Anna Faris has revealed she stopped drinking and tied the shift to a newfound appreciation for her comedy career.
The “Mom” alum, 49, shared on Thursday’s episode of Chelsea Handler’s “Dear Chelsea” podcast that she only stopped feeling “ungracious” about her work as a comedic actress “in the last year.” She explained that she began noticing how fans would smile when they recognized her, usually recalling “something f–king stupid I did onscreen.” Handler, 50, seized on the observation and asked whether the change connected to her sobriety.
“Do you think that has to do with not drinking?” Handler pressed. “Because I know you stopped drinking. Maybe that lit that a little bit.”
Faris confirmed the connection, calling her brighter outlook “one of the many gifts” of giving up alcohol. She added a blunt self-diagnosis on the podcast: “Turns out there’s a correlation between drinking and depression for me for sure. I had to take a step back to not self-sabotage.”
The “House Bunny” star also credited hormone patches for improving her mental health, saying those “made a huge difference.” She did not specify when exactly she began abstaining from alcohol, nor did she elaborate further on the timeline of her sobriety journey.
Faris has not previously spoken in depth about personal drinking habits in interviews. For seven seasons, however, she played Christy Plunkett, a newly sober single mother, on the CBS sitcom “Mom” from 2013 to 2020. The show, created by Chuck Lorre, earned a Television Academy Honor for its portrayal of characters struggling with alcoholism and recovery.
In the viral moment that defined her exit from that series, Faris left “Mom” one season before its conclusion. She revealed on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in June that the show’s “intensity” drove her departure after seven years. “I started to lose my focus,” she recalled. “I never had a job besides waitressing for over three months before. … It was a complicated time.” The sitcom wrapped in 2021 after eight seasons, with Allison Janney carrying the final year as the central figure.
On Handler’s podcast, Faris also made rare comments about her two divorces and characterized her marriage to cinematographer Michael Barrett as “third time is a charm.” She reflected on her earlier marriages to Ben Indra and Chris Pratt, admitting, “As lame as it sounds, I needed to understand how I wanted to be loved, how I received love. I don’t think I did that very well.”
Faris gave unusual insight into her and Pratt’s 13-year-old son, Jack, describing him as “solid as a tugboat emotionally” and not “easily jarred.” She noted his emerging faith: “He is religious. He’s asked me to accept Jesus Christ. I told him I would do anything for him, including this, but it’s going to take a whole lot of conversations. He’s impressive.”
The “Scary Movie” veteran added that she actively challenges her teenager’s views with pointed questions. “Do you think it’s a luxury that you get to be pro-life? Or what do you think of this mega pastor who is kind of a grifter?” She said. “We’re getting there. I’m appreciative that he’s examining religion the way he is in terms of starting to recognize hypocrisy.”
Faris and Pratt welcomed Jack in 2012, five years before their split. Pratt has since had three more children — daughters Lyla, 6, and Eloise, 4, and son Ford, 1 — with wife Katherine Schwarzenegger.
The “Anna Faris Is Unqualified” podcast host continues to release episodes of her own show, which she has hosted since 2015.