Chris Klein has opened up about his battle with alcoholism and says he nearly died.

The 33-year-old actor shot to fame from his roles in Election and the 1999 hit movie American Pie.

The Hollywood star says that his overnight success sent him into a downward spiral that nearly cost him his life and his career.

"I would have died, and I think about that every single day," he told People magazine.

Chris was arrested twice for driving under the influence and even served a short spell in jail. After checking into a live-in rehab facility for two months, he started to turn his life around.

The actor is back on the big screen in the latest of the movie franchise, American Reunion, and says that he is now nearly 19 months sober.

"It got to the point where I was a fragile shadow of the young man that came into this business," he confessed about his troubled time. "Today I'm the luckiest guy alive."

Chris dated Katie Holmes for five years but ended their engagement and relationship in March 2005. She went on to marry and have daughter Suri with Hollywood A-lister Tom Cruise.