Jamie Lee Curtis Reveals Opioid Addiction She Covered Up For 10 Years

Jamie, 59, told People that she had a secret opioid addiction that began in the late '80s. "I was ahead of the curve of the opiate epidemic," she said in a new cover interview. "I had a 10-year run, stealing, conniving. No one knew. No one."

The actress first got hooked on opiates after being prescribed painkillers following a minor cosmetic surgery, "for my hereditary puffy eyes," Jamie explained. For the next 10 years, she'd lie, cheat, and steal her way to more opioids. She even stole pills from her friends and family, including her older sister Kelly Curtis.

Kelly was the first person to find out about Jamie's addiction in 1998. Substance abuse runs in the Curtis family. Her father, late actor Tony Curtis, abused drugs and alcohol, and her half-brother Nicholas Curtis died from a heroin overdose in 1994.

But Jamie, who's now been sober for 20 years, wanted to break her family's cycle of addiction. She attended her first recovery meeting in February 1999, telling her husband of 33 years, writer and director Christopher Guest, about her opiate abuse that same day.

"I’m breaking the cycle that has basically destroyed the lives of generations in my family," Jamie said. "Getting sober remains my single greatest accomplishment… bigger than my husband, bigger than both of my children and bigger than any work, success, failure. Anything."

Jamie regularly attends meetings and has made herself available to help others going through the process of getting sober. "In recovery meetings, anyone who brings up opiates, the entire room will turn and look at me, because I’ll be like, 'Oh here, talk to me. I’m the opiate girl,'" she said.

What do you think about Jamie opening up about her struggles with addiction? Let us know in the comments.