Everyone uniquely processes grief. No one can tell you how to react, how long to mourn, or when to move on. While some choose to bury the pain, others use their conflicting emotions as a creative outlet, choosing to create instead of caving in. In I’m Glad My Mom Died, author Jennette McCurdy experiences several stages of distress while contemplating the passing of her narcissistic mother. According to Deadline, Apple TV+ will adapt McCurdy’s darkly comedic memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, with Jennifer Aniston (Friends, The Morning Show, Office Space) playing the motherly role.
Deadline notes that Aniston currently stars in and executive produces The Morning Show alongside Reese Witherspoon. The Morning Show is greenlit through Season 4, leaving a question mark for Aniston’s continued participation. Thankfully, Aniston’s role in the adaptation of McCurdy’s memoir should not affect her Morning Show duties, even if a fifth season comes to bear, which everyone can expect.
I’m Glad My Mom Died is a 10-episode dramedy written, executive produced, and showrun by child actor-turned-writer Jennette McCurdy and Ari Katcher (Ramy, Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show). Aniston, McCurdy, and Katcher executive produce, with Sharon Horgan’s Merman, LuckyChap, Jerrod Carmicheal, and Erica Kay.
Here’s a synopsis for McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died, courtesy of Amazon:
A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.
In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.
Wow! I recall hearing echoes of McCurdy’s tale, but never anything this detailed or heartbreaking. I hope bringing I’m Glad My Mom Died alongside Jennifer Aniston helps McCurdy process any lingering anguish she feels. Good on her for picking up the pieces and making the most of a terrible situation.
