Actor Samuel L. Jackson said that the love of his family helped him "become the man" he was destined to be and put an end to his addictions.
During an interview with People magazine, the movie star and his wife of 41 years, Broadway actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson, talked about his love, his current life and what they have faced together.
Although today Jackson's films - including franchises such as 'Star Wars', 'Avengers' and 'The Incredibles' - have collectively grossed more than $18.5 billion worldwide, making him The highest-grossing actor of all time, during the beginning of his career he went through many difficulties.
According to what the actors told the publication, Samuel was addicted to drugs during the beginning of their marriage, so he was not emotionally available to his family.
"I basically moved into the basement of our house. He was like the basement troll and every once in a while he would go up and do something. He was addicted and crazy," Samuel said.
The actor said that LaTanya insisted that he go to rehab: "She didn't have to help me. She could have just said, 'Go away,' and leave me in the world, let me go and be whatever."
But for LaTanya, 72, that wasn't an option: "I couldn't do it because I felt like God had spoken to me and said, 'You can't leave this young man like this. Give him some help. And then, if you want to leave it, go ahead.'”
Through good and bad times, the couple has stayed together, which is why they have now worked on producing the Apple TV+ series, 'The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey', a drama starring Samuel playing a man with dementia caused by Alzheimer's.
The couple hopes that the production will generate a deeper understanding of this disorder: "It was important for us to tell this story and show that there is a life behind these people that must be explored," said the actor.
