Christina Applegate

Right On Top

The comedic actress who built her fanbase with shows like Married... With Children and movies like Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead has come a long way, and now she’s doing some of the finest work in the biz on the Netflix series Dead to Me.

Christina Applegate gives the performance of her life in Dead to Me, a twisty, dark, uncompromising dramedy that’s been the toast of Netflix since its series premiere last month. Set in Southern California, the show casts Applegate as Jen, a real estate agent and mother of two who grapples with anger issues long before her husband, Ted, is killed in a hit and run. The accident, and Jen’s subsequent grief, sit at the core of the story, and they lead the cynical antiheroine to a support group where she meets Judy (Linda Cardellini), another woman who’s suffered loss but is carrying a hefty vault of secrets. Despite Jen’s general aversion to other humans (especially the local cops who have zero leads on Ted’s death), she embraces Judy as both gal pal and kindred spirit. Both actresses bring flawless work to a brilliantly complex friendship dynamic, but Applegate seems to have cut herself open for her role, exposing every feeling and fear in her body to capture Jen’s rollercoaster ride of emotions.

“There were some other actresses up for the part,” Applegate says from her home in Los Angeles, where she frequently reacts to her dog, who’s bounding around the house. “But [series creator] Liz Feldman fought for me, believed in me, and wanted me for the role. She asked me if I was ready to go to some really intense and dark places. And I said, ‘Yeah. Let’s do it.’”

In every way, Jen seems like the role that Applegate’s life has been prepping her for, both personally and professionally. From Married...with Children and Samantha Who? to a wide array of Hollywood movies, the actress has always been a comedic powerhouse, often mixing deadpan banter with game theatrics. In Dead to Me, the humor is about as dry as it gets, with many of the laughs coming courtesy of Jen and her grief-fueled, fuck-this-shit vocabulary of obscenities. The character is always sympathetic (given what she’s lost and the shrewd sensitivity of the show’s writers), but no one in Dead to Me is immune to Jen’s sharp tongue. “It’s very much my own sense of humor,” Applegate says, even if she’s not likely to go cursing out officers at a police station. “Jen and I are both really snarky. Most of the material was already on the page, but some of it poured out of me, too. I think the scene where I scream ‘twat’ was definitely not in the script.”

Feldman seems to have also lovingly shaped Jen’s journey and backstory around Applegate’s own. There are the subtle touches, such as when Jen takes a dance class, which harkens back to the actress’s own dance background (among other things, she was a founding member of The Pussycat Dolls, before the all-girl burlesque act was transformed into a pop group). And then there are the emotional wallops, like Jen’s revelation of a battle with breast cancer that resulted in a double mastectomy. In 2008, Applegate’s real-life breast cancer diagnosis was heavily covered by the media, as was her double mastectomy that ultimately left her cancer free. And like Jen, Applegate is a mother, raising her 8-year-old daughter, Sadie Grace, with her husband, musician Martyn LeNoble. None of these parallels feel like pandering back-pats or bone-tosses to the show’s leading lady, because every one of them feels thoroughly natural and true to Jen’s path. To be fully formed, Dead to Me needed a star who’s lived, who’s lost, who’s seen a few things, who’s gotten back up, and who can laugh and cry about it—a lot.

“Yeah, I’ve had quite a life,” says Applegate, who’s 47, and embraces the natural beauty of that age in the show—the makeup is never heavy, and a small scar between the eyebrows adds character to both Jen and Applegate. “I’ve experienced loss and grief, and a lot of grief that no one even knows about.” Whatever that is or was, Applegate channels it into all manner of scenes in Dead to Me, from a public berating of Judy that blows up as their friendship evolves, to a traumatic, post-sexual assault breakdown that occurs while Jen’s hunting down her husband’s killer. The lack of emotional limits in Applegate’s work is as shocking as the show’s surprises, and nothing she’s done previously can prepare you for it. It’s one of the reasons why, as of press time, she doesn’t have another project lined up, unless, of course, the series is renewed for a second season. “There were some days that were extremely exhausting,” Applegate says, the memory of the process seeming to emanate through her words. “I’m fine just being a mom right now, and seeing how the show evolves.”

Applegate had best get her rest in, because it seems inconceivable that Dead to Me wouldn’t be greenlit for season two. It’s one of the most-talked about shows of the year among viewers and media outlets (with many postulating what the first season’s finale means or could mean), and it’s a hit among critics, with USA Today calling it “impeccably acted and written,” and Vanity Fair declaring that Applegate “rises to [the show’s] calling with the confident commitment of an old pro.” It’s also yet another example of how streaming services like Netflix are making room for not just complicated female characters, and not just roles for beloved actresses that don’t fit Hollywood’s formulas, but for women and other sidelined creatives to have an outlet for their own work. Netflix also recently gave us Russian Doll, a similarly challenging tragicomedy starring the underrated Natasha Lyonne, whom Applegate is quick to acknowledge produced the show as well. (Applegate is an executive producer on Dead to Me.) One of the many perks of this approach to programming is that, with women behind the camera and in front of it, we get to see some of the most authentic depictions of female lives and relationships in the history of entertainment.

While she’s done the witty arm-candy bit in films like Anchorman and its sequel, Applegate has always come off as an actress who’s thoroughly enjoying the process of her projects, especially when those projects involve starring opposite other women. An unsung gem in her filmography is the 2002 comedy The Sweetest Thing, which saw her, Cameron Diaz, and Selma Blair play three sexually empowered San Francisco women who don’t filter their language or behavior for the status quo. The gonzo road movie—which was a bit like Sex and the City, only goofier and on the West Coast—was no box-office smash, but it was still a groundbreaker that came years before Bridesmaids proved that funny, brash women had theatrical clout. “It was really the first female-led, hard-R comedy,” Applegate says, noting that the studio behind it was quite nervous, and that certain scenes that have grown iconic for cult fans of the DVD release (like an impromptu, restaurant-set performance of “The Penis Song,” which is just what it sounds like), was omitted from the initial release. “I don’t think people were ready to hear or see women talk and behave like that.” But Applegate was, as were her co-stars, with whom, again, she had palpable fun, and with whom she’s still friendly. (She notes that Blair, who recently went very public with her own health struggles—with MS—”is going to help a lot of people.”)

This same unmistakable camaraderie exists between Applegate and Cardellini on Dead to Me, and without it, the messy, gorgeous, ever-peeling onion of a relationship between Jen and Judy wouldn’t have half of its engrossing potency. Secrets, lies, rage, and affection swirl around the bond of these women like a hurricane, and the true miracle of the show is that its actresses and its creators anchor all of it to a visceral, unconditional love that seems unbreakable, no matter the hurdle or infraction. There’s nothing else like it in today’s entertainment landscape. “We had to have each other’s backs constantly,” Applegate says of herself and Cardellini. “We were in this journey together, and there were some really rough moments for both of us to get through. People have tried to suggest a romance between Jen and Judy, and there’d be nothing wrong with that if that’s where the story went, but that isn’t what it’s about. Sometimes people just genuinely love each other because of the experiences they share, and it’s not so easily explained. And I can personally say that, now, Linda has become someone who I truly love with all my heart.”

Despite all her delectable flaws, the character of Jen is someone who, in modern vernacular, would be dubbed a certified “boss.” And while it is a role that Applegate’s been headed toward for decades, being a boss is something the actress has thrived in since her first major film role. The year was 1991, and the movie was Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, another cult fave that saw Applegate play Sue Ellen, a fun-loving teenager who has to step up and support her siblings when their crotchety old babysitter suddenly kicks the bucket. Faking a resume and donning the glorious retro clothes of her mother (who’s vacationing in Australia), Sue Ellen lands a high-end gig at a corporate clothing company, quickly climbing the ladder and fabulizing their approach to designing uniforms. The ultra-quotable movie (“I’m right on top of that, Rose!”) has become a bona fide classic, especially among millennials, which still surprises Applegate. “I was just thrilled to have an actual trailer on set,” she says. When told that the movie’s oh-so-’90s fashion is making a big comeback, Applegate says she’ll pass on the neon and shoulder pads. “I’m cool with my mom wardrobe,” she says, “This sweater and these jeans.”

Linda Cardellini and Christina Applegate in a scene from Dead to Me. Photo: Netflix.

R. Kurt Osenlund