BY LORI CULWELL
By now, you’ve hopefully caught up on Season Four of
Parenthood, which was arguably the most emotional season yet. If you’re a fan of the show, you know that
this season focused on Kristina (played by Monica Potter) and her battle with
breast cancer. Kristina got good news
about her cancer in the finale, but the episode took an unexpected emotional
turn when Kristina went to say goodbye to her chemotherapy team and discovered
that her friend Gwen (played by Rose Abdoo) was back, her cancer having
returned. Since Gwen had served as
Christina’s rock throughout the season, viewers were heartbroken
I am a big fan of the show so I was already connected to the
season, but I was also excited about this storyline because we know Rose! Stephan interviewed her last month, and there are
many things about her that I know you will find interesting. Here are the highlights, and if you love Rose
like we do, you can listen to the interview over at That Voiceover Podcast. She is funny and wonderful and will inspire
you, whether you have experience with cancer or not.
You know her as Gwen from Parenthood and Sam from Bunheads,
but here are some things you might not know about Rose Abdoo.
- Rose is a real-life cancer survivor. In February of 2011, she was diagnosed with
cancer of the appendix. In case you
don’t know, it’s a rare type of cancer that is so hard to diagnose, it has an
almost 100% mortality rate. - She was cast as Gwen on Parenthood on the
one-year anniversary of finishing chemo, and this interview was conducted on
her one-year “Cancer Birthday.” Rose
likes to say that this is her cancer storyline coming full circle. - Even though the Gwen character relapses in the
finale, Rose is fine. She has been in
remission for more than a year.
Ironically, she shot one of her final scenes with Monica Potter the day
before her sixth PET/ CT scan. “It was the night before my PET/ CT scan, and
I figured, “This would be too weird if I actually relapsed in real life. It
kind of relaxed me.” - Rose had her own “Gwen Chambers” in her cancer
experience (on her first day at the oncologist’s office). In fact, she had many experiences similar to
Kristina’s in her cancer journey, and says she couldn’t have played the
character without them - When we first see Gwen again in the finale,
she’s receiving chemotherapy (arguably one of the most impactful moments of
this episode). Christina was originally
supposed to run into Gwen in the waiting room, since this was where they first
met. Rose felt strongly that Gwen should
actually be in the “chemo chair,” since that would indicate her cancer had
returned. The director of that episode (Lawrence
Trilling), also listened to her when it came to the placement of the chair
(reclined, rather than sitting up). - Yes, the hospital/ chemo scenes kind of freaked
her out. “You know those grocery store
carts where you get to the end of the parking lot and you can’t go past the
yellow line? That was me when I saw the
chemo chairs and the poles My brain just
did not want me to go in there.”
Thankfully, the Parenthood cast and producers were super-supportive, and
she reminded herself “This isn’t real” on the advice of her oncologist (who is
now her friend and is also a fan of the show). - Her coffee shop scene with Monica Potter was
mostly improvised on Potter’s part, but she said her suggested lines because
she thought they were perfect the way they were. In case you didn’t know this, the show
“Parenthood” is shot in the same way as “Friday Night Lights,” and the cast
often improvises dialog. The
multi-camera shoot is set up so the actors barely even notice the cameras are
there. “At one point, I felt like one of
the cameramen was hiding under a plant.” - She shot the movie “The Guilt Trip” between
chemo rounds four and five. She had to
will herself not to throw up in front of Barbra Streisand, even though she had
to eat chicken over and over for a scene and felt intensely nauseated the whole
time. “You know how they talk about an
adrenaline rush and how a mother can lift a car off a baby? It was a lesson in
extreme focus and concentration. You can’t
throw up in front of Barbra Streisand.” - She had cancer of the appendix, which went
undiagnosed for several years. “If you have a stomachache that seems strange in
any way, and you feel that something just isn’t right, don’t take no for an
answer.”
10. She
does an amazing “Alice Cramden” impression.
She was on a show called “Happy Happy Good Show” with Robert Smigel,
Conan O’Brien, and Bob Odenkirk in 1988.
You can hear her doing voiceover on “Hotel Transylvania” now—she’s the
witch and several of the other characters!
11. In case you’re wondering, she didn’t lose her
hair during chemo (not everyone does!).
Some people wrote in to the Parenthood Facebook Fan Page that the Gwen
character would never have had eyebrows and eyelashes like that, but in fact,
Rose was playing the character true to life.
She says her hair did get thinner, but she didn’t lose it, which she was
grateful for as an on-camera actress. She was every bit as sick as any cancer
patient, though. The lesson here: not cool to assume someone’s cancer isn’t as bad just because they still have their hair.
12. She
wants you to know that if you’re sick, even if you’re in the depths of despair,
keep your hope, because it’s got to turn around. During her illness, which included cancer,
surgery, a bacterial blood infection, six rounds of chemo, and two
hospitalizations, she always held on to that good thought, and she wants you to
do the same. She wants you to know,
especially if you’re in the middle of a challenging time, that there is life on
the other side. She’s two years out and
says she feels fantastic.
Rose said that at the height of her illness she kept her
thoughts on the hope that the pendulum would swing back the other way in favor
of good fortune. Sure enough, you can
see her everywhere now! Did you see her
in Shameless as Vi’s doctor? She’s also
on Bunheads, “The Guilt Trip,” “Hotel Transylvania,” and the Hallmark Movie
Channel Movie “Meddling Mom” (she’s Sonia Braga’s best friend). She’ll also be in upcoming episodes of
“Psych,” “Baby Daddy,” and “The Mentalist.”
Rose thinks she now has enough material for the last twenty
minutes of her one-woman show, so be sure to look out for that in the near
future.
