Bryan Greenberg’s scary opioid struggle inspired ‘Junction’

Bryan Greenberg’s scary brush with opioids led him to “Junction” — his directorial debut and the first film he’s written.

More than a decade ago, the actor was prescribed oxycodone after undergoing a “a routine hernia surgery.” But soon, the actor found himself taking 10 to 15 pills a day.

“I ended up — I was addicted. Let’s start with I’m not an addict. And when I had a lot of trouble getting off these meds and I lost a few months, and because I’m not an addict, it really pissed me off, because I’m not someone who likes to have things have control over me,” Greenberg, 45, told The Post.

“This was something that I didn’t look for and it was just put on me. I’m lucky that I got out of it, but I remember getting dopesick getting off the meds, and it just really made me think about, ‘OK, what system was put in place to make addicts out of all of these innocent people?’ ” he continued.

“At the time when I wrote this four years ago, you were hearing about the opioid epidemic. … It was just so vast and abstract. I don’t think people really knew how to talk about it.”

“Junction” is “not a personal story,” the “One Tree Hill” alum stressed, but it does hit home as Greenberg “could have gone down that path,” he admitted.

The drama focuses on three different, connecting stories about the crisis. Producer Greenberg plays Michael, a dad whose marriage falls apart after he becomes dependent on oxycodone post-back surgery. His real-life wife Jamie Chung, Sophia Bush, Ryan Eggold, Ashley Madekwe, Josh Peck, Griffin Dunne, Michaela Conlin and Yara Martinez also star.

“The audience hasn’t seen me play a character like that. And I just wanted to dig deep,” he noted.

Madekwe, for her part, runs a pain clinic, and against her better judgment, occasionally prescribes medication to those who may not need it.

“As an actor, I’m always gravitated to characters, and I wanted to know, [why these] seemingly good people, why would they make these choices to put us in this situation? And so I really wanted to just explore that. The moral complexities of people,” Greenberg explained. “I wanted to raise awareness to destigmatize addiction. I’ve lost friends. And I’m sure everybody, unfortunately, who sees this will have some connection to the crisis. It’s a very relatable subject.”

The “October Road” alum admits he “was nervous” to lead the project — and wear so many hats — but he loved the process.

“It was definitely challenging,” he told The Post. “I’m a very hands-on actor. When I’m on set, I like to know what’s going on with the shots and what lenses people are using. But I’ve never been involved. I never knew what color correction was. I never knew how much you can manipulate the film with an edit. I’ve never been an editor, so it’s the greatest film school on Earth, making a movie.”

He added: “For my first time directing, I thought maybe it would be easier if I’m not in every scene in the movie. So I consciously did a third of the film. I’m like, OK, well, that’s attainable.”

Despite the heavy subject, Greenberg did joke about what it was like to direct Chung, 40. The couple have been married since October 2015 and have 2-year-old twin sons.

“She’s so used to doing that with me,” he teased on whether she talked back on set. “I was like, ‘Babe, you can’t do that. I’m supposed to be the director. You got to respect me a little bit here. Just at least today.’ “

“I would put her in anything and everything. I think she’s so talented. I’m her biggest fan, so it’s an honor to work with her as an actor. She’s one of those actresses that can just take direction and she gets it and she can just kill it,” he went on. “We have such a good rapport with each other.”

Greenberg doesn’t mind if their children decide to join the family business either.

“Who am I to stand in their way? I will teach them everything I know and try to impart all the knowledge that I have, but it’s not something I would necessarily push on them,” he said. “It’s a really up and down, hard business. And, I love it. It’s all I know, and it’s all I’ll ever know, but it’s not for everybody, that’s for sure.”

“One Tree Hill” fans will also be happy to see Greenberg reunite on-screen with his former co-star Bush. The “Prime” actor personally asked Bush, 41, to play his wife in the film.

“We didn’t get to really shoot that many scenes together on ‘One Tree Hill.’ … [But] this ‘One Tree Hill’ journey that’s been going on for 20 years has taken us all around the world together and continues to inspire our audiences, which I’m blown away by. An amazing fan base. I’m just honored to be a part of it, even though I was just in it [the] first couple of seasons. So Sophia and I have always stayed in touch.”

Michael and Bush’s Alison divorced amid his opioid addiction, but still have “beautiful love for each other.”

“That’s a super broken couple,” Greenberg told The Post. “I just thought that was a fascinating dynamic to play. And, she got it right away. It’s a really heartbreaking relationship. They kind of still want to be together, still love each other, but there’s obviously some things in the way.”

“Junction” premieres in limited theaters and is now on demand.