Katey Sagal Reflects on Christina Applegate’s ‘Maturity Beyond Years’ on ‘Married…with Children’ Set
Applegate's on-screen mom talked about their time on 'Married…with Children'
Many remember the laughs brought about by the hit sitcom Married… with Children throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. Starring Ed O’Neill as patriarch Al Bundy, Katey Sagal as his wife Peggy and Christina Applegate and David Faustino as their two kids, Kelly and Bud, this beloved sitcom put us smack dab in the middle of their laugh-out-loud family dynamic—and Katey Sagal recently reflected on what it was like working alongside her on-screen daughter all those years during an appearance on the MesSy podcast, hosted by Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
“I never thought of little Christina as ‘Little Christina,'” Sagal shared with Sigler on the podcast. At the time of the show’s debut, Applegate was a 15-year-old actress with an already-robust resume. “And that’s sort of a mixed bag. First of all, she had maturity beyond her years, so I would say in the ‘old soul’ category.”
“There was also a part of her that I wished was able to be little, to be an innocent 16-year-old,” shared Sagal. “Because what I learned about Christina—first of all, she had worked way more than I had worked. I had worked as a musician most of my life.” Before Married… with Children, Sagal didn’t have many credits to her name. Prior to her small-screen breakout role, Sagal was lending her vocals to artists like Tanya Tucker, Etta James, Bette Midler and Olivia Newton-John. Additionally, you could hear some of Sagal’s work as a solo artist on the various albums she’s released over the years including Well…, Room and Covered.
“I always felt very much like Christina grew up very quickly and had a sense of maturity about her that was beyond her years,” Sagal continued. “And like I said, there was part of me that felt like, ‘Oh, I want her to be a little girl too.'”
Christina Applegate opens up about finding comfort in Katey Sagal
In response, Applegate shared the impact that Sagal had on her back in the Married… with Children days, calling her a “safe space.” “You had lived a lot of life and a lot of scarring and things had taken place. And now you were on that side of strength. And I needed that. I needed that so badly in my life, a stable person. And you were that stability to me always. I always knew if I came to you with something or I cried, that you would comfort me, that I’d feel safe.”
Christina Applegate’s body image struggles
Life on the screen during her time on the sitcom wasn’t easy for young Applegate, and the actress has gotten candid in the past about the struggles she endured while on the show. “I played Kelly Bundy [on Married With Children], and it was my idea to wear those outfits because I was so amazed by this rock culture and rock sluts, I thought it was the most hilarious thing I’d ever seen,” the actress shared on the MesSy podcast. “I kind of shot myself in the foot because then I had to wear those outfits, and I wanted my bones to be sticking out. So I didn’t eat. It was very scary to everyone on set because they were like, ‘Christina never eats,’ and I didn’t.”
Despite her struggles while on the show, her co-stars brought her light during those dark times, and to this day, she remains close with her on-screen family.
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