(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Samuel L. Jackson says he had to flee Atlanta when young to avoid being locked up or killed.

The iconic actor has managed to forge a successful career in films, with starring roles in Pulp Fiction, The 51st State and The Negotiator. However, the 62-year-old readily admits he was destined to travel down a different path altogether, had his mother not intervened.

I wasnt one of those people who was gonna walk around and get spit on and slapped and not fight back. We were doing some crazy things, like stealing peoples credit cards and buying guns. And because of that, some FBI people showed up at my moms house in Tennessee and told her she needed to get me out of the South or I was either gonna be locked up or killed. So she came to Atlanta and took me to the airport and put me on a plane," he informed Esquire magazine.

The change in surroundings not only contributed to his later success, but also introduced Samuel to the perils of drug abuse. He divulged that his days in New York were filled with acting roles coupled with narcotic use.

When I came to New York it was bubbling. We watched each other, we encouraged each other, went to auditions together and every Monday we had great parties. But it was also a time of, you know, drugs, he said.

Samuel has now been drug free for 20 years after becoming hooked on both heroin and cocaine earlier in his film career. Although he has managed to kick his addiction, Samuel says he still suffers unsettling flashbacks. He admits his dreams are sometimes filled with drug adventures that make him think he has relapsed.

I havent had a drug dream in ten or 12 years. All of a sudden, I had one, like, two weeks ago. Even in the dream, youre hiding s**t from people! People that you know pop up in the dream and you got this big-ass ball of cocaine in your hand and you stick it behind your back and go, Yeah, Im all right. And then you wake up and you feel as bad as if youve actually done it, he recounted. (C) Cover Media