Latest / Legally Brunette / Killer Thriller: A perfect daughter. A devastating secret. Danielle Panabaker talks ‘Crowning at the Prom’

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Killer Thriller: A perfect daughter. A devastating secret. Danielle Panabaker talks ‘Crowning at the Prom’ · Legally Brunette

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Amy roboc and TJ.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Holmes present Killer Thriller with your host Alisa Donovan. Hey, everyone,
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Elisa Donovan here and this is Killer Thriller.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Today.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: I'm joined by actress Danielle Panabaker to talk about her
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: new Lifetime movie, Crowning at the Prom. Danielle plays Abigail,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: a devoted single mother whose daughter Kat appears to have
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: the perfect life. She's an honor student, a standout athlete,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: and on the verge of becoming prom queen. But behind
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: that carefully crafted image, Kat is hiding a secret that
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: threatens to unravel everything she's worked so hard to achieve.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: According to Lifetime, Crowning at the Prom was inspired by
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: real life events, though it's not based on any one
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: specific case.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: So before we get to my conversation.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: With Danielle, my producer and I are talking about two
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: real crimes that share striking themes with the film, Concealed pregnancies,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: crushing expectations, and the devastating consequences that can follow when
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: fear and shame convinced someone they have nowhere to turn. Okay, Hannah, Hi,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: let's chat it up here about this these I mean,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: I hate to always use the word unfathomable. But I
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: don't quite know what else to call them. But okay,
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: these crimes. The first is the Melissa Drexler case, better
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: known as the prom mom case. She was eighteen years old,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: went to her senior prom in New Jersey, gave birth
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: in a restroom during the dance, and reportedly wrapped the
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: baby in plastic bags, put it in the garbage can,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: and then went out and ate a salad. Meanwhile, no
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: one hit the prom even knew that she had been
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: pregnant in the first place.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's like, this is.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Almost impossible to wrap your head around, crazy to think about. Yeah,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: I mean that she so she Melissa Drexer. So, Melissa
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: Drexler had hidden her pregnancy from her parents, her friends,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: even the baby's father. Like, how how does someone keep
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: something that enormous a secret for nine months?
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: For nine months?
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: I mean, can you you've been pregnant. I've been pregnant.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: I couldn't keep it quiet for like three days. I
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: was like, I don't feel right, you know, one.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Hundred percent same and it's you.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: I mean, obviously, eighteen years old is a very scary
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: situation to be pregnant, and it's a different circumstance, but
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: it was, Yeah, between the symptoms that you're dealing with
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: of whether you're sick or not, even just like the bloating,
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: the boobs swelling, the yes, you know, like I think
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: that is crazy to me. You do hear these stories
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: all the time about women who didn't know they were pregnant,
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: and you were just like, after going through pregnancy, You're like,
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: how is.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: That now possible? Earth?
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: And then I wonder, Okay, was it? Is it partially
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: because of her age? I mean probably there's less you
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: sort of you're just more. You're just stronger and more
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: robust when you're eighteen than I mean, I was forty
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: one when I had my daughter, So I say it
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: is different, but yeah, like I can't imagine what she's
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: emotionally carrying around every day for all of that time,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Like how I just I agree.
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: I even think my mom was twenty one when she
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: got pregnant with my brother and didn't know for six
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: to seven months, And I right, I'm like, how did
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: you not know the symptoms? And I think she's like
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: I was just so young. I just didn't like, I wasn't.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Tracking my period. I didn't think about that every day.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: I was under a lot of stress in other areas
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: that she's like.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: It just never crossed my mind. There weren't any like
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: period apps back.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: Then, and no, no, she was like my symptoms I
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: just chalked up to being hormonal in a sense of
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: like the bees hurting and things like that, like that
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: happens during a period. There's there's so many And she
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: never got sick with that first pregnancy that was my brother, and.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: So that's incredible in and of itself.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: I didn't even think about that, like the morning sickness,
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: even if you don't even if you don't vomit, it's
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: still like, I mean, at least for me, I could.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: I was a hot mess.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: I didn't have a morning sickness, but I was very
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: nauseous with my first and like I had a lot
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: of food a versions to just being completely grossed out
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: by so many foods I was normally eating. Yep, that
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: in my mind at that time. I mean, I was
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: thirty two, I think, and I was like I at
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: that time, I was. We were also trying, right, so
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: it was at the top of mine. You're hyper aware
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: of what's going.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: But I guess at eighteen you're just like you don't.
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: You also don't recognize the consequences of having sex at
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: that age, right, You're just having fun and experimenting and
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: doing these sort of things.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: You don't everything.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: You're an eighteen year old brain can't fathom.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: It's not going to happen to you. Exactly. That always happens.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: But this he is crazy to me, So so the second.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: So then the other case that this is like is
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: there's Amy Grosberg and Brian Peterson. They were both eighteen
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: college freshmen dating long distance after high school, and Amy
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: hid her pregnancy from everyone, and the baby was born
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: in a.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Delaware hotel room.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: So one of the things that these two cases have
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: in common is the depth of violence and indifference to
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: human life of this baby.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: It's just staggering to me.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: So in the Grosberg case, the autopsy said the cause
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: of death was shaking and skull fractures caused by blunt force.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, these were not.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Destitute, off the grid kids, right, who disappeared from society
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: and were off the map. I mean they were going
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: to school, they were seeing friends or living what looked
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: like completely normal lives.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: How I can't really.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Fathom this, and then they both, Melissa Drexer and Amy
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Grosberg eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter after initially facing murder charges.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: It's just heartbreaking. I'm I can't imagine. And again I
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: feel like it goes back. I mean the second case
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: they were a bit older. But as far as like
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: the first case, we were talking about Melissa Dexler, she at
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: that said brain development at that and I'm not excusing
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: any behavior right now, but it's like some explanation, it's
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: the fear taking over.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: It's you know, I.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: Would like to think at eighteen years old, I definitely
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: one hundred percent would not react that way, right, And
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: so I do think there is another element to it.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: But I think also like there's so many things that
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: play into.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: These people's lives, faes, family dynamics, that piece of it.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: Neither of them felt that they could tell the people
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: close to them what was happening, which to me, that's
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: the most heartbreaking part.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Even telling a friend.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: Right, Like in the movie that I'm going to speak
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: with Danielle about, at least the main character, Kat did
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: eventually tell her best friend, so she had a little
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: bit of a comrade sort of, but way far along, right.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: These people didn't tell anyone, And I just it's so heartbreaking.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: It's so heartbreaking.
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: And in the movie, I'm curious to, you know, for
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: you to talk with Danielle about this, because the character's mother,
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: the main character's mother who Danielle plays, went through the
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: same situation at the same age, and so is it's
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: hard still to be like, how could she not tell
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: her mother who had experienced the same thing.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: But there's just so.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: Much trauma and the pressure on these teenagers, and I
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: can I go back to the brain development of just
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: like not fully thinking through the consequences of yes, these
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: sort of things, right.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: And even feeling like the prom is more important to
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: some degree than this human life of this baby, you know,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: really not understanding that that is partially has to be
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: brain development related and some kind of trauma, psychological something right.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: And I feel like this first crime, the Melissa Drexlert,
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: we don't know what this movie crime is based on,
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: this one does feel similar in the sense that like
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: she had the baby in the bathroom at prom, right,
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: and then like kind of goes back out, which also
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: going through a rightborn delivery.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: I just I couldn't even stand up. I couldn't either,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: not to mention. It's just like.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: Everything that comes out with a baby, right, where's the placenta?
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: Where is all these things? The blood that happens. It's
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: crazy to me that somebody could literally just get up
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: off the floor and go back to something and nobody
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: nobody noticed anything as well?
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Right right, I completely agree. I mean, so both of
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: these cases happened around thirty years ago. Do you think
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: that the world has gotten better at talking to teenagers
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: about pregnancy and mental health and asking for help.
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: I like to think that, you know, we are in
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: a better place now that parents are more open to
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: talking with their teens about pregnancy and things like that,
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: and teenagers feel more comfortable being able to go to
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: their parents. There's a lot more resources now. But there
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: was even a moment within the last year of this
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: cheerleader at the University of Kentucky where they found an
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: infant she had given birth to in a trash bag
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: in her closet. I'm not sure, God, I can't remember
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: the specific on how they found this and kind of
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: what transpired, but yeah, it's it's like this is still
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: happening today, which is so heartbreaking.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: And it's just like closet it just leaving it in
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: your closet. I don't, I can't. It's it's such a
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: mind bender, like I really can't.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: Conceive of it. I can't even fathom it. It's so sick.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: It's so this is a human life. Like you think
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: about when your daughter was born and my children were
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: born and just those little faces that you're just I
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: could not even that's second they were born. It was like,
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: I want nothing bad, I want to I have to
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: protect this thing. Like this instinct kicks in that you
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: just have to protect this baby against all everything, and
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: you will do anything it takes. So it is so hard,
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: even though you like you want to think about their
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: age and things like that.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: There's just no world and there's no excuse.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: But it's it's crazy. It's so crazy. It's it's so violent.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is just heartbreaking. These stories and the
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: I can't speak for what these real life situations, but
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: the character in this movie, you just you feel so
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: bad for her in a sense of the pressure she
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: feels and what she feels that she has to achieve,
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: and that is really what is driving all of her
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: decisions to not be making good decisions for her, for
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: the baby, for anybody that ultimately leads you know what
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: happens in the end of this movie. But it's I
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: like to think things are definitely more open now and
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: there's better resources.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: I like to think, at least I like to think
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: that too. Well.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: I am really looking forward to this chat with Danielle,
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: so I think I'm going to get into it.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Thanks Hannah, Thank you.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: Can't wait to hear your conversation with Danielle.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Danielle, Welcome to Killer Thriller. Thank you so much. I'm
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: happy to be here. I'm so thrilled to talk to you.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Congratulations on the movie. Thank you.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: This this movie is really about so many important things
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: that young people and parents go through and have to manage,
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: and so for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, the
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: film centers on Kat, a smart, athletic high school senior
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: whose world is turned upside down when she discovers that
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: she's six months pregnant, and Danielle, you play Abigail, Kate's
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: single mom, who is dealing with her own life stress,
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: which we will get into. What was your first reaction
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: when you read the script? I, you know, so I
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: really liked the script obviously, because that's why I ended
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: up doing it, But I think there's so much I
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: could relate to as a mom, sort of from Abigail's perspective.
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: Obviously, she makes mistakes in this movie, and you know,
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: doesn't als communicate things effectively, But as a mom, you
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: want to do the best for your kids, and what's
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: best for your kids might not always look the way
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: you thought it would look. And I think there's a
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: really beautiful arc for Abigail in this movie. As she's
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: you know, pretty singularly focused on her daughter's success on
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: the crew team and what doors that might open for her,
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: and as they deal with this pregnancy, she really begins
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: to look at her own behavior and there's she apologized
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: this to her daughter ultimately.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Right right. I really appreciated that.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: How you know, the whole film, it really isn't judging
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Kat or Abigail, but it's really asking us to understand
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: and both of them really And you know, Kat is
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: carrying this enormous secret while she's trying to go to
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: school and study and train and you know, act like
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: nothing is wrong with all this immense pressure, and so
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: how aware do you think Abigail was of her part
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: in that.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: In all those pressures.
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: I think initially not at all, because, like I said,
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: I think historically, you know, there's this idea that you
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: go to high school, you get good grades, and then
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: you get into a good college and that's going to
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: open doors for you.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: And that was not an experience that Abigail had.
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: And so she's trying to do it differently for her daughter,
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: and in trying to do it differently, I feel that
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: she's maybe overcompensated a little bit, and instead of focusing
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: on how to set her daughter up for success in
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: the best way possible for Kat, Abigail's really stuck.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: In her mentality in terms of what she thinks is
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: right for Kat.
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: So I think she struggles with that throughout the movie.
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: But I do think there's what I love about this
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: character and in this movie is that there is some
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: growth for her after she's I mean, you know, nothing
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: like your daughter coming home and saying she's pregnant to
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: really wake you up to what choices have led you
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: to this point. And I think she, you know, once
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: they deal with the initial shock of what's been going on,
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: the pregnancy and the eating disorder, and it allows her.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: I think Abigail really does take the opportunity to reflect
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: on her part and things. And I think it's a
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: really beautiful moment in the film that you get to
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: see her apologize and really ask for cats forgiveness.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Yes, there's so much accountability and humility in that moment.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, as a mom.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: Same, I feel like it's we're as I'm watching this
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: as a viewer and going, oh God, please don't let
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: me ever do that, And then you think I maybe
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: I'm doing that to some degree with something kind of
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: all the time, you know, absolutely, like what is that
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: balance of taking care and knowing I'm the grown up
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: so I do know better in some regard, but that
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: blindness that we kind of get and trying to really
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: ultimately when you just want.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: The best for your job.
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: But sometimes I do think we're focusing on what our
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: values are. Like I think Abigail's value was like, you've
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: got to go to a great college, and the only
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: way we can do that is with the scholarships, and
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: the only the best way path, the best path forward
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: in this moment is for you to get an athletic scholarship.
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: So she's really focused on making that possible, not because
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: she wants her daughter to have an eating disorder, but
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: she wants to set her daughter up for success.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: She wants her daughter to have that great education and
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: open all those doors. So it comes from a good place,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: but the execution is flawed, a little flawed.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: I was going to say, I mean that is one
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: of the most heartbreaking parts of the movie is that
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: Kat never tells her mom what's happening. Even though Abigail
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: we learned she became She herself became pregnant at eighteen,
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: So why do you think Kat couldn't bring herself to
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: tell the one person who might best have understood her.
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: Actually, my guess is that Abigail had a lot of
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: trauma and sadness and you know, challenges around becoming a
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: mom so young, and I think that was really difficult
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: just by virtue of what it was. But also Abigail
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: didn't have the support of her parents and she really
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: had to go at it alone. And I think that
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: story had been told to Kat, And you know, I
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: can empathize as well when your parents. My parents had
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: me really young, and I think that's a story that's
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: sort of ingrained in you and you feel guilty, You
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: feel badly that you changed their lives in a way
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: that maybe they maybe didn't want. And I think, intentionally
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: or not, I think Pat carried some of that and
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: so she didn't want to bring a greater burden to
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: her mom or also, you know, have history repeat itself, right, right?
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: So I think that every parent who's watching this movie
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: is going to ask themselves, well, you know, would my
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: child tell me? And every teenager wondering would I tell anyone?
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: Or how you know, do you ever think about what
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: you personally would have done?
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: Oh, that's an interesting question if I was a teenager,
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: because I think I definitely was looking at it from
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: a perspective more as a mom. If I was a teenager,
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: to be honest, I don't think I would have felt
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: safe telling my parents either. So you know, I empathize
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: with Kat and Abigail's situation.
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: It is a sort of so crazy too, because these
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: these you know, what she does is so extreme and
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: you think, of course, I could never do something like that,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: But the reality is, when it's one thing after another,
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: it's sort of like a slow burn of all of
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: these things together, it turns and then you know the
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: reality is we only we respond to what's happening, and
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: you can't really imagine what it's like I suppose to
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: be in her position.
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: You know, we can try, and that's what I think
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: we're hopefully trying to do as storytellers when we make
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: this movie, when we all come together. I mean, I
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: think Gonwin's fantastic in this movie. And you know, the
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: movie was written by two women and directed by a woman.
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: Like there was a lot of female energy boarded into this,
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: so I think we all tried to be as empathetic
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: as possible.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think you certainly succeeded.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: So the the movie eventually addresses anorexia athletica. It's an
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: eating disorder driven by compulsive, extra size and restrictive eating.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: I've spoken publicly about my own anorexia and my recovery.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: For many years.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: I've I'm very committed to making this, you know, removing
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: the stigma surrounding it, so, you know, and I was.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: I remember it being very painful for my parents, in
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: particular for my mom to watch me essentially disappear and
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: be impotent, you know, to help.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: And there was.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Also an element of denial for a long time on
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: her part. So as Abigail, do you think that she
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: was in respect to the eating disorder? Do you think
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: that she was in denial or she was just too
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: caught up with her own concerns to really notice.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: I think it's a combination of things. I think, yes.
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: I mean, I have incredible sympathy for you know, Abigail
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: as a single mom, Like I have an incredible partner,
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: and our life would be possible if.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: We didn't work together.
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: And I can't imagine how challenging it must have been
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: for her for Abigail to raise Cat on her own
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: without the sport, not only of a partner, but not
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: without her parents. Like I have a lot of empathy
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: for her. I think she was trying as hard as
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: she could. I you know, and again, I think she
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: became so focused on this idea of if you're successful
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: with your athletic career, that will change your life. It'll
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: open so many doors. So I'm not sure. I guess
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: there is a certain part of denial, And I think
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: it's this moment of you know, while it's a compromise
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: or a sacrifice, like yes, we're not getting ice cream
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: as a treat, but it's for this greater good to
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: get you into the college of your dreams, to get
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: you the job and the life of your dreams.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Right, it's like looking at the final result and not,
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: of course considering so much about how you get there.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yeah.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: So one misconception that people still have is that eating
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: disorders are about food, and they're very much more about
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: control and perfectionism. And there's a cycle of shame that
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: exists along with the eating disort of really becoming a
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: part of your identity, if not your entire identity. You know,
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: for me, I remember the skinny body was It's like
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: it was physical evidence that I was succeeding, that I
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: was excelling. And you know, once you get on that train,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: it's extraordinarily difficult to get off of it. And you know,
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: I remember how exhausting that was to try to convince
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: everyone and myself that I was okay, that this was
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: the right, you know, so much that people would say things,
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: you know, they were worried about how I looked, and
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: that I turned that into oh that that's a check
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: mark in the right box, like that means I am extraordinary,
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: I am doing you know, I am achieving.
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: People are commenting, people are reacting. So I'm doing something
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: right because I'm getting a reaction. It doesn't matter that
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: it's a negative reaction. You're like, oh, I've gotten a reaction, right,
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: I'm on the right path exactly exactly.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: So kat Uh spends a lot of time trying to
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: appear perfect obviously, and do you think that she's chasing
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: perfection or just trying to avoid disappointing everyone around her,
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: you know, her mom or coach.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I think it's a little bit of both. I think.
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, even from a visual perspective, when
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: you look at the wife that Abigail and kat have together,
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: like they live in a nice home, they're always put together,
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: like they're really composed, and so I think there is
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: an element of perfectionism, and you know, maybe a little
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: bit of this idea of we have to broadcast that
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: we're doing well even if we're not, like everything is fine,
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: don't worry, don't peek behind the curtain, like everything is great.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: So I think there is a little bit of that,
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: and I think it's a little bit of a control thing,
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: you know, feeling out of control in their lives, in
• 24:04
  Speaker 4: particular for Abigail losing her job, I think being in
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: control of her weight is act could be a reaction
• 24:13
  Speaker 4: to that too.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, certainly, let's talk about how.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: Because to me, it seems utterly impossible, right to actually
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: hide a pregnancy for that long, and yet it isn't
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: because many people have done it, and I just wonder, like,
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: as a mom, can you imagine how you would feel
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: if this was your own daughter.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: I suppose you're.
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: Right, it's also almost unfathomable, but a quick Google search
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: will show you that it does happen.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: I mean, it make news for a reason, but it happens.
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: And again, I think there's also an element of denial
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: in that. I think Cat's story is a little different
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: because she's young and an athlete and probably not getting
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: a regular period. But also there are other factors into
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: reasons why one might not know they're pregnant, So that's
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: part of it. And then yes, I absolutely think about
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: what could happen with my kids. My kids are quite young,
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: they're four and six, so hopefully we're a long way
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: away from that. But I do think there's we're in
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: this nice moment of parenting where we're trying to think
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: about the bigger picture, and you know, for me that
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: sort of permeates every aspect of my parenting, and that
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: I'm trying to raise good humans, not just you know,
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: obedient children certainly be frustrating at times, but hopefully we're
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: trying to take a step back and look at the
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: bigger picture and do things like keep you know, keep
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: a dialogue open. It's funny. Don't know if this is
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: accurate or not, but I read that one of the
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: things that kids remember the most is having dinner at
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: like a family table, having dinner, dinner together. Having dinner
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: together is something that is meaningful and sticks with kids.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: So it's something I prioritize.
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: And sometimes it means we miss out on social opportunities,
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: or you know, we don't do certain sports because they're
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: so late in the day that we wouldn't be able.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: To all sit and have dinner together.
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: I imagine that will change as they get older, but in
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: this moment, it is something I prioritize because I've got
• 26:38
  Speaker 4: this bigger goal of hopefully we can keep a conversation
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: and a dialogue open as a family.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: I think that is in my daughter's fourteen and that
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: only becomes more and more important, even if it's sometimes
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: it turns into, especially at this age, a non conversation
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: because she doesn't want to talk about anything. But I
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: will say that that ritual of being together and also
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: of the meal itself right where it isn't that that
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: it is nourishing and it's a time where you can
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: have conversations and talk about the day.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: And we would always used to do rosebud.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: Thorn, yeah Rose, you know, and those things are so meaningful,
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: and you know, while we can't.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: I certainly grew up.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: We we had those family dinners, but we didn't have
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: the conversations, you know, And I think that's also generational.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: I'm fifty five, so I you know, it was certainly
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: a different time, and it was more of a source
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: of like a painful experience of being at the table,
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: you know, And I'm sure that that contributed. I also
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: was an athlete, a gymnast, and you know, there were
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: many factors that.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: Fed into me.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: No pun intent to be developing my aercia. But you know,
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: I feel as though it's it's that it's that. Yeah,
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: it's that area of parenting where all we can do
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: is do the best that we can and then you
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: just let it go and.
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: Back to my initial point, like your your parents probably
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: thought they were doing the best they could by sitting
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: down and making everyone have family dinner together. You know,
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: my when I was a kid, you had to clear
• 28:28
  Speaker 4: your plate. It doesn't matter, it didn't matter how fair
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: you were, whatever, you always had to clear your plate.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: These things are.
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: All done with good intentions, but maybe they don't always
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: have the intended consequences.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: Right exactly, And that balance of what is too much
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: and what is too little? And this you know, to
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: your point, I also, my daughter, you manners are extraordinarily
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: important to us.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Please and thank you and all those things.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: And how much of that or you know, looking someone
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: in the eye, how are you doing these things that
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: you don't know how much? It seems very simple, right,
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: like this is just how you exist as a human being,
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: as a grown person. You know, in society, this is
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: how you should behave But it can become these uh
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: you know, you don't know how they're taking it. And
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: then in church of that of covering up, you know,
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: pretending like everything is fine when really it's not. You know,
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: that's such a it's a scary thing as a parent,
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: and I think that is really it's why this this
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: movie is really important. I feel like it covers a
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: lot of ground. And you know, in this film, Kat
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: doesn't she isn't arrested, and she isn't indicted for any crime,
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: but they do mention how she was close to that
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: because she truly was endangering the baby.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: So and again those things that.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: Quick Google search will show you that these things do
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: happen quite often. So what do you hope that parents
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: and young people watching this will take away from the film.
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: I hope it sparks conversation. I think about all of there.
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: Like you said, it does. The movie does cover a
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: lot and there's a lot of topics you can pick from,
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: and maybe each.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Night at the dinner table, it's a different conversation. But
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: you know, what would you what.
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: Would happen if you were in Cats Shoots? Let's start
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: just with the anarexia, Like can you see that happening?
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: How would you cope with that? An unexpected pregnancy? What
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: would you do? How would you go about that? And
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: I think, you know, hopefully for parents, it's a nice
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: moment to reflect and say, what's my part in this?
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: And you know, how.
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: How can I do better? In particular for my specific child?
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: And I have two kids, so they actually each need
• 30:50
  Speaker 4: different things.
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: Right right, right, And it really is I think you can't,
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: as you said at the earlier, we really can't underestimate
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: how how difficult it is. I mean, I am not
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: a single mom, so I can't I really with that alone.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: And then also the struggles of she loses her job
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: and then can't provide the life that this stream life
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: that she wants her daughter to have, and.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: It's that that's a very real part of the world today.
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: Oh absolutely, Like I said, I think this all stems
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: from Abigail's intention. At least for Abigail, her intention is
• 31:29
  Speaker 4: to give her daughter the best life possible.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: And in her.
• 31:32
  Speaker 4: Head she decided that it's this route of a scholarship,
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: so you can go to a good college and you
• 31:39
  Speaker 4: can have the best life possible. And I think she
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: just gets tunnel vision and doesn't stop to look and
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: see what else is happening?
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Right right?
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: Well, I think it's a really important movie, and I
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: think you're wonderful in it, and everybody is great in it,
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: and it is crowning at the problem is streaming online time?
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: And what else? What are you working on next? Anything else?
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: You'd like to share.
• 32:05
  Speaker 4: I'm really excited about this movie and always looking for
• 32:08
  Speaker 4: new projects, so keep your fingers crossed.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Great well, I wish you the best.
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: You're lovely, this was such a fun You for taking
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: the time.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: Okay, I want to hear what cases you all are
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: interested in hearing about.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: What are you watching that you want us to talk about?
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: What actors or producers or directors do you want to
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: hear from. Hit us up in our DMS at Killer
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: Thriller Pod on Instagram and TikTok and let us know,
• 32:34
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• 32:36
  Speaker 2: subscribe to Amy and TJ Presents wherever you listen to
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: podcasts that will wrap it up for us today until
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: next time.