy among so many other things.
“People who would persuade me to be otherwise, I just try and steer clear of.”
[TheStarScoop.Com interview in 2005 / photo from her Facebook page.]
Those “bad things” can include drug and behavioral addiction – as other actors point out:
Another talented actor, Michelle Trachtenberg affirmed,
“You can be successful without drugs, without alcohol.
“You know, I am where I am today because I didn’t get involved in that stuff.
“And I think even if you come from an underprivileged family or not a secure background you can be amazing and successful no matter what.” [Back Stage Pass, Feb 24, 2003]
[Photo from her Instagram.]
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Natalie Portman has acknowledged she has had ”a lot” of life experience, but says the quality is what matters:
“Usually when you hear of someone having experience beyond their years, that has a negative connotation.
“But it hasn’t been for me; it’s been really positive. I don’t feel jaded or that I have a burden of experience.
“I feel the world is so full, and every second so full of life.
“Every minute I’m so stimulated and interested and attracted by the world, sort of in wonder to the world.
“And it’s not related to youth, it’s related to how much you fill up your seconds.”
[Premiere, March, 2005]
Also learn about her class in article Natalie Portman Teaches Acting.
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But there can be strong pressures on young stars to drink or use drugs, even from people who should be protective.
Leelee Sobieski once commented she was shocked at the lengths to which some people in the entertainment business went to please young actors and make them feel accepted and “adult”:
“They kept going, ‘Hey, you want some wine? You want some beer?’
“This one agent said to my friend, ‘Anytime you want some pot, I’ll hook you up.’
“I was shocked…All these grown-ups are working for you. They want to get you into their game.
“They want to make their money off the money that you’re making. And you’re thinking, ‘I should be working in an ice-cream place.'” [tvguide.com, July 24, 1999]
[Photo from article Why Hollywood won’t cast Leelee Sobieski anymore, nickiswift.com, 2017.]
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Some related articles:
Actors and Addiction
Philip Seymour Hoffman admitted he used drugs and alcohol earlier in his life. A lot. “It was all that stuff. It was anything I could get my hands on. I liked it all.” … Actor and recording artist Demi Lovato is “doing well three years after going to rehab for drug and alcohol addiction” she told an entertainment news program.
Drugs and actors and addiction
Maybe all of us need to alter our feelings and state of mind at times. Mountain climbing, skydiving, yoga, using drugs and alcohol are all ways, as noted by psychologist David Duncan in his article Human’s Need To Alter Consciousness.
Artists and Addiction
Quotes by and about Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edie Falco, Russell Brand, Tatum O’Neal, Johnny Depp, Ed Harris, Michael J. Fox, Robert Downey Jr., Faye Dunaway, Carrie Fisher, Colin Farrell, Lynda Carter and other artists, plus comments by psychologists. Also links to resources: books, articles, programs.
Gifted, Talented, Addicted
A number of people with exceptional abilities have used drugs and alcohol as self-medication to ease the pain of that sensitivity, or as a way to enhance thinking and creativity. Sometimes they risk addiction.
Addiction and Creative People
Many creative people have had addiction or abuse problems. Beethoven reportedly drank wine about as often as he wrote music, and was an alcoholic or at least a problem-drinker. Among the many other artists who have used drugs, alcohol or other substances are Aldous Huxley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allen Poe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Allen Ginsberg, composer Modest Musorgski, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Chandler…
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Douglas Eby (M.A./Psychology) is author of the The Creative Mind series of sites which provide “Information and inspiration to help creative people thrive.”
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