Jamie Lee Curtis forged a strong enough bond with LaKeith Stanfield during the making of Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” that she personally contacted the actor last year when she heard from a mutual friend that he was thinking about sobriety. Stanfield revealed in a new interview with GQ magazine that he struggled with alcohol addiction, which resulted in crippling anxiety whenever he stopped drinking. The Oscar nominee said he hit a low point during the 2020 filming of “The Harder They Fall.”
“I had become completely dependent upon [alcohol],” Stanfield said. “To the point where I wasn’t able to move or function a whole day without having it.”
Curtis and Stanfield did not share many scenes together in “Knives Out,” but they formed an instant connection on set after meeting during a break in filming. Stanfield was smoking a cigarette, and Curtis approached him in an attempt to get him to quit.
“I probably said something to the effect of ‘You’re a gorgeous, talented, smart, young father with huge opportunities ahead of you: Don’t fuck it up by dying of cancer that you can prevent,’” Curtis told GQ.
Stanfield ended up quitting smoking, and he’d hear from Curtis years later during another time when he needed a push toward a healthier lifestyle. Curtis has long been outspoken about her own struggles with substance abuse and has been sober for over two decades.
“My experience is that when you feel you are alone, that’s a very scary feeling,” Curtis said about her decision to reach out to Stanfield in 2021 to support his sobriety. “So what I was trying to say to him was, ‘You are not alone. And if I can be a source of comfort or understanding, then I hope you will allow me to do that.’”
Stanfield took Curtis up on her offer and the two starting having text exchanges more regularly. “She asked me, ‘How old are you?’” Stanfield said about one of their most memorable conversations. “I was like, ‘Uh, about to be 30.’ And she said, ‘No, how old are you from when you became sober?’” He replied: “‘Oh, I’m about seven months.’ And she goes, ‘You’re seven months old. I am 23 years old.’”
Curtis was featured in Variety’s 2019 Recovery Issue, where she spoke candidly about her sobriety. “I have attended recovery meetings all over this world,” the actor said. “I was probably about nine months sober when I made ‘Freaky Friday.’ I put a big sign up by the catering truck, and it said, ‘Recovery meeting in Jamie’s trailer every day.’ I left the door open and didn’t know if anybody would show up. We ended up calling it the Mobile Home Recovery Meeting. It was probably my favorite grouping of sobriety that I’ve ever participated in.”
Head over to GQ’s website to read Stanfield’s latest profile in its entirety.