Jennette McCurdy’s memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, is one step closer to becoming a TV show — with Jennifer Aniston playing the role of her mother.
Apple TV+ confirmed on Tuesday, July 1, that Aniston, 56, is starring in the TV adaptation in addition to being an executive producer on the project. McCurdy, 33, is adapting her book alongside Ari Katcher, but it hasn’t been announced who will be playing her.
I’m Glad My Mom Died detailed Jennette’s complicated relationship with her abusive mother and the road to recovery following Debra McCurdy’s death in 2013. According to the synopsis, the dramedy will center on “the codependent relationship between an 18-year-old actress in a hit kids’ show, and her narcissistic mom who relishes in her identity as a starlet’s mother.”
Jennette’s book became a bestseller when it was released in 2022, but she still has to defend the shocking title years later.
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“I wanted something that was bold and also something that I meant sincerely. I would never use a bold and attention-grabbing title if it weren’t authentic,” she told The Hollywood Reporter when the book debuted. “I would never do it if it were just coming from a flippant place. That’s not my approach to humor. I knew that anybody who had experienced parental abuse would understand the title, and anybody who had a sense of humor would understand the title.”
The former child star admitted it took a while for her to feel comfortable discussing her past.
“Because it’s so personal, I felt like it was important that I had a lot of experience in therapy,” Jennette said about discussing her eating disorder in the memoir. “I didn’t sit down with a therapist and say: ‘So I want to write a memoir. How can we get me to a place where I’ve got the perspective to do it?’ But it was several years of really intense therapy before I started feeling like I could explore all that personal stuff creatively.”
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Jennette credited therapy for allowing her to get to a better place after her mother’s death.
“My mind just went: ‘Is it possible to be so full of s*** that you can’t see when you’re full of s***?’ And then I was like: ‘No, I think I’ve done too much therapy for that,’” she explained. “I consider myself fully recovered from eating disorders, and I’m really, really proud of that. And yet, I think that elements of my relationship with my mom will always be something that I’m exploring in some way, whether that’s just subconsciously kicking around or whether that’s creatively. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It doesn’t feel retraumatizing for me to explore that relationship creatively.”
I’m Glad My Mom Died marks Aniston’s second TV project since her hit sitcom Friends came to an end in 2004. She recently wrapped the fourth season of The Morning Show, which premieres September 17 on Apple TV+.
