Kaley Cuoco experienced some turbulence this past year. But now, she's soaring high.
While the Flight Attendant star, 36, has earned a lot of praise for her work on the HBO Max series, she is reflecting on filming season two during "one of the hardest years" of her life. Cuoco and now ex-husband Karl Cook were in the process of divorcing and she was in therapy for the first time. But the stress of it all took a toll on her and eventually she turned to her Flight Attendant colleagues for support.
"I've been very open about it, because I think for the first time, I wanted people to know that things just aren't always what they seem. And things aren't always so perfect," the actress told Variety in an interview published Aug. 11. "One month in, I had an intervention on myself in my trailer—all my producers were in there. And I said, 'I need help.' It was interesting to say that out loud. And to have everyone be like, 'Yes, we want to help!' I'm a working woman, and so independent, and I really take pride in being able to do everything. Well, this time, I literally couldn't."
While navigating her split from Cook, which she describes as a "super dark time" in her life, Cuoco was playing a character also under immense stress—balancing her sobriety journey, family turmoil, and her CIA side gig.
"I just didn't know how to deal with it," Cuoco said about the divorce, which was finalized in June. "I was throwing myself into work to deny my depression, and how upset I was. Unfortunately, the character was so depressed that it wasn't helping me! I was really, really, really struggling. A lot of tears."
Going through so much in both her personal and professional life was something Cuoco never expected, but she admits it probably aided her performance in season two.
"The trauma I was going through probably helped whatever I needed to do for this season," she shared. "Did I mean for that to happen? Oh my God, no. Did I want that to happen? No. It was so life-imitating-art at certain moments that it was eerie. I truly feel like the pain I was going through, a lot of that was real on camera."
This included a scene where Cassie broke up with her boyfriend Marco, played by Santiago Cabrera. "I mean, I could not breathe," Cuoco continued. "I just went in the bathroom, and I literally thought I was going to have a panic attack. Not that what happened to them happened to us. That's not what I'm saying. It was just the whole idea of the breakup, and saying the words."
However, her journey has brought her to a better place. The Big Bang Theory alum is now dating actor Tom Pelphrey and was just nominated for an Emmy for her lead role in The Flight Attendant, her second in a row.
"I am so much better now!" Cuoco said. "I came out of it a couple months ago, and life totally flipped upside down. Everyone kept saying there's going to be a light at the end of this tunnel, and I didn't believe it until it happened. And now I can tell other people that have the worst years of their life: It's gonna get better."