Actress and ’90s icon Christina Applegate is known for many roles, but most notably as Kelly Bundy, the edgy, “dumb blonde” in the controversial and beloved sitcom. Married… With Children. For the past few years, the 54-year-old has largely retreated from the spotlight and public life after was diagnosed with multiple sclerosiswhich condition makes him feel as if he is “in a three-day sleepless bender,” he writes in his recently published memoir.
Emotional and honest, sometimes dark and often funny, You with sad eyes a raw and revealing portrait of the actress. Applegate paints a vivid picture of her messy, trauma-filled childhood and adulthood while becoming a TV star. She unpacks her complicated entanglements with men, the emotional burden of enduring devastating illnesses, but also the joy, surprise and discovery that she lives her life with admirable courage.
For her book, Applegate mined her memories, but also the journals in which she had written since she was 13 years old. For years, she had no intention of revisiting them, but the challenge of putting her story on the page changed that. “Luckily the box is open,” he tells readers in the Foreword.
In many ways, Applegate’s memoir is born out of the reality that many people have a debilitating chronic illness face. “I no longer care what I say, how I come across, or how it makes anyone feel,” she writes. “I have no patience for bullshit anymore, I have no patience for things that are meaningless or just ‘extra’. Add to that, I have no room for authenticity or hidden meanings.”
SELF spoke with Applegate about the process of writing it all down and the truths she’s found as she navigates a new chapter of life filled with uncertainty — but also, thankfully, the love and community she’s always hungered for.
SELF: Your memoir is incredibly powerful. Could you tell us why you decided to write this book and why now?
Christina Applegate: I have nothing else to do. Seriously, I’m just sitting here. Maybe it’s time to turn off Bravo for a few years. They approached me and someone asked: – Have you ever wanted to write a book? And I said, “Well, I’ve got a lot to say, so let’s do it. Let’s go there. Write it down. Pull it out. Throw it out!”
