Holmes' first experience with crack cocaine was when she smoked with her mother at the age of 12. She dropped out of school in the 10th grade. After leaving school, she moved to New York City to live with her boyfriend Ilya Leontyev. The two fell into heavy drug and alcohol abuse, with Holmes first trying heroin at the age of 17. She was largely homeless for the next three years. Leontyev died of an overdose in Central Park in April 2015.Holmes was scouted by Josh and Benny Safdie, the directors of Heaven Knows What, in Manhattan's Diamond District while they were working on another film (that would eventually become Uncut Gems). She had been hired as an unpaid intern by a jeweler after he saw her sketching on a subway train. Intrigued by Holmes' life story, Josh encouraged Arielle to write a memoir, paying her by the page. The resulting unpublished memoir, Mad Love in New York City, served as the basis for Heaven Knows What.--Wikipedia。