In the fourth episode of Netflix dramedy “Dead To Me,” Christina Applegate’s Jen tells Linda Cardellini’s Judy that she had a preemptive double mastectomy after losing her mom to breast cancer. Of course, this was a case of art imitating life as the actor had also undergone the same procedure a decade earlier.
Speaking to USA Today, Applegate admitted that she still thinks about the experience every day. “Girls who go through this, we say to each other, ‘Yep, it’s been 10 years,’ but you’re never not aware that that’s something you’ve been through,” she shared. “Everything looks different. You have to shower and you’re like, ‘Oh, there they are. That happened.'”
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However, Applegate believes that by bringing the subject out into the open, she can help those in a similar position feel less alone. In a Vulture interview, she noted that while the procedure still has its detractors, she hoped to shine a light on the emotionally complicated process. “I don’t think there’s a lot of characters out there with double mastectomies,” she said in the aforementioned USA Today chat. “I thought this was my chance to tell a little bit about me, but also all the women that have gone through that.”
