5 Actors Who Went Sober And Immediately Turned Their Lives Around

One Gen Z trend that I’m most thankful for is sobriety.

It used to be that when non-famouses said they had gone sober, they’d court intrusive questions at best and mistrust or ostracization at worst. If they hadn’t had a melodramatic tragedy happen to them that involved either a public nervous breakdown or a fully shaved head, then people thought their sobriety was a symptom of antisocial disorder or clinical insanity. By the way, you might assume that I’m talking about, like, the 19th century Wild West, but I’m actually talking about, like, 2019.

Of course, successful actors are somewhat removed from the social mores of normals. After all, their baseline mood is already assumed to be clinical insanity. I have always assumed that when an actor puts on a mood ring, it immediately turns the color of the sun and then explodes. My point is that actors can seamlessly hop on edgy trends like sobriety when they’re not yet a cool Gen Z TikTok challenge. Below are some actors who not only went sober before and after it was cool, but managed to turn their career around in inspirational ways.

1. Robert Downey Jr.

His comeback is legendary. Though Downey Jr. already had a promising acting career and an Oscar nomination at the beginning of the ‘90s, he quickly became more famous for his off-camera antics and stints in rehab. His substance abuse nearly derailed his entire career, culminating in his getting fired from Ally McBeal in 2001. It wasn’t until he got fully clean in 2003 that he was able to rebuild his life and star in a string of increasingly high-profile projects, leading to his role as Iron Man. The rest is history. 

2. Bradley Cooper

He’s known as an Oscar darling and clear-eyed leading man these days, but there is an alternate universe in which Cooper never left his mother’s basement. He battled alcohol addiction throughout his twenties, and the self-described angry drunk fell into a stagnant period while working on the show Alias with Jennifer Garner. Hamstrung by his own drunken exploits as well as the usual challenges of being an actor, he considered quitting acting entirely. Then he went sober in the early 2000s and everything changed. Wedding Crashers raised his profile and The Hangover arrived just a few years later.

3. Sam Worthington

Worthington became a household name after starring in Avatar, and eventually parlayed this role into further high-profile movie work. But as the actor would later humbly disclose during the Way of Water press tour, his drinking problem during this era was affecting his career. He wasn’t quite connecting with his work or with audiences, and even got into a few public scuffles. Then he got sober around 2014 and renewed his focus on his family and personal development. Considering he’s got major Avatar sequels and passion projects lined up, I’d say that the hard work has paid off.

4. Lindsay Lohan

Ten years ago, it didn’t even seem possible. But then again, everyone seemed to hold a lot more contempt for young women ten years ago. In that vein, Lohan bore the brunt of the Internet’s mockery for her substance issues throughout the aughts and early 2010s, and even flirted with bankruptcy at one point. The star of Mean Girls, bankrupt! Not very grool. Ultimately, though, Lohan chose herself, and permanently gave up substances in 2015. She’s been on the up and up ever since, and even managed a 2025 box office win with Freakier Friday. The Lohanaissance is the success story that our entire world needs during these dark times. 

5. Samuel L. Jackson

He’s now one of the most reliable and bankable actors alive, but Samuel L. Jackson was once at risk of fading into obscurity. In the 1980s, he was a self-reported mess and nearly lost his family and budding career thanks to his addiction. Then came an intervention, followed by rehab in 1991, and suddenly Jackson was able to break out of obscurity. Thanks to a nudge from Spike Lee, Jackson earned acclaim as a crack addict, natch, in the 1991 Jungle Fever. He has never looked back since.