Actor Buddy Duress, born Michael C. Stathis, has died at the age of 38. He was most well-known for his role as Ray in the Safdie Brothers’ 2017 film Good Time, a film that was partially based on Duress’ life. Speaking to People on Tuesday, Duress’ brother Christopher Stathis confirmed that the cause of death was “a cardiac arrest from a drug cocktail” back in November of last year.

Another well-known performance of Duress’ was in another Safdie Brothers’ film, Heaven Knows What, where he starred as a drug dealer named Mike. Back in 2017, Duress told SSense in an interview that his first encounter with Josh Safdie was in 2013 after being released from jail due to drug charges. Shortly after this encounter, he landed the aforementioned role as Mike, but was then sent back to jail prior to the film’s premiere because he skipped a drug in-patient program. Speaking on this Duress said, “I still look back at it. If I had went to that program, I wouldn’t have been in Heaven Knows What, and I probably wouldn’t be an actor right now…That’s the honest truth. I wouldn’t.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, once Duress was let out of jail the second time, the script for Good Time was developed by the Safdie Brothers by using the actor’s journal.

Duress starred in several other films, including Flinch, The Mountain, and The Great. The director of Flinch, Cameron Van Hoy talked to People about Duress: “Buddy was pure electricity on screen…Working with him was one of the great adventures of my life. He was a kind person who loved making films. Despite any troubles he was going through in life, he somehow managed to put them aside when it came time to work. We grew quite close after the production of our film Flinch. I’m heartbroken that his life came to an end as it did.”