Natasha Lyonne has been an open book regarding her substance abuse struggles. "Recovery is a lifelong process. Anyone out there struggling, remember you're not alone. Grateful for love and smart feet. Gonna do it for baby Bambo," Lyonne wrote via X in January 2026, referring to the then-upcoming boxing movie she's writing and directing. "Stay honest, folks. Sick as our secrets." She continued, "If no one told ya today, I love you. No matter how far down the scales we have gone, we will see how our experience may help another. Keep going, kiddos. Don't quit before the miracle. Wallpaper your mind with love." The Poker Face star began drinking alcohol and using drugs in the early 2000s while working as a young actor. She ultimately entered an in-patient treatment facility in 2006, where she got sober. After 10 years of sobriety, Lyonne announced in January 2026 that she recently relapsed. Natasha Lyonne Reveals Recent Relapse After Nearly 10 Years of Sobriety Keep scrolling to read Lyonne's candid quotes about her battle with addiction: 'Really Scary' "Spiraling into addiction is really, really scary," Natasha Lyonne told Entertainment Weekly in 2012. "Some things have a very A-to-B scientific effect. Like, alcohol is a depressant. Cocaine is a stimulant. And then: Cocaine plus heroin is bad! That's the point of my story, that's the moral. Coke plus heroin equals speedball. And speedball equals bad, you know?" Remembering Her Past While speaking with EW in 2012, Natasha Lyonne admitted that "it's weird to talk about" her sobriety struggles. "I was definitely as good as dead, you know? A lot of people don't come back. That makes me feel wary, and self-conscious," she said. "I wouldn't want to feel prideful about it. People really rallied around me and pulled me up by my f***ing bootstraps." Returning to Acting After Natasha Lyonne got sober, she booked her first role back in the 2008 off-Broadway play Two Thousand Years. "[The show] really got me back on my feet," she told EW in 2012. "It all sort of happened. I was on Pee-wee's [Playhouse], then I'm 16 and I'm in a Woody Allen movie. I never stopped to wonder if I knew how to act. I had to relearn it all and come by it in a much more honest fashion." Lyonne further told the outlet that her sobriety even affected her comedic chops. "I believe in comedy. The cleaner I got, the funnier things got. Life became crisp, less muted," she said, specifically referring to joining the American Pie franchise. "Though [going to the set, I] did have that feeling of 'Oh, God, what are they all going to look like? And how embarrassing - after what I've been through, I hope they don't search me on the way in.' And no one did! Everyone was really nice." Her Teenage 'Shenanigans' During a 2012 interview with Rosie O'Donnell, Natasha Lyonne opened up about her past drug abuse. "It wasn't even that long, though," she recalled. "Let's say at 16, I'm starting with the shenanigans and the wilding ... if you start when you're 16, it's not so heavy. You show up, you're a little [stoned] and then you move on to the darker stuff. Once you get very dark, like time speeds up because your body simply can't maintain ... the intensity of all that." 'Such an Open Book' "I'm such an open book that I have no problem talking about it and speaking freely, but I've sort of said my piece on the subject," Natasha Lyonne told The Guardian in 2017. "The truth is, at the back of that addiction are feelings that so many of us have, that don't go away. Isn't everyone entitled to a moment of existential breakdown in a lifetime?" She continued, "Adulthood is making peace with being kind to oneself when a response to life that's so much more organic and immediate would be to self-destruct." Her 2026 Relapse "Took my relapse public," Natasha Lyonne tweeted in 2026. "Recovery is a lifelong process. Anyone out there struggling, remember you're not alone." She added, "Stay honest, folks. Sick as our secrets. If no one told ya today, I love you. No matter how far down the scales we have gone, we will see how our experience may help another. Keep going, kiddos. Don't quit before the miracle. Wallpaper your mind with love." If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).