Christina Applegate had to start therapy after filming hit Netflix show Dead To Me
Topics: TV And Film, Celebrity, Health, Mental Health
Emily Puckering
Featured Image Credit: Monica Schipper/WireImage / Netflix
Topics: TV And Film, Celebrity, Health, Mental Health
Christina Applegate candidly admitted that she had to start therapy during the filming of Dead To Me.
The actress, 52, starred in the hit Netflix comedy alongside Linda Cardellini, playing the leading role of Jen who strikes up a strong friendship with Judy (Cardellini) after meeting at a grief therapy group following the death of her husband.
But as the series goes on, many twists and turns emerge, including the fact that Judy and her ex-fiancé Steve were the ones who accidentally hit Jen's husband with their car, leaving him dead in the road.
Oh, and Jen also kills Judy's ex in a fit of rage, and the pair decide to work together to hide the body.
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Regardless of the gristly undertones and the wild moments, the series' three seasons were reviewed highly for being not only incredibly funny, but also for being a beautiful story of friendship that outlines the ups and downs of these kinds of relationships.
The third and final season of Dead To Me dropped in late 2022, which saw Jen become pregnant unexpectedly and strike up a relationship with Steve's identical twin brother, Ben.
But the main angle of the final season was Judy being tragically diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The final episode was a true tear-jerker as Jen and Judy have their final goodbye in the form of a getaway to Mexico. Jen eventually leaves to go back home to her kids, but Judy remains to have her final days alive on the beach.
All in all, the show strongly touches upon the subject of grief, which clearly was a lot to deal with for Applegate who admitted to having therapy during filming for the show.
Speaking to Variety in 2019, she said she had realised she had deeply channeled a past personal loss while filming, and therefore needed to seek therapy.
But thankfully, this ended up being a positive experience for the actress.
“Jen, my character, is grieving in worst way possible, but that’s her way," she told the outlet. "And I think that we should all be allowed to do that when we need to. Grief doesn’t have a timeline. And grief is messy.”
She went on: "It tapped into some stuff that I had to face. It was cathartic. I don't know if [it was] therapeutic.
"Did I start therapy after I shot the show? Yes, absolutely. To like finally talk about the stuff that hurt you in your life... and heal from that?
"I think it’s a really beautiful thing."
In 2021, Applegate revealed she had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
This diagnosis is also something the actress has been candid about, with her admitting earlier this year that she 'didn't enjoy living' with MS, stating on her podcast: "This is being really honest: I don't enjoy living. I don't enjoy it.
"I don't enjoy things anymore. You know, if someone can come over and lay in bed with me and talk, like you have… that's enjoyable, I enjoy that. But if someone’s like, 'Let’s get up and go for a walk' or 'Let's go get a coffee,' I don’t enjoy that process."
But following concern from fans, the Anchorman actress clarified: "I was talking about some dark stuff that I was thinking and feeling.
"I feel like when we hold things in we give them power. I also think that there's so much shame a lot of people feel when they're going through mental health issues... and when people holds those in, because they're so afraid to say how they truly feel, we give it immense power."
She finalised: "It's important to be able to say these things. And, no, I'm not sitting here on suicide watch, OK? I am not. Nor have I ever been."