At 17, Julia Fox was addicted to heroin. Then her best friend overdosed.

From a young age, Julia Fox rebelled against all forms of authority. But in her teens, Fox soon realised that her rebellious streak would get her into serious trouble - changing the course of her life.

Born in Italy, Fox spent the early part of her life living in Milan with her grandfather before she relocated to New York City with her American father and one of her two brothers. Fox's other brother and their Italian mum remained in Italy. 

Fox said for a lot of her childhood it was just herself and her father living together.

"We moved around a lot. It was kind of unstable. We were homeless at one point. I actually have lived in almost every single neighbourhood [of New York]. Then he sent me off into the world," she said to Rolling Stone.

"At a very young age, I was exposed to a lot of adult situations - also not being monitored properly."

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Throughout her tumultuous teen years, Fox said she was quite rebellious. And with little supervision from adults, she was left on her own to navigate New York.

By age 14, Fox was climbing down the fire escape of her dad's apartment building at night so that she could go out clubbing in stolen attire. At 15, she ran off with a boyfriend who was a drug dealer. 

Fox's dad did try to discipline his daughter - but more often than not, it backfired.

"He tried. There were times when it was really getting out of control that he literally slept in the chair in front of the door so that I wouldn't leave. So I just climbed down my window. And then at 7am the next morning, I knocked on the front door and he was actually more impressed than anything," Julia recounted on the Call Her Daddy podcast.

By the end of middle school, Fox had begun to experiment with drugs - ecstasy, marijuana, and eventually heroin.

Reflecting on her first boyfriend - the drug dealer - Fox wrote on Instagram that they had met at a fellow dealer's house. That night when they first met, they took ecstasy together. 

"A few minutes later he was on the phone with his mom telling her he had met the love of his life. Even though this man was terrible for me, there would be no me without him," she said. As of 2018 when the Instagram post was made, that former boyfriend Fox was referring to was in jail.

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Fox told The Hollywood Reporter: "It's kind of a miracle that I'm okay because a lot of the people I grew up with aren't doing so well. They're still on drugs or in jail. A lot of them died."

Surrounded by a group of friends who were clubbing, taking drugs and drinking, Fox fell into it as well. 

"Heroin had been such a major part of my life. I was in high school [when I first tried heroin]. None of my other friends were doing it, so I was doing it in secret. I didn't understand that I was playing with fire. I highly don't recommend it."

At the age of 17, she overdosed on heroin while at a nightclub.

It was a turning point in her life, explaining to Paper Magazine: "I was 14 years old in clubs, you know? By the time I was 18, I was tired. It just got boring and repetitive. I already knew what the night would be like - it just wasn't fulfilling to me anymore. It was this really cheap thrill that I had become immune to."

For three years in her mid to late teens, Fox was on probation for stealing and grand larceny for credit card fraud. She said that time probably "saved my life". She would have to undergo regular drug testing during that time, which Fox credits for helping her not spiral into addiction. 

During this time, Fox was out on her own and struggling for money and trying to secure a roof over her head. 

"I figured 'I can't work at the pastry shop forever - that's not going to cut it, I need more money.' So I went onto Craigslist on the adult section and everything was sex. I was still a kid and not comfortable. So I saw an ad saying no sex, no nudity and can make up to $1000 a day. So obviously I went."

The ad was for a dominatrix - and Fox got the job on the spot. Similar to a strip joint, Fox worked in an establishment known as a dungeon in Manhattan, and the dungeon had various fantasy rooms where the clients would be dominated by the dominatrix.

"You're given a few words on what the client's interests are and then you have to build from there and improvise the rest," Fox said to Rolling Stone about the job. "So imagine having to do that multiple times a day in different outfits - a nun, teacher, nurse, mum - according to the clients' desires. I went in an angsty teenager and left a really self-assured woman."

Over the course of the next few years, Fox would go on to pursue an interest in acting, and in 2019 made her film debut alongside Adam Sandler in the renowned Uncut Gems.

But the same year that Uncut Gems was released, propelling Fox to fame, she experienced a major personal loss. Her best friend had died from a fentanyl overdose.

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"My best friend Gianna died. I had been sober prior but that solidified it for me. If I even have a thought [of using] that is very quickly wiped out when I think of her. I just know in my heart that I'm never going to do that again," she said to Call Her Daddy.

Reflecting on her best friend's death, Fox wrote on Instagram: "How hard it is to spend Christmas without you. I dreamt about you last night, you were alive. It's as if you were oxygen and I can't breathe anymore. Now I have to grow up and be a big girl... but I loved being a little kid with you."

Fox explained that being surrounded by sober friends and family has kept her on the right path to this day, along with attending AA meetings in the early days.

As for why she speaks about her history with drugs so openly, Fox said: "I'm open about my issues with addiction because I want to de-stigmatise it. Not all addicts are 'junkies'. It's a real f**king disease."

If this post brought up any issues for you, you can contact Drug Aware, Australia's 24hr alcohol and drug support line. You can reach them on (08) 9442 5000 or 1800 198 024.

Feature Image: Getty/Instagram @juliafox.

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