Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Emma Chance | Celebrity | November 1, 2023
Ruby Barker played Marina Thompson in season one of the hit Netflix series Bridgerton and also appeared in the second season. In a recent appearance on Oxford University’s The Loaf Podcast, she opened up about two psychotic breaks that she suffered as a result of the show, which she says were “kept quiet so as to not damage the show before it premiered.” (Hollywood Reporter)
She spoke about her experiences with mental health advocacy and medication and said that her character’s plot played a part in her breakdown. “I was deteriorating…It was a really tormenting place for me to be because my character was very alienated, very ostracized, on her own, under these horrible circumstances,” she said.
She was hospitalized for the first time a week after filming of the first season wrapped and stayed for a year, checking out right before the show’s premiere.
“Not a single person from Netflix, not a single person from Shondaland, since I have had two psychotic breaks from that show, have even contacted me or even emailed me to ask me if I’m OK or if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare of support. Nobody.”
Meanwhile, with the premiere of the show, she was getting more attention and work than ever.
“My life was changing drastically overnight, and yet there was still no support, and there still hasn’t been any support for that time. So, I was trying really, really hard to just sort of act like, you know, ‘This is fine. This is OK. I’m OK. I can work. It’s not a problem.”
Barker took to Instagram to voice her reaction to the press coverage of the conversation.
“The crux of the point I was making was about a duty of care,” she said. “I know it may not be common practice…my point is that it should be…I believe that maybe we should be moving away from this whole concept that mental health is this personal responsibility and we’re all here on our own…How personally responsible can we realistically be when it comes to mental health when we live in a dystopia?”
