Danny Trejo stars in PSA to help people in L.A. get sober 52 years after he got clean

close

Video

Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for December 14

Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines are here. Check out what's clicking today in entertainment.

Danny Trejo spoke out about his past struggles with drugs and alcohol in a new PSA for a Los Angeles-based nonprofit treatment center. 

The actor has been vocal about his troubled past for years. He routinely tells the story of how he got his start in acting by showing off some tricks he learned as a top prison boxer at California’s San Quentin State Prison in the 1960s. That’s around the same time he got clean and now he’s doing his best to pay it forward 52 years of sobriety later in the new PSA for CRI-Help. 

“From the first time I used, I thought it was a party. More booze, more dope, just more,” Trejo says at the top of the video showing him working out and practicing his boxing moves in a dark gym. 

ACTOR DANNY TREJO HELPS RESCUE CHILD FROM OVERTURNED VEHICLE

“But then I got tired. Tired of running from my problems. Tired of fighting. Then, I made a decision,” he continues. “I wanted off this ride. Out of this cage. I wanted my life back. When you fall down, get back up. I know you’re tired of falling down.”

Danny Trejo stars in a new PSA. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, CRI-Help is debuting the TV spot on several channels in the California area just in time to mark the organization’s 50th anniversary. Its main goal is to help inspire people who may be struggling with substance abuse amid the perils of the coronavirus pandemic. 

“The program saved my life,” Trejo concludes. “Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else. You don't have to suffer anymore. There is hope. If it can happen for me, it can happen for you. I got honest, I got clean, you can too!” 

DANNY TREJO DEFENDS LAW ENFORCEMENT FOLLOWING LOS ANGELES AMBUSH SHOOTING: 'WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER'

The outlet reports that the entire ad’s creative talent donated their time and services to the nonprofit and its cause, including it seems Trejo. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Casting former clients who are now role models at CRI-Help helps add to the authenticity of the piece and reinforces the value of one addict working with another,” CRI-Help board member and Emmy-winning producer of the campaign A.J. Lewis told the outlet.