Christina Applegate opens up about her double mastectomy and new Netflix show

In her new Netflix show, “Dead To Me,” Christina Applegate’s character undergoes a double mastectomy, just like Christina did in 2008. As the actress recently explained to USA Today, that was no coincidence. “It wasn’t clear to me sometimes why Jen was so angry and broken. There had to be some underlying reason,” she told the paper (via Page Six), explaining that she added the detail about the surgery to make the character more relatable. “Plus, it hasn’t really been discussed on shows before; I don’t think there’s a lot of characters out there with double mastectomies. But I went through it, and it’s a horribly painful process – emotionally, spiritually, physically – and I never really talked about it. I thought this was my chance to tell a little bit about me, but also all the women that have gone through that,” she continued. “I think about it every day,” said Christina, who had the surgery after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. “Girls who go through this, we say to each other, ‘Yep, it’s been 10 years,’ but you’re never not aware that that’s something you’ve been through. Everything looks different. You have to shower and you’re like, ‘Oh, there they are. That happened.'”