We partnered with Genius to create this annotated version of an oral history of actor Corey Feldman. Click the yellow highlights for more insights into his career

“I never knew anything but the entertainment industry. I was a child slave. All I did was audition and make commercials and then movies – and this is for as long as I can remember. I was also abused when I was a kid. It was really tough.

Looking back, I think my first really big break was Gremlins. But I was supposed to do E.T. and not a lot of people know that. Steven Spielberg really took me under his wing. He was over at MGM studios at the time filming Poltergeist with Tobe Hooper, and I got to go and walk around the lot. Steven could see I was just an excited little kid and he wanted to show me how special effects worked. I got to tour the soundstage and I remember seeing everyone flying around this huge rotating bedroom. (laughs) I thought it was amazing. So we became friends and then he said to me, ‘If you think this is crazy, wait until you see what we do with E.T.’ I was excited about being in films at that point. However, he called me a few weeks later and said, ‘Corey, I am really sorry about this, but your character in E.T. – which was going to be the best friend of Henry Thomas – has been written out of the script.’ I was heartbroken, but Steven said, ‘Look, don’t be too down, I promise when I do my next movie I’ll put you in that one.’ And he did. A year later he called me and said, ‘Hey Corey, I have my new movie off the ground – it is called Gremlins and it is going to be directed by a great filmmaker called Joe Dante so please come in and audition.’ Of course, I got the role.

At the same time as Gremlins I also had the main part in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and that was for Paramount. It might not have been a movie the critics raved about, but it was a big studio movie and when it came out it was the number one film in the country. So within just three months I was in two of the number one movies in America: Friday the 13th and Gremlins. That was when everything started to take off for me.

I was quickly cast in The Goonies, which was a huge success and a really fun film to make. And by then everyone knew who I was. Then it was The Lost Boys and Stand by Me – both enormous films. How do you prepare for that kind of celebrity as a child? I was even asked to perform at the Academy Awards in 1989. The only time I’ve been asked to perform at the Academy Awards. (laughs)

I was just 16 when The Lost Boys came out and it changed my life. I knew this was going to be it for me – I was an actor and that was that, but I realised I had to try and carry a movie myself. I had been in hit films but it had always been as part of an ensemble. In The Lost Boys it was a whole group of us that sold that film. So I felt that with my next two movies, License to Drive and Dream a Little Dream, I had the chance to prove I could carry more of the weight. Sure, these also starred my friend Corey Haim, but it felt like I was not in the back seat anymore. These were films I had a lot of input into and I was growing into more mature roles. I had gone from a child actor to a teenage star. License to Drive was a hit but Dream a Little Dream was a little cult thing. It started off real slow in the theatres, which was disappointing, but then it became a popular movie on video and that was really cool. People still seem to really love that film and my homage to Michael Jackson in the famous dance scene. As everyone knows, Michael was a good friend at the time.

“I saw my entire life crumbling right in front of me. I got busted with drugs. I had several arrests and that eventually led to rehab. I was also totally broke. I had gone from the very top to the very bottom” – Corey Feldman

However, I was also having a really difficult experience at this point in my life. I started having drug problems – and this was becoming evident on set as well. When I was making The ’Burbs for Joe Dante, I remember that Carrie Fisher was great support. She had battled addiction and come through it. She could see I was just this young guy growing up in Hollywood and struggling with a lot of temptations and a lot of self-doubt. She had that experience as well.

About the time of The ’Burbs and Dream a Little Dream, back in 1989, I took a plunge into the depths of depravity and back again. I saw my entire life crumbling right in front of me. I felt insecure and I was falling apart inside. I knew something was going to give. Of course, I got busted with drugs. I had several arrests and that eventually led to rehab. I might only have been a teenager but I knew I had blown it big time. I had pissed off all the studios, I had let my personal problems spill into my work and I was in major trouble. I was also totally broke. I had to pay for my legal battles and it left me with nothing in the bank. I had gone from the very top to the very bottom.

The press was also destroying me at the time. I knew it was a big uphill battle for me when I got out of rehab. One thing I definitely understood was that I was not going to get that previous status back – there were not going to be more big hit films. To be honest, I was OK with not working in the industry anymore. I knew I may have to do something else and enter a new stage in my life. But I also needed to make a living, so I accepted some little movies which enabled me to keep a roof over my head. 

It was frustrating, but some of my fans really stayed with me. I had voiced Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for instance. I think that was the last film I did before rehab. But the studio wouldn’t touch me when they made the sequel. My fans complained – they said they missed me and then, when they did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, they cast me again. I thought that was really cool.

During this period, I was also out there working with other young addicts, and I went lecturing at universities – not for money, just to help other kids who might be tempted by drugs. I also did little parts in some hit movies – such as National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon and Maverick. Now, OK, of course these are not my films, but I was in there and that counted for something.

Mainly, though, I was just doing little movies. The thing is, if you do unscrupulous, sleazy-looking films for a long period of time, you come to be seen as someone who is not, let’s say, an artist any more. I had started to be seen as a celebrity instead - you could my name on your little movie and it would go to video and do some numbers. But I didn’t want to do schlock. I wanted to do stuff I could at least be proud of.

It is very difficult to work in independent film. There are a lot of shitty deals being made. However, since my young years, I have done some films I am actually quite proud of. I did a horror film called Voodoo, back in 1995, and that was a character which was very subdued and toned-down for me. I am proud of that movie. It might not have been a huge success, but I think it is one of the best things I ever did. I also got to co-produce Dream a Little Dream 2 and I composed a cool little song for the soundtrack. That was a fantastic experience. I was at the Oscars during that time and I ran into Al Pacino. I was still feeling quite insecure and I was telling him how he was my idol and inspiration. And he turned to me and said, ‘Corey, you’re a great actor’ and that really made me feel good about myself. Things like that kept my motivation going.

Today, I am still just an actor and a musician. I produce and I direct and I make my own music. I guess I am a jack of all trades, but I am grateful to still be in this business after 40 years. I do about three films annually but they don’t come out theatrically in the United States. I sometimes wonder if there is a ban on my work. (laughs) But I still get some amazing opportunities. I produced Lost Boys: The Thirst for Warner Bros, and I think it is a good sequel. I did a cool movie called The M Word which came out in theatres recently, and that was exciting. My new solo album is, I think, incredible. And my book, Coreyography, seems to bring a lot of light and positivity to the world so I am proud of that. I get messages on Facebook and Twitter from kids who gain inspiration from my story.”