The details of ‘Mighty Ducks’ star Shaun Weiss spiral into meth addiction and homelessness

Shaun Weiss speaks openly about his battle with addiction.

The former child star, best known for his role as goalkeeper Greg Goldberg in the Mighty ducks Film franchise, publicly struggled in recent years. His methamphetamine and heroin addiction led to homelessness and multiple arrests. He has made progress in his recovery, which he detailed when speaking to Addiction Talk. Now two years sober, he said he feels “born again.”

Weiss admitted it’s “hard to see” that the photos of him from the three years he’s been battling addiction are unrecognizable.

“I looked awful and deadly,” he said. At the time, he didn’t know what he looked like and explained that he avoided looking in mirrors or at his reflection for months. When he finally did it was “jerky”.

He shrank to 96 pounds and “was infested with bugs in my hair,” he said. He would steal $1,000 worth of electronics every day to support his habit. “That’s not normal. This isn’t like taking a bunch of extra pills. This is a very serious problem… I was in terrible shape. I’d probably die if those nice sheriff’s deputies didn’t step in and save me,” referring to his 2020 arrest for breaking into a car while high on meth. (He had previously been arrested twice for petty theft and possession of methamphetamine in 2017 and twice for public intoxication and shoplifting in 2018.)

Weiss said he drank alcohol and smoked weed when he was young, but his world didn’t start rolling until a perfect storm hit – his father died, he split from his fiancée, a job he had been working at, failed and he could not afford a new place to live.

“It was like the perfect convergence of many things,” he said. “And it was really too much for me.” He said he was heartbroken and felt like someone was sitting on his chest. When he first tried meth, “it was instant relief” from those suffocating feelings.

He said: “It was a very short time after I first saw a hard drug … until it completely wrapped me up. In less than six months, I was a full-fledged drug addict.”

The story goes on

Living on the streets, he lost his phone – and his contacts. Plus, he admitted, he’d burned a lot of bridges by then. With drugs alone, he had “no one to hold him accountable.” It quickly got to a point “where I was so ashamed of what I had become, of my lifestyle, that I didn’t want to reach out to these people [anyway]. I didn’t want them to see me for who I am.”

During those years, “literally it went through my head: I’m gonna go get that next bag of dope… get high… [and then] I’ll never use again… I’ll climb out of there. I will recover And I had that attitude every day. Every bag I’ve made for three years [I’d tell myself] was the last bag I would ever make. It just went on and on and on.”

He said it got to the point where he was “hopeless” and “didn’t think I would be alive much longer.” He would consider writing suicide notes to his loved ones.

Weiss went into rehab in 2018 and then suffered a relapse. He credits his 2020 arrest as a wake-up call. He spent around 40 days in jail for car burglary and could not imagine doing so for three years, which was the sentence he faced. The judge placed him in a drug diversion program and he began getting the treatment he needed.

He admitted that his original plan was to placate people by “getting sober for as long as it took and then…going and getting high again.” In treatment, however, things began to change. He recalled seeing the 2018 Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges film ben is back in the group room during treatment.

“There’s a scene where a heroin dealer throws a big bag of heroin on the table — and normally I would see that bag and fantasize and wish I could have that,” Weiss said. “This time I saw the bag and I was physically disgusted … I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I started crying and crying.” He realized at that moment that “recovery is possible.”

He said part of his recovery has been self-grooming. He focuses on religion and meditation and has developed a yoga practice. He has a hip injury but enjoys cycling and being in nature. He writes diaries and reads books that inspire him. What he learned in treatment was that he had to try to “create a life from which there is no escaping”.

Weiss said that child stardom — and that he was given so much at a young age — played a role in his addiction.

“It turned me into an adrenaline junkie,” said Weiss, who was living in a sober home after rehab. “Things were a lot more exciting for me than the average 13-year-old — traveling, flying to places, and being in movies. So I was very addicted to the excitement of things. And when that went away, I didn’t really know how to get that feeling. And I’ve found that in drugs – not necessarily the drug itself, but I’m one of those guys who enjoys the feeling of doing something naughty that I shouldn’t be doing. That was a big part of the high for me.”

Also: “I never really appreciated things before. I had a BMW, I wanted a Ferrari.” Whereas today, after surviving it all, “I cherish every breath.

He said the time he was stuck in the addiction is now “blurry.” “I can’t even look back and imagine that was me. It’s like a different person. So I can’t imagine what would have to happen to put me back into a mindset where I no longer care about life and I no longer care about not seeing my loved ones anymore. I can’t imagine going there again.”

He also looks ahead. Weiss, who had a smile enhanced to replace his drug-decayed teeth, is returning to acting. In April he landed his first film role – that of Lionsgate Jesus Revolution — in 14 years. He hopes more roles will follow, but is also thinking about doing his own project that tells the story of his addiction.

He remains grateful Mighty ducks Fans for supporting him through his rock bottom, which kept him going throughout his sober journey.

“I was in a jail cell and the deputy came up and said, ‘Hey man, your fans are really cheering for you,'” he said. “I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I didn’t know what was going on… I was drunk, I was in a cell and that was that little ray of hope for me, knowing that there are people out there who care. That started to grow. At some point I felt my commitment…to make them better.I didn’t want to let these people down because they were invested in my recovery.

He added: “I’m really sorry ducks The fans wanted to see me like this, but I hope my story can be useful. So it’s not just a sad thing that happened. I’m trying to make something out of it.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s Treatment Counseling Helpline at 800-662-HELP (4357)