Actor Nick Stahl discusses his return to Hollywood following addiction problems

The Terminator star told the Hollywood Reporter he had no “brake pedal” when it came to alcohol and drugs and he was forced to pause his acting career after he started to struggle to “show up” for work.

He said things “got really bad for me”, according to the US publication.

“It’s a horribly cliche child actor story, but I had a very unusual relationship to drugs and alcohol,” he added.

Stahl, 41, said: “I was pretty much hungover for every single day of work that I ever did, as a kid, in my early 20s, through all the films, through In The Bedroom, through Terminator, through Carnivale, through all of it.

“I didn’t really discriminate, I’d use anything to change the way I felt when I was sober.”

Stahl said his first taste of alcohol was like a “spiritual experience”.

“It just made sense to me.

“Suddenly, I had a freedom from thinking, from uncomfortability.

“I felt OK in my skin and I hadn’t really felt that before.

“I thought, ‘Oh! This is how you do life’.”

He said that when he moved to Los Angeles aged 16 he began drinking and partying.

“I was going to bars.

“I had a very easy time getting into these places.

“A lot of my friends were older, and I had a great time.”

Stahl said he “expected some resistance” to his return to acting.

“I figured I had a negative reputation.

“I knew that there were probably some questions.”

However he added: “Casting directors welcomed me back.

“There was maybe a little bit of hesitation at first but as soon as I got a couple jobs under my belt, I kept working.”

Earlier this year Stahl starred in television series Fear The Walking Dead and Animal Kingdom.