Jack Black's new flick, "Tropic Thunder" is set to hit theaters on August 15, and the most recent issue of Blender magazine features an interview with the 28-year-old actor. In the movie, Black plays a character who is forced to go through with withdrawal, and so, naturally, the conversation turned to Black's myriad drug use.
On his early exposure to hard drugs:
In ninth grade, I did acid and cocaine. I wanted desperately to be an American badass. There's something so romantic, when you're a kid, about being a criminal. You want to belong to the tough-guy club. Running from the cops. Hiding in the bushes. Making schemes and plans to get it over on the Man.
On heroin:
Somebody gave me a small amount of it in an envelope and I kept it for months. I didn't want to use it, but I didn't want to throw it away, either, because I was always curious about it.
My girlfriend at the time was there, and I snorted it, but she didn't know I did it. It didn't agree with me. I couldn't really feel my legs, and my heart felt like it was slowing down too much. I thought, Oh, my God, it's just going to shut me down. I'm going to die. So I told my girlfriend, "I'm going to take a walk." I went down to the 7-Eleven at the bottom of the hill, and I had this strange sensation that my legs were pumping, but the feet were just sort of lifeless stumps. I did a little shopping and then walked back up the hill and survived. And never did it again.
On weed:
There is an occasional celebratory jay, but it's not a wake-and-bake scenario anymore at all. And no cigarettes. To help stop, I took Wellbutrin for two years, and then I stopped the Wellbutrin before Tropic Thunder. They say you've got to be careful quitting Wellbutrin because some people have withdrawal symptoms. And I was like, "Good! That's the movie. That's what I need! Withdrawal symptoms!" I didn't have shakes and crazy quakes--it feels like your brain is sucking in on itself, like there's a small black hole in the center of your brain galaxy. But it only lasted for a couple of weeks, and then I was back to normal.
On withdrawal:
I've never had to detox.