An expert explains what it means to be in a ‘parasocial relationship’
Do you ever feel stressed out when a celebrity you admire goes through a breakup? You might be a part of a “parasocial relationship.”
As Jenny Mollen navigates her separation from her husband of 18 years, Jason Biggs, she is getting real about the challenges she is encountering.
The “Crazy, Stupid, Love” actress, 46, took to her Substack, “The Best Friend Experience with Jenny Mollen,” to share with her followers “a lesson I’ve continuously had to relearn over and over throughout my life” in a May 25 newsletter. More than a week after her and Biggs’ representatives confirmed their split, Mollen said she is figuring out how not to rush through life.
“When you’re young and ambitious, or maybe just middle-aged with ADHD, it feels impossible to appreciate anything while you’re in it. The highest highs of my life have all hit like pennies disappearing into a bottomless well,” she wrote.
“I’d wait — maybe a moment or two for the sound of something landing, but before it ever did, I was on to the next,” Mollen said. “Hoping that the next thing would finally be the one that cured me — the one that made me feel worthy and validated in a way that has always evaded me.”
She also explained that while she has an international trip coming up, she doesn’t plan to use it as an opportunity to do something rash.
“I leave for Italy on Wednesday, which sounds soooo Eat, Pray, Love considering the current state of my life. But I’m not going to find myself or sleep with some beautiful Italian stranger. I already have two half-Italians at home,” Mollen wrote. “I’m actually just going because a friend invited me to her birthday party. It also happens to be my birthday as well.”
Mollen and Biggs, who co-star in the new comedy film “Influenced,” met in 2007 while filming the Dane Cook and Kate Hudson romantic comedy “My Best Friend’s Girl.” They married the following year and welcomed their son, Sid, in February 2014. Their second son, Lazlo, was born in October 2017.
The reason for Biggs and Mollen’s separation was not disclosed, but their representative told USA TODAY on May 14 that “they are on great terms and remain focused on raising their two boys.”
Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY