Call Her Daddy
Call Her Daddy
"I have to find a way to manage this. I did actually by the way get my brain scanned during the pandemic because I was so anxious all the time that I was like, there's something genuinely wrong with me. That's how bad I am with stillness. And then I was like, okay, no, this is actually, I'm actually just a crazy person 'cause I'm fine." — Madeline Pech
"Honestly, there are the strangest people on the planet, but I adore them. My parents are South African. So they don't really, they don't understand American culture very well and they were raising two American children in a small town." — Madeline Pech
"I wish I would have felt like a kid. Yeah, I don't, I think like now, I do so much spiritual work. I'm incredibly spiritual. And when I do healing sessions with my healer, I go to Denver for like three days and we get really in the weeds. Every time what comes up is like, you just need to go play, go be a kid." — Madeline Pech
The episode features actress Madeline Pech in a deeply personal conversation with Alex Cooper, delving into her upbringing with South African parents in Washington State. Pech describes a complex relationship with her father, characterized by extreme emotional highs and lows, which she later understood to be related to behavioral and mental health struggles. She recounts how, as a child, she often felt responsible for managing her father's emotions and maintaining peace within the household, a dynamic that significantly impacted her. The conversation highlights the long-term effects of this childhood experience, including a tendency to seek security in relationships and a struggle with self-worth, stemming from the belief that if her father didn't love her, she couldn't love herself.
Pech shares her extensive journey through therapy, spanning nine years, which has been instrumental in processing childhood trauma, understanding her father's condition without blame, and ultimately reframing her understanding of love and healthy relationships. She discusses the difficulty of confronting painful memories and the importance of validation in the healing process. A significant breakthrough for Pech was realizing she was repeatedly drawn to partners who mirrored her father's traits and learning to identify and break this pattern. The episode also touches upon her evolving perspective on motherhood, shifting from an initial refusal due to fear of replicating a dysfunctional home environment to a desire to provide the love and consistency she lacked.
The discussion extends to Pech's career, including her experiences on "Riverdale," her approach to roles, and her new film projects, "The Strangers: Chapter 2" and " = ", highlighting her versatility and growth as an actress. She emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries, particularly with her parents, and her commitment to self-care and personal development. Pech's narrative is one of resilience, self-discovery, and the transformative power of confronting one's past to build a healthier future, offering valuable insights for listeners navigating their own personal challenges.