"Now my drug is writing or acting, being creative"
About this Quote
The subtext is about substitution, not purity. Calling art a drug doesn’t pretend the craving disappears; it relocates it. That’s a familiar story in entertainment culture, where the industry runs on volatility: sudden validation, public scrutiny, long stretches of waiting, then a spike of adrenaline. Acting and writing become an acceptable dependency because they’re productive, legible, even admirable. It’s also a quietly defensive move. If you can name the hunger, you can manage it. If you can channel it into pages and performances, you can claim agency over a life that might otherwise be narrated by tabloids or lineage.
Context matters: Caan grew up adjacent to Hollywood mythmaking, where excess is both warning label and brand. This line pushes back against the idea that artists are “naturally” chaotic. It suggests discipline without preaching it, turning the cliché of tortured creativity into something more practical: a replacement habit that still delivers the rush, just without (as much) collateral damage.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Caan, Scott. (2026, January 16). Now my drug is writing or acting, being creative. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/now-my-drug-is-writing-or-acting-being-creative-88900/
Chicago Style
Caan, Scott. "Now my drug is writing or acting, being creative." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/now-my-drug-is-writing-or-acting-being-creative-88900/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Now my drug is writing or acting, being creative." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/now-my-drug-is-writing-or-acting-being-creative-88900/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.




