Busy Philipps: Brain Surgery, Bad Boyfriends, and Starting Over
Notas do episódio
“My brain feels broken.” Busy Philipps spent nearly two years saying those words, convinced that her emotional highs and lows might be heartbreak or perimenopause. Then a brain scan she almost didn't get revealed a tumor in her right frontal lobe. Now, after brain surgery, the actress, author, and mother of two is looking back at the last decade of her life with an entirely new set of questions. Did the tumor influence her emotional reactions? Her relationships? Even some of the decisions she made during her divorce? Busy joins Danielle Robay for a candid conversation about the diagnosis that made her reconsider her past, the devastating losses that pushed her to get scanned, and the challenge of slowing down when you've spent your whole life living up to the name Busy. Plus, she opens up about her friendship with Michelle Williams, the impossible double standards of motherhood, the pressure to look younger in Hollywood, and why women deserve the freedom to reinvent themselves at any age.
In this episode:
- “My brain feels broken.” The two years of emotional turmoil that preceded Busy's shocking brain tumor diagnosis.
- “Maybe it was the brain tumor.” Why Busy is reexamining her divorce, former relationships, and the way she responded to conflict.
- The brain scan she almost didn't get and how losing James Van Der Beek and her best friend Kate influenced her decision.
- Three days after brain surgery, she walked three and a half miles. Why even her nurses worried Busy wouldn't slow down.
- Facing the possibility of leaving her daughters behind, and the conversation about motherhood that brings out Busy's most vulnerable side.
- Her friendship with actress Michelle Williams and why their seemingly opposite personalities have made for such a lasting bond.
- Busy on Botox, fillers, facelifts, and the strange new expectations of aging.
- One dad showed up for a school field trip and everyone applauded. Why Busy was furious after the sacrifices she'd made to be there.
- What growing up in Hollywood did to her confidence and the beauty standards she faced that triggered her insecurities.
- The complicated legacy of Dawson's Creek and why the show that made her famous wasn't always easy to look back on.
- What Tom Hanks reportedly told his son about acting.
- Her new role in Cupertino, and how Busy is excited to play a sexy, complicated woman in her forties.
- Why women deserve second acts and how Busy is championing for women everywhere to be free to be ambitious and reinvent themselves later in life.
Follow Busy on Instagram here.
Watch Busy on Cupertino on CBS here.
Book Rec: The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
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