Actor Christopher Lloyd opened up about his struggles with addiction and recovery with BACK TO THE FUTURE co-star, actor and author Michael J. Fox.
“Well, you recovered. We’re both in recovery,” Fox encouraged Lloyd during their conversation for Interview magazine.
The exchange came as the two longtime colleagues discussed Lloyd’s In My Own Time: A Memoir, released Oct. 27 by Grand Central Publishing. The book looks beyond Lloyd’s performances to his childhood, years in theater and struggles with addiction.
Fox raised the subject after asking how Lloyd developed Reverend Jim, his character on TAXI. He then asked whether Lloyd had been drinking during that period, and Lloyd acknowledged that he sometimes had, while describing his alcohol problems as less serious then.
“Yeah. I had a problem,” he admitted.
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The conversation ranged across decades of work before returning to those personal admissions. Lloyd recalled starting in summer-stock theater after high school, studying acting for two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse and pursuing workshops before the screen roles that made him familiar to audiences.
His struggle with drugs began when a woman at a Los Angeles nightclub offered him cocaine.
“I hadn’t been out looking for it, but I said all right. We went out to her car and did a couple of lines. That was all it took. I was hooked almost immediately. I loved it, and that was where my cocaine abuse began,” Lloyd confessed, describing his eventual abuse of cocaine, alcohol and pot as “entrenched.”
Writing that history did not come naturally to Lloyd, who told Fox he had resisted repeated suggestions that he put his life into a book. He ultimately agreed after his wife, Lisa Loiacono, strongly encouraged the idea.
The memoir also gives readers Lloyd’s perspective on the partnership audiences know best. In an excerpt published by Hachette Book Group, he recalled feeling anxious about repeating weeks of work when Fox joined BACK TO THE FUTURE, then finding that their acting chemistry came easily.
“Because it felt natural with Michael, we didn’t have to fumble around and establish a rapport,” he wrote of their work together.
That professional connection provides the backdrop for a much more personal conversation now. The exchange offers a reminder that a beloved performer’s public success does not tell his whole story, and that an honest acknowledgment can meet encouragement rather than ridicule.
Families seeking help with alcohol or drug problems can contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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