Molly Shannon reveals tragic inspiration for this “SNL” character



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Comic actor Molly shannon faced unthinkable tragedy at a young age, and it ended up inspiring one of its most famous characters. In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Shannon opened up about losing her mother, sister and cousin in a car crash when she was just four years old. Of course, going through such a huge loss has shaped her life in many ways, and as an actress, tragedy has influenced some of her work. In the interview, Shannon revealed that a classic Saturday Night Live the character was born out of how she fared as a young girl after the accident which took away members of her family. Read on to find out more.

Molly Shannon at a
s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

When Shannon was four years old, her mother, her younger sister Katie, and her cousin were killed in a car accident. His father was the driver and had been under the influence. He survived but was seriously injured. While her father was healing, Shannon and her other sister, Married, had to go live with their aunt.

“The life we ​​left was not the same life we ​​came back to,” she told the Los Angeles Times. I just felt like everything was different. And I wanted my aunt to do things like my mom. I was like, ‘No, my mom cuts the crust like that.’ Everything drove me crazy. “

The White lotus The actress added that it was difficult to continue without always thinking about her sister. “We were learning to do fun things, like tying our shoes, and I was like, ‘Katie, my little sister, should be here to learn. She would have loved that. Katie would have loved doing bunnies and tying her shoes.’ “

Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher in
Saturday night live / YouTube

Shannon was a cast member on SNL for seven seasons. Her most recognizable character from her time on the show is Mary Katherine Gallagher, a Catholic school student who believed herself to be a fantastic artist, but is actually socially awkward and extremely awkward. Shannon also played the character in the feature film spin-off, Super star.

In the Los Angeles Times interview, Shannon shared that the character she created “was really based on me, how I felt after the accident – really nervous, accident prone, wanting to please, screwed up but hopeful. exaggerated everything I felt like a little girl and made her into a character. “

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Molly Shannon at the 2020 Critics Choice Awards
Silvia Elizabeth Pangaro / Shutterstock.com

“I was heartbroken and very sad and I just tried to keep it all together as a kid,” Shannon told the Los Angeles Times. “There’s no way you can feel that kind of deep pain about the death of your mother and sister, so you just keep it all in place, and it comes back later in life.”

She explained that she believed the experience affected how much she literally threw herself into her characters. As Mary Katherine Gallagher, she often performed stunts, such as crashing into a pile of chairs. “I didn’t care if I cut myself or get bleed,” Shannon said of her time playing the character. “I didn’t give like ***. I looked at it like punk rock. I was reckless, and because of what I went through, I didn’t care.”

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Molly Shannon and daughter Stella at the premiere of
Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com

Shannon has two teenage children, Stella asd Nolan, with her husband, artist Fritz Chestnut. “I look at life differently, losing my mother and living beyond the years she could have lived. And I feel gratitude,” Shannon told the Los Angeles Times.

In a July interview with People, while talking about his upcoming memories Hello Molly! (released in April 2022), Shannon explained that she was thinking about how she could spend more time with her children than her mother. “I think all the time you have on earth with someone is a good amount of time,” she said. “Every day of my life I’m like, ‘Oh my God. I’m alive. She never could do that. I can do it and I can see my daughter apply to college this year.’ I see them as teenagers now and I become their mother and I survive what my mother was able to do. It’s a deep healing, you know? It gives me gratitude. “

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