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'Actors Would Do That All The Time': Tim Matheson Shares Why He Refused To Become a Coke Addict
In Tim Matheson's memoir Damn Glad to Meet You, the Animal House star reflects on avoiding cocaine while navigating his successful career in Hollywood.
Tim Matheson, who has played the role of Eric “Otter” Stratton in the 1978 comedy movie Animal House, remembers holding on to his career, which stopped him from engaging in cocaine addiction prevalent during the era of drug dependence in Hollywood. He talks about the rampant cocaine addiction in the 70s and early 80s Hollywood and how he managed to steer clear of such dark temptations.
In an interview with Page Six concerning his new memoir, Damn Glad to Meet You, the actor stated that even though he tried cocaine a couple of times, his drive to succeed in acting prevented him from getting carried away.
The Primetime Emmy Award-nominated actor told the outlet, “I worked hard when I worked and then I’d play but I would never do anything to affect my work because it was so important to me."
Matheson shares that he knew actors “who would get stoned on their way to a Broadway theater and could do a whole play and actors would do that all the time,” but he couldn’t do that.
Matheson went on to say that living paycheck to paycheck as a new actor who hadn't reached stardom yet was not ideal and misuse of drugs could end up greatly affecting his performances. Whereas some of his contemporaries gave in to the effects of the drug, Matheson kept his distance.
The West Wing star remembered growing up during a time when everyone thought cocaine had no harmful side effects—a thought that history has proved absolutely wrong—the untimely death of his co-star in Animal House, John Belushi. Belushi's death at the age of thirty-three due to overdosage of drugs is just one testament to this fact.
However, he did not allow the troubles of the industry to get to his head and instead built a lasting legacy. After appearing as a child actor in Jonny Quest, he gained prominence in Animal House before moving on to other well-received roles, including that of Vice President John Hoynes on the television series The West Wing in the 2000s, which earned him two Emmy nominations.
Tim Matheson believes that his ambition not to be taken to drugs and other vices enabled him to achieve a lot professionally, mainly because he knows that addiction had the real potential to destroy his professional life. His memoir, Damn Glad to Meet You, recounts such episodes and explains how he was able to maneuver through Hollywood and avoid the vices that a lot of his contemporaries fell for.
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