Jamie Lee Curtis: 'Sobriety is my service to others'

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis is using her sobriety as an opportunity to serve others

The Halloween star previously battled an addiction to alcohol, but has been clean for almost 20 years and now the 57-year-old explains she wants to use her sobriety to help others.

"I am sober coming up 18 years and the beauty of spending a life as an alcohol and addict in recovery is that it is about service to others," she said on U.S. breakfast show Today on Tuesday (20Sep16).

"Our country is based on service," she continued. "The idea that we are not of service to our country is anti-American. It's incredibly important to remember that the country was founded on sacrifice, on bravery, on courage."

In May (16), Jamie revealed she also became addicted to painkillers in the past.

In a candid op-ed for The Huffington Post, titled Kill the Pain, the star referenced a New York Times article, in which Prince, who died of an accidental opioid overdose in April (16), was described as "toxic".

"I can relate," she wrote. "I was toxic too. I too, waited anxiously for a prescription to be filled for the opiate I was secretly addicted to. I too, took too many at once. I too, sought to kill emotional and physical pain with pain killers. Kill it. Make it stop."

She continued, "Most people who become addicted, like me, do so after a prescription for a painkiller following a medical procedure. Once the phenomenon of craving sets in, it is often too late."

The Hollywood veteran then encouraged readers to do their bit to help those battling addiction issues, concluding her piece by stating: "Let's work harder, look closer and do everything we can not to enable and in doing so, disable, our loved ones who are ill."