American Pie star Jason Biggs shares sad ‘vodka trick’ he’d use to hide alcoholism
The 47-year-old actor has bravely opened up about how he coped with the addiction
American Pie star Jason Biggs has candidly opened up about the measures he would take in order to conceal his alcoholism from those around him.
Biggs, who is now 47 years old, skyrocketed to fame in the late '90s after landing the role of Jim Levenstein in the hit American comedy film franchise at the young age of just 21.
He's since gone on to star in a number of other blockbuster smashes and critically acclaimed TV shows including My Best Friend's Girl, Orange Is the New Black and Saving Silverman.
Now, while American Pie helped launch his career in Hollywood, Biggs explained that the immense success of his breakout role resulted in severe substance abuse issues, leading him to engineer certain strategies to engage in his addictive behaviour under the radar.
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In a recent interview on The Blocks Podcast with Neal Brennan, released last week (8 October), the actor opened up about one particular 'vodka trick' that allowed him to drink copious amounts of alcohol without his peers noticing just how large his intake was.
"My alcoholism was the kind where... let's say we were having a party. I would drink myself upstairs straight from the vodka bottle, just enough to get by buzz on that I could go down to the party, then have a beer in my hand and everyone else would think [I was on my] first beer, beer number 1, but I'm already buzzed enough to where I could sort of hang and party," he explained.
Over the years, Biggs has been very open about his struggles with alcohol and drugs.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Well with Arielle Lorre podcast, the father-of-two admitted that people rarely said 'no' to him as a famous actor - something which led him down a dark path.
"I knew where to hide, how to hide, I knew when I would need to call the coke dealer because I was going to drink too much," he recalled, adding that he 'knew how much Ambien (sleeping pills) or Benzo (benzodiazepines) to take' based on the amount of cocaine he had so he would come down from the high, but not die.
In the same interview, he also spoke about one of the 'craziest' things he did in order to satisfy his drug habit.
Biggs recounted a time in his house around 4am while his wife Jenny Mollen was asleep upstairs and he was doing lines of cocaine.
"I was doing cocaine by myself in my house, and I did what I said was the last line," Biggs explained, adding that he threw the remaining Class A substance in the bin.
However, he soon backtracked on the decision mere minutes later.
"Within 15 minutes, as soon as my last bump is wearing off, I’m like, 'What am I doing?' I go into my trash and I take it out and I do a line,” the actor admitted.
Thankfully, Biggs was able to seek help and has been sober now since 2017.
Please drink responsibly. If you want to discuss any issues relating to alcohol in confidence, contact Drinkline on 0300 123 1110, 9am–8pm weekdays and 11am–4pm weekends for advice and support.
Topics: Alcohol, Celebrity, Food and Drink, Health, Mental Health
Rhiannon Ingle