Once upon a time, actor Shaun Weiss was a successful actor. You might remember him as Greg Goldberg from “The Mighty Ducks” movies. He was in all three of them.

Years later, Weiss’s life took a nosedive. He ended up homeless and addicted to drugs. Thankfully, he has made a full recovery, and he recently talked to host Joy Sutton on “Addiction Talk” about how he ended up hitting rock bottom and how he managed to get treatment and recovery.

First of all, Weiss explained that he doesn’t like to look at pictures of himself when he was at his lowest. He said, “It’s hard to look at. It’s hard to see those images.” He added, “When I see them, they kind of shock me still.”

You might be wondering how it would be possible for Weiss to be surprised at what he used to look like, but he explained that when he was on drugs, “I was avoiding reflective surfaces so I didn’t know what I looked like. I’m not exaggerating.” He added, “I would go for months at a time without seeing myself.”

Weiss realizes that if it’s hard for him to see how he used to look, it must be hard for others to see him like that as well. He said, “It’s hard to see myself like that, and I’m really sorry that Ducks fans had to see me like that.”

Hutton asked Weiss to explain how he went from being a successful actor to a homeless drug addict, and Weiss explained, “The lease on my apartment ran out. My 1 year lease. I didn’t have the resources to go get another apartment, and the person that I was living with, my fiancee at the time, we split up. So, right away, I was displaced, and instead of using all of my wits to try to find a new place to go, I ended up getting addicted to drugs and just neglected where I was staying, what I was eating. I didn’t care.”

He used meth shortly after his breakup with his fiancee. He was having trouble dealing with the breakup and described taking meth as “instant relief.” It took him “less than six months” to go from never using meth before to becoming “a full blown drug addict.”

Around this same time, not only was Weiss homeless and newly single, but his father had also recently passed away, and a job prospect didn’t work out. He explained, “My dad died. My job life fell through, and my personal life fell through” pretty much all at the same time. He said, “It was just too much for me.”

In retrospect, Weiss realizes that he could’ve asked friends and family for help, but instead, he “stayed chasing that next fix” and continued being homeless and struggling with drug addiction.

Weiss also explained that it was hard for him to reach out to anyone for help because his cell phone got stollen. He explained that his possessions would often disappear when he fell asleep. Then, it progressed to the point where he felt so much “shame” due to his living conditions that he no longer wanted to call friends or family for help. He said, “I didn’t want them to see me the way I was.”

Weiss kept telling himself that he would stop doing drugs, but it wasn’t that easy. He explained, “Literally what was going through my mind was ‘I’m going to get this next bag of dope, and then as soon as I get that bag I’m going to get high. I’m never going to use it again. I’m going to contact my people, and I’m going to climb out of this. I’m going to recover.” This went on for three years. He had the same thought every time, over and over again. He added, “Every bag I did was the last bag I was ever going to do.”

Eventually, Weiss got arrested, and he credits the sheriff’s deputies for saving his life. He said, “That’s why I got treatment.” If his treatment wasn’t successful, he knew he was facing up to three years in jail, and he was so scared of being in jail that long that it motivated him to commit to kicking his drug addiction.

Two years later, Weiss is now “living in gratitude” and “appreciates” everything he has including every breath he takes. When asked what he hopes people listening learn from his story, Weiss answered, “Recovery is possible.” He added that “all” he did was “remain open to the process” of recovery.

Weiss is currently doing very well. He said, “I’m loving life right now.” He once again has the acting “bug” and is also “working on a stand-up comedy act where I tell my story in kind of like the funniest possible way.” Weiss also credits long walks, yoga, journaling and the book “The Artist’s Way” with helping him stay sober.

You can watch Weiss’s full interview with in the video below.