Jon Cryer unaware of Demi Moore’s addiction when they dated in 1980s

Jon Cryer says he had no idea that Demi Moore was battling with addiction during their brief romance in the 1980s. 

“We dated for a short time while we were working on No Small Affair, but I guess our particular affair was, in fact, pretty small,” he told PEOPLE, referencing their 1984 film. “She was already struggling with a drug problem. One that I was blissfully unaware of until a couple of weeks before the movie ended.”

In her 2019 memoir, Inside Out, Moore wrote that she entered rehab at the request of St. Elmo’s Fire director Joel Schumacher before she began shooting the 1985 film. She later relapsed and sought treatment for a second time for trauma, codependency, and substance abuse in 2012, The New York Times reported.

Moore’s issues with addiction on the set of St. Elmo’s Fire are also detailed in her former costar Andrew McCarthy’s upcoming Hulu documentary, Brats, about the group of young actors known as the Brat Pack in the 1980s. In an interview from the film, she recalls “going to treatment” and the rehab facility staff expressing outrage over her starting work on the film, PEOPLE reports. 

“They said, ‘What’s more important to you, the movie or your life?’ And I said, ‘The movie! What are you talking about?’” Moore said. “I didn’t have any value for myself.”

However, the production “paid to have a sober companion with me 24/7, during the whole shooting” she said of St. Elmo’s Fire. She also praised Schumacher, saying he “stuck his neck out for me” when casting her in the film, which also starred McCarthy, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, and Judd Nelson.

“They could have just found someone else,” she said. “Because it’s not like I had any box-office draw. You know, we were all just beginning. I didn’t have anything to really warrant him sticking by me.”

Moore recently told Entertainment Weekly that her only regret when it came to the documentary was that she and her fellow Brat Pack alums weren’t able to reunite for the project. 

“I had such a great time sitting down and talking with [McCarthy.] I’m sad there wasn’t an opportunity where we were all sitting in a room together talking,” she said. “That’s my only wish. It’s something very unique to all of us that we experienced.”

Brats premieres June 13 on Hulu.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.