{"id":19700,"date":"2023-10-31T03:16:37","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T08:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=19700"},"modified":"2023-10-31T03:16:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T08:16:42","slug":"bridgerton-actor-calls-out-netflix-for-not-offering-support-during-mental-health-crises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=19700","title":{"rendered":"‘Bridgerton’ actor calls out Netflix for not offering support during mental health crises"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cBridgerton<\/a>\u201d actor Ruby Barker<\/a> called out Netflix and Shondaland for failing to support her during two psychotic breaks that occurred in the wake of the romance series\u2019 blockbuster success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barker was a series regular during the show\u2019s first season and returned as a guest actor for Season 2. She played Marina, a Featherington cousin whose scandalous pregnancy makes her a social pariah in Regency-era London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barker said her first incident occurred in 2019 after she wrapped production on \u201cBridgerton\u201d Season 1. A second one occurred in 2022. The actor said she got \u201cno support\u201d from Netflix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot 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\u2019m okay or if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare or support,\u201d Barker said during an interview on Oxford University\u2019s LOAF Podcast (via The Daily Beast<\/a>). \u201cNobody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variety has reached out to Netflix and Shondaland for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Barker, her mental health started declining during the filming of \u201cBridgerton.\u201d She claimed her character\u2019s isolated nature negatively impacted her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring filming, I was deteriorating,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a really tormenting place for me to be because my character was very alienated, very ostracized, on her own under these horrible circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I went into hospital a week after shooting \u2018Bridgerton\u2019 Season 1, it was really covered up and kept on the down-low because the show was going to be coming out,\u201d Barker continued on the podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the run-up to the show coming out, I was just coming out from hospital, my Instagram following was going up, I had all these engagements to do\u2026 My life was changing drastically overnight and yet there was still no support and there still hasn\u2019t been any support all that time. So I was trying really, really hard to act like it was ok and that I could work and that it wasn\u2019t a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barker alluded to her mental health struggles in a May 2022 Instagram post when she disclosed that she was \u201creally unwell for a really long time\u201d and had been \u201cstruggling since \u2018Bridgerton.\u2019\u201d She thanked Netflix at the time for \u201csaving her\u201d by casting her in \u201cBridgerton,\u201d but now she is criticizing the streamer for not supporting her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am in hospital at the minute and I am going to be discharged soon and hopefully get to continue with my life,\u201d Barker\u2002told her followers<\/a> at the time. \u201cI was raged-filled, angry, all this intergenerational trauma bundled up inside me. I was carrying the weight of the world on my back and now I am at the point where I have a diagnosis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now on the LOAF podcast, Barker said that she had no support from the studios behind \u201cBridgerton\u201d and had to promote the show through a distressing period of her life. She added, \u201cIt\u2019s almost like I had this metaphorical invisible gun to my head to sell this show because this show is bubbly and fun. I don\u2019t want to come out and poo poo on that because then I\u2019ll never work again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBridgerton\u201d actor Ruby Barker called out Netflix and Shondaland for failing to support her during two psychotic breaks that occurred in the wake of the romance series\u2019 blockbuster success. Barker was a series regular during the show\u2019s first season and returned as a guest actor for Season 2. She played Marina, a Featherington cousin whose scandalous pregnancy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5784],"tags":[6447,23796,23793,23794,23795],"class_list":["post-19700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-actors","tag-breakdown","tag-bridgerton","tag-mental-health-conditions","tag-providing-support"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19702,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19700\/revisions\/19702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}