Celebrities Who Have Turned Their Lives Around

Robert Downey Jr. turned his life around by going sober in 2003. He has since gone on to the greatest success of his career in movies like Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes.

BY ALEX BARNARD

When most of us think about celebrities we think about the glamorous life of exotic cars, beautiful mansions, and exclusive parties.  Most tabloids are quick to demonize a celebrity when they make a mistake in their life.  Celebrities like Amanda Bynes and Lindsey Lohan are often taking the spotlight for their mistakes.  While most of the media makes it seem like celebrities are set up to fall, many celebrities deserve to be looked at in a much more positive way.  Numerous celebrities have actually turned their lives around for the better, and deserve recognition.

For several celebrities the rags to riches dream came true.  Whether they were in a poor condition due to their own actions or their family’s, some celebrities were able to rise up and be successful despite the odds stacked up against them.

Actor Danny Trejo had many difficult years in his life before he was known in Hollywood.  To this day he has acted in over 240 movies and TV shows, typically playing the role of a battle-scared criminal, a fitting role because of his past.  Trejo grew up in Los Angeles dreaming of becoming a famous boxer, however his dreams were crushed when he was arrested and sentenced to eleven years in prison for drug and robbery charges.  While Trejo was serving time at Holmesburg Prison he entered a drug rehabilitation program, and decided he wanted to become a drug counselor for the rest of his life.

After getting out of prison he became involved in several rehabilitation programs as a counselor.  When a fellow member of Cocaine Anonymous called Trejo to help him stay away from drugs while at work on a movie, Trejo was offered a job as an extra and a boxing trainer.  In his early career Trejo was being used in numerous films as a cookie cutter Mexican thug character due to his impressive and imposing physique.  Trejo eventually earned mass recognition in the film Heat, and several of director Robert Rodiguez’s movies.  Today Trejo continues to star in many movies both big and small, while also taking time to promote rehabilitation programs.

Pop star Christina Aguilera turned a career out of what began as a mental escape.  Christina’s father was an Army Sergeant who regularly beat his family.  “Growing up did not feel safe.” Christina said in an interview with the Daily Mail UK.  Aguilera also said that she used singing to escape her pain, and used her music career as an outlet for her emotions.  Eventually Christina’s parents separated, and she was able to use her strong feelings to fuel her music.  Despite her tragic childhood with an abusive father, Christina was able to overcome her difficulties by staying away from her father and focusing herself on her music.

The media is quick to report whenever a celebrity’s life falls apart.  Although, several celebrities have managed to put their lives back together and come back stronger than ever before.

Robert Downey Jr.’s early years were full of drug use, but he managed to achieve moderate success in several coming of age movies in the 80’s.  Downey was first introduced to marijuana by his father when he was only six years old.  After his early exposure to drugs, he began gradually experimenting with harder drugs. After spending several years bouncing in and out of prisons and rehabilitation programs due to drug charges, Downey final managed to get sober in July of 2003.  At this point he was able to restart his career.  After several years where Downey played small roles in a few movies and even managed to release an album, Downey was offered his first big blockbuster roles.  In 2008 both Iron Man and Tropic Thunder were released, and both became great successes for Downey.  Downey’s role in Iron Man in particular led to a massive rise in fame, more so than any movie he had acted in during his days of addiction.  Despite struggling with a variety of drugs, Downey was able to overpower his temptations and make his acting career stronger than more would have predicted.

Some of the most inspiring child stars have gone from role models to massive disappointments.  Amanda Bynes was a positive icon in the media as an anti-drinking celebrity who didn’t feel the need to go to clubs, but her position has dramatically flipped in this past year alone.  In April of 2012 Bynes was arrested for a DUI, and later charged with driving on a suspended license.  Unsurprisingly since her first arrest Bynes hasn’t been on any TV shows or starred in any movie.  Her main interaction with “fans” is her Twitter account, which has shown strong evidence of her drastic change in behavior as she often acts like a spoiled teen constantly bragging about her life and picking fights with journalists, despite being 27 years old.  While not the first child star to end up this way, she stands a stark comparison to the celebrities who didn’t let their fame get to their head and either turned their lives around or work to promote a positive lifestyle.

The celebrity archetype is a troubling one.  Most see their overly glamourized lives as perfect, when in reality many of them had to work hard to get away from a tragic life before they could achieve their success.  The media rightfully ridicules celebrities who don’t have the humility to admit when they make a mistake, such as Amanda Bynes.  However, the story of more celebrities surpassing their problems should be acknowledged rather than the over coverage of celebrities stuck in a catastrophic phase of self-destruction.  Reporters are often ignoring celebrities working to better themselves and covering the pitfalls of others, promoting irresponsible behavior as the best way to receive attention.  Anyone facing a troublesome problem like abuse or addiction should be able to look to more celebrities who faced the same thing and that were able to overcome it themselves.  Isn’t it time more celebrities were public role models for those of us who aren’t perfect?