When Paul Walker died, his Fast and Furious family was one of the first to mourn his loss. The pain of losing a loved one never goes away, but different people cope differently. Where Vin Diesel thrust himself into work to deal with his loss, Michelle Rodriguez turned to the psychedelic Ayahuasca.
Rodriguez is part of The Reality of Truth, a documentary hosted by Mike Zapolin and featuring Deepak Chopra, which explores the relationship between religion, spirituality and psychedelics. In a clip, the actress talked a bit about her experience with Ayahuasca, which led to her sharing a few things in the end as well about the pain of losing Walker.
"I have to say, you know, when I lost Paul, I went through about a year of just being an animal," she said, noting how she was looking at all sorts of things to help get her mind off how fleeting life is and what even is a person's purpose for existing to begin with.
Deeply saddened by Walker's passing, Rodriguez confessed to going a bit crazy over the summer, doing everything she possibly could to hide from herself. According to her, experiencing Ayahuasca made her sad that Walker is gone.
"[But] it wasn't a sadness that he's gone; it's more like a jealousy that he's there first," she clarified.
In the documentary, Rodriguez uses Ayahuasca while in Peru. A traditional spiritual medicine brewed for ceremonies, the plant is cherished for its ability to bring about awakening and enlightenment.
Arianne Cohen wrote for Elle: "Ayahuasca is the yoga of drugs: Mushrooms and acid might open your eyes, but this heals." Or at least that's what she was told before she tried it out for herself. Since chronicling her first taste, she has taken Ayahuasca several times. Despite the drug being largely scientifically undocumented, it called out to Cohen because of the clarity it provided her to help address her personal and professional issues.
Despite the warning that religions, governments and businesses are trying to suppress it, The Reality of Truth was released on Feb. 19. Watch the documentary's official trailer below:
