Kristen Johnston Admits She Was a 'Hot Mess' While Filming Iconic 'S-- and the City' Role

Kristen Johnston admitted she was struggling with substance use when she filmed her unforgettable S-- and the City appearance as Lexi Featherston.

Asked whether she was sober while shooting the episode, Johnston gave a blunt answer.

"No," she said during a recent appearance on the "Dear Chelsea" podcast. "I was a hot mess."

Johnston said her substance use at the time did not mirror Lexi's behavior entirely, but she was far from stable.

"I was just kind of messy," she said. "I was doing a lot of drinking after theater, lots of wine, and the occasional foray into cocaine."

The Guts writer recalled that performing onstage and working late nights contributed to the pattern.

Johnston also made clear that she was not using drugs during every workday.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, never," the veteran sitcom star said when asked if she used drugs or alcohol while filming scenes.

The actress traced her relationship with substances back much further than her S-- and the City role.

"I was an addict since I was a kid," Johnston said, explaining that she "just needed to escape always."

"I did not like being in my skin," she added.

The Austin Powers actress said learning how to live without drugs eventually meant finding other ways to fill the hours that had once revolved around obtaining and using substances.

At one point, she found herself asking what people actually did with their evenings without drinking.

"You have to just think of other things to do with your time," Johnston said.

Johnston previously described how consuming her addiction became during the height of her career.

While starring on 3rd Rock From the Sun, she said she was "popping 10, 20, 30 pills a day."

She later compared her relationship with opioids to an abusive relationship, describing an on-and-off cycle that eventually became severe.

Johnston has now been sober for years and has spoken publicly about the difference between the life she once lived and the one she has built since.

Her sister, Julie Herschede, also struggled with addiction and died in 2020, adding another deeply personal dimension to Johnston's reflections.

Johnston joined S-- and the City in its sixth season, appearing as Lexi, an old acquaintance of Carrie Bradshaw.

Lexi became an instant standout after turning up at a fashion party and complaining about getting older.

"I'm so bored I could die," she famously told Carrie before sitting on a windowsill, smoking a cigarette and accidentally plunging to her death.

The episode aired in 2004 during the show's final season.

S-- and the City was one of television's most influential comedy-drama series of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The show followed four women navigating friendship, careers and relationships in New York City.