Jennifer Aniston got to know the child actor-turned-author before taking on the role of the same name in the upcoming series, which is based on Jennette McCurdy’s 2022 memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Was Dead. She told People that the two bonded quickly and that they “shared a lot in common” and “were very similar mothers.”
McCurdy rose to fame at just 15 years old, co-starring in the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly in 2007 alongside Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Cress, and Jerry Trainor. The show aired for six seasons, after which McCurdy co-starred in the spin-off Sam & Cat with Ariana Grande from 2013 to 2014. McCurdy talks about her tumultuous experience The child star focused on the powerful role of her obsessive and abusive mother, Debra, who died in 2013.
Apple TV greenlit McCurdy’s book to series in July, with Aniston serving as executive producer and starring as her fictional mother. “When the offer came to my desk to play this character as an option and work with Jennette and[executive producer]Sharon Horgan and[production company]LuckyChap, I was immediately intrigued, happy and excited,” Aniston told People magazine. “It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to be pretty amazing once we start filming.”
Aniston described the memoir as “beautifully written” and praised McCurdy as “very special”, saying, “The fact that she was a young woman and lived that life is nothing short of amazing.”
McCurdy didn’t elaborate on the similarities between McCurdy and Aniston’s mothers, but she did mention her controversial relationship with her late mother, Nancy Dow, in a previous interview. In 2018, she told the Sunday Telegraph: “She was a model and it was all about presentation and how she looked and how I looked. I couldn’t be the model kid she wanted me to be.”
“I’m Glad Mom Died” will have 10 episodes and will be produced, written and show-run by McCurdy and Ali Kutcher. Other executive producers include Jerrod Carmichael and Erica Kay.
