Legendary wrestling superstar Jake "The Snake" Roberts is best known to wrestling fans as the man who brought his pet snake "Damien" to ringside to intimidate his opponents and after overcoming years of battling a drug and alcohol addiction, Roberts may be slithering his way to a screen near you.
Roberts, 58, is looking to raise $25,000 for a feature film that he is planning to make with director Andrew Donoho.Roberts noted that he and Donoho are 20 percent of the way towards their financial goal. Roberts' character in the movie 'Jed' takes a younger man who was just recently released from prison and looks to integrate him into his tribe.
Roberts made his living grappling opponents in promotions such as WWE, WCW and TNA while also wrestling with his real-life drug and alcohol addiction out of the ring. These days, Roberts seems to have his demons under control as he is now doing yoga and has plans to complete the movie. Roberts attributes his recovery to fellow former-wrestler and three-time WCW Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page's yoga program.
Roberts moved to Atlanta and in with Page, who he helped train when Page was starting out, back in October. Page has motivated Roberts and has given status updates on his YouTube page, keeping Roberts sober and helping him slim down to wrestling-shape for a possible return to the ring.
Whether or not Roberts returns to wrestle again for the first time since his retirement in 2011 remains to be seen, but Roberts expects to try his hand in movies.
Roberts was fired from the WWE in 1997 due to a relapse with drugs and alcohol, and soon-after went through a divorce with his wife Cheryl. 16 years later, Roberts is looking for a fresh start and said he is eight months sober from cocaine and 40 days sober from alcohol.
Roberts is doing a lot better these days, and is happy to be under DDP's watch, however he recalls the beginning of his wrestling career and the Jake "The Snake" persona as a way of hiding his past demons.
"I'm not Jake the Snake," he told Yahoo. "But I hid behind it. If I carry a 12-foot snake in this room, you're checking that sumbitch out. You don't get to know me."
Right now with a healthier outlook on life and a slimmer weight, Roberts doesn't feel the need to hide behind anything, and if his goal of raising money comes to fruition, he will play a character of a different kind.
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