Molly Shannon Recalls the Childhood Tragedy That Shaped Her Life & Career

Molly Shannon is opening up about losing her family.

In a new interview, the 56-year-old The White Lotus actress recalled losing her mom, younger sister, and cousin in a tragic car accident when she was only 4-years-old.

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“I was very heartbroken and very sad and just trying to hold it all together as a kid,” Molly shared with the Los Angeles Times. “There’s no way that you could feel that type of deep pain about your mother and your sister being dead, so you just hold it all in, and it comes up later in life.”

Molly‘s father, who had driven under the influence, was horribly injured during the accident.

Molly then revealed that the tragedy helped her create her Saturday Night Live character Mary Katherine Gallagher.

The character “was really based on me, how I felt after the accident — really nervous, accident-prone, wanting to please, f—k up but full of hope,” Molly explained. “I just exaggerated everything I felt as a little girl and turned it into a character.”

Molly then explained why she decided to speak out now about the tragedy.

“You feel like you put your heart right there on the table, but I hope that my story can help other people,” Molly shared.

If you missed it, the trailer for season two of Molly‘s HBO Max series The Other Two was recently released. You can watch it here.