Actors Charged with Drug Possession or Trafficking

Brush-ups with the law have intersected with Hollywood careers more often than many realize. This list gathers male actors who, at one point, were formally charged in cases involving drug possession or trafficking. It sticks to verifiable facts about the charges or court outcomes, and pairs each entry with film or TV context so you can place the news alongside the work you may know them for.

You’ll find a quick, precise summary of what authorities alleged or courts decided for each actor, and—because careers don’t exist in a vacuum—notes on a representative title from their filmography: what the story is, who made it, and who else was on screen. Titles appear in single quotes throughout.

Robert Downey Jr.

Downey was charged in Los Angeles County after a June traffic stop that led to felony counts of cocaine and heroin possession, along with misdemeanors related to driving under the influence and an unloaded handgun in his vehicle; in 1999 a judge later sent him to state prison after repeated probation violations tied to drug testing. In between those legal chapters, he was already widely known for portraying Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough’s biopic ‘Chaplin’, a drama that follows the silent-film pioneer’s rise and controversies; the film features Geraldine Chaplin and Diane Lane, with production led by Carolco and cinematography by Sven Nykvist.

Following additional drug-related trouble around Thanksgiving in Palm Springs, Downey entered a live-in rehabilitation program and received probation under California’s treatment-first approach for nonviolent drug offenses; he later returned to marquee leads, including ‘Iron Man’, directed by Jon Favreau, which launched Marvel Studios’ shared-universe storyline with co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges and music by Ramin Djawadi.

Tim Allen

Before sitcom fame, Allen was arrested at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek airport with more than a pound of cocaine and pleaded guilty to a trafficking offense under Michigan and federal law, serving time in federal prison. On television he headlined ‘Home Improvement’, created by Carmen Finestra, David McFadzean, and Matt Williams, a family-sitcom built around a fictional DIY show; the ensemble included Patricia Richardson and Jonathan Taylor Thomas, with Disney’s Touchstone Television producing.

Public accounts note his cooperation with investigators and eventual parole; in features, Allen voiced Buzz Lightyear in Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’, directed by John Lasseter, a buddy-adventure about toys that come to life, co-starring Tom Hanks and scored by Randy Newman, with groundbreaking computer animation supervised by Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter.

Macaulay Culkin

Culkin was arrested in Oklahoma City and charged after police reported finding marijuana and prescription pills without proof of prescription; the following year he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug possession. Earlier in his career he led ‘Home Alone’, written by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus—a slapstick caper about a boy fending off burglars—that co-stars Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern and was produced by Hughes Entertainment for 20th Century Fox.

Court records show fines and a suspended sentence as the case outcome; Culkin also appeared in ‘My Girl’, produced by Imagine Entertainment, a coming-of-age story directed by Howard Zieff and co-starring Anna Chlumsky and Dan Aykroyd, which pairs a family-business subplot with a portrait of friendship and loss.

Tom Sizemore

Sizemore’s drug history included a no-contest plea to methamphetamine possession during a probationary period in Los Angeles, with subsequent court supervision and violations reported by local authorities; more than a decade later he was again booked by Burbank police on a narcotics charge. On screen he’s closely associated with ‘Saving Private Ryan’, Steven Spielberg’s World War II drama following a squad’s rescue mission, co-starring Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, and Barry Pepper, with cinematography by Janusz Kamiński for DreamWorks and Paramount.

He also played a pivotal role in Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’, a cat-and-mouse crime saga produced by Regency and co-starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, built around a heist crew and an obsessive detective; the film’s crew includes composer Elliot Goldenthal and editor Dov Hoenig.

Christian Slater

Los Angeles prosecutors said Slater would plead no contest to cocaine possession along with two battery counts after an arrest that followed a party; he later received a jail term and mandatory rehab, according to contemporaneous reports. Earlier, he headlined ‘True Romance’, directed by Tony Scott from a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino—a cross-country crime tale co-starring Patricia Arquette, with Gary Oldman and Christopher Walken in key supporting turns and production by Morgan Creek.

Slater’s credits also include ‘Heathers’, an off-kilter high-school dark comedy produced by New World Pictures, directed by Michael Lehmann and written by Daniel Waters; the ensemble features Winona Ryder and Shannen Doherty, with a plot orbiting a clique’s implosion.

Ryan O’Neal

O’Neal was arrested at his Malibu home and charged with methamphetamine possession after deputies reported finding the drug; he later entered a diversion program, with subsequent coverage noting dismissal upon successful completion. His early film peak came with ‘Love Story’, directed by Arthur Hiller from Erich Segal’s screenplay, a campus-to-marriage melodrama co-starring Ali MacGraw and composed by Francis Lai, produced by Paramount Pictures.

He also starred opposite Barbra Streisand in ‘What’s Up, Doc?’, a screwball homage directed by Peter Bogdanovich, produced by Warner Bros., with supporting turns by Madeline Kahn and Austin Pendleton and a plot built around mistaken identities and identical plaid suitcases.

Robert Mitchum

Mitchum was arrested during a Hollywood Hills raid and convicted in a case involving marijuana, serving time at the county jail and a prison farm; historical notes add that the conviction was later overturned amid questions about the case’s integrity. He’s a central figure of film noir, memorably starring in ‘Out of the Past’, produced by RKO and directed by Jacques Tourneur, where he plays a private eye ensnared by a femme fatale, with Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas as co-leads.

His range stretched to the haunting Southern Gothic ‘The Night of the Hunter’, Charles Laughton’s lone directorial feature produced by United Artists, in which Mitchum portrays a menacing preacher pursuing stolen money; the film’s striking visuals were crafted by cinematographer Stanley Cortez and editor Robert Golden.

Richard Dreyfuss

Dreyfuss pleaded innocent after being charged with felony possession of cocaine (and another drug) following a Beverly Hills crash; the felony counts were dropped the next year after favorable reports on his treatment and rehabilitation. He was already known for ‘Jaws’, Steven Spielberg’s sea-bound thriller produced by Zanuck/Brown Productions for Universal, where Dreyfuss plays oceanographer Matt Hooper alongside Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw, with a score by John Williams.

He later won an Oscar for ‘The Goodbye Girl’, a Neil Simon comedy-drama directed by Herbert Ross about an actor and a single mom sharing a New York apartment; his other major title with Spielberg, ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’, mixes domestic drama with a contact mystery, under Columbia Pictures, showcasing effects work supervised by Douglas Trumbull.

Corey Feldman

Feldman faced multiple 1990 cases in Los Angeles: reports describe arrests and charges for possession of heroin and cocaine (including possession for sale in one incident); court filings show not-guilty pleas and subsequent proceedings through the fall of that year. In earlier work he co-starred in ‘Stand by Me’, Rob Reiner’s adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Body’, produced by Columbia, with River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, and Jerry O’Connell as friends on a rite-of-passage trek, and music supervision that anchors the post-war setting.

Feldman was also part of ‘The Goonies’, a kid-adventure directed by Richard Donner from a Chris Columbus screenplay based on a story by Steven Spielberg, produced by Amblin and Warner Bros., with an ensemble that includes Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, and Martha Plimpton and a plot revolving around a pirate map and hidden treasure.

Daniel Baldwin

Baldwin was charged in New York with criminal possession of a controlled substance after a widely covered incident that sent him to a hospital; later, California cases involved arrests where police said they found cocaine and paraphernalia in a Santa Monica hotel room. On television he was a principal on ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’, developed by Paul Attanasio from David Simon’s nonfiction book, produced by Baltimore Pictures and NBC, with ensemble storytelling that also featured Andre Braugher and Richard Belzer and direction from recurring guest helmers like Barry Levinson.

His film credits include ‘Vampires’, a horror-western directed by John Carpenter and produced by Largo Entertainment and Storm King, where Baldwin plays a vampire hunter opposite James Woods; the picture blends practical effects with Carpenter’s signature score and widescreen framing.

Brad Renfro

Renfro was arrested in a downtown Los Angeles sting and charged with attempted possession of heroin after police said he tried to buy the drug from an undercover officer; he later pleaded guilty and received probation, with contemporaneous accounts noting a brief custodial stint tied to related matters. He broke out in ‘The Client’, Joel Schumacher’s legal thriller for Warner Bros. from a John Grisham novel, co-starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones, following a boy who becomes entangled in a federal case.

He also drew notice in ‘Apt Pupil’, produced by TriStar and directed by Bryan Singer from Stephen King’s novella, a psychological drama pairing Renfro with Ian McKellen in a story about a teen’s dangerous fascination with a fugitive war criminal; the production leaned on Thomas Newman’s score and Newton Thomas Sigel’s photography for mood.

Robert Iler

Iler—then a teen series regular—was arrested in New York and charged with two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of marijuana possession after an Upper East Side incident; he ultimately pleaded to a larceny count and received probation. Viewers know him as A.J. Soprano in ‘The Sopranos’, created by David Chase and produced by HBO, a crime-family portrait with James Gandolfini and Edie Falco that blends domestic life, therapy scenes, and underworld maneuvering under directors like Tim Van Patten and Allen Coulter.

Beyond the flagship drama he appeared in features like ‘The Tic Code’, a jazz-inflected story directed by Gary Winick about a prodigy and his mentor, produced by evenSTAR and Shooting Gallery, with Gregory Hines and Polly Draper rounding out the cast.

Share your thoughts on how these legal chapters did—or didn’t—intersect with the work you remember in the comments.