Latina Actress Alexis Carra Talks About 'Recovery Road', Addiction & How She Prepared For Her Role

Last month, a new Freeform drama about teenage addiction and angst premiered. Learn more about this show straight from one of its stars Alexis Carra.

According to A.V.CLUB, the story of "Recovery Road" centers on Maddie (Jessica Sula), a high-school student who is struggling with substance abuse. The first three episodes show Maddie drinking vodka in a bottle, smoking weeds, snorting cocaine and selling Ritalin to buy more drugs.

One time, she wakes up from a blackout and sneaks vodka from a water bottle but, since then, things go downhill. The school's guidance counselor, Cynthia (Carra), searches her locker and gives her an ultimatum, which is either to get a recovery home for 90 days or be expelled from school.

Carra's character in the show was a hardcore addict when she was in her teens. So, she saw herself in Maddie and she had a soft spot for her because she had also gone through the same process of recovery.

Her character will be more involved with Maddie on a personal level than she probably should be. She will be Maddie's caretaker in the beginning process and eventually her sponsor.

Helping is not new to Carra. In real-life, the Cuban and Argentinian-American actress loves helping people. She has been involved with a women's group that empowers women and girls. When asked what's the best part of it, she said that lifting others makes her feel good, Latina reported.

"I think the benefit to that is that you have a group of women who have your back," she said. "I start to realize that the real benefit is in the giving, and the more that I lift other women up instead of bringing them down lifts me up. It's a win-win. It's directly proportional."

However, she is very different with her character in the show during her teenage years. Cynthia is an addict and she is not. In fact, she barely drinks, admitting that alcohol is never her thing.

To prepare for the role, Carra attended AA meetings and did the 12 steps. She even came to the point of asking herself if she abused alcohol.

"I really am not an alcoholic or a drug addict, but I have been addicted to love in the past in kind of attention," she said. " I think that kind of was how I was as a teenager because I was kind of craving attention. I wasn't wild like a partier but I always had a boyfriend - I was a little boy crazy. I didn't really know how to be by myself and it's because I had some self-esteem issues, which I think a lot of teens have."

See more of Cynthia and Maddie's adventure in "Recovery Road."

"Recover Road" airs every Monday at 9 p.m. on Freeform.