You may know Mackenzie Phillips from her half within the film American Graffiti or her position on the Disney Channel collection So Bizarre. However for TV followers who got here of age within the ’70s, the previous baby star is greatest referred to as Julie Cooper on One Day at a Time. Phillips has been a daily presence on tv by way of the a long time, however she’s additionally confronted some critical challenges—and spoken overtly about how she’s overcome them. Learn on to seek out out extra about Phillips’ profession since One Day at a Time, and see what she seems to be like now.
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Audiences first noticed Phillips as pushy 12-year-old Carol within the basic 1973 movie American Graffiti. Two years later, she landed a starring position on the CBS collection One Day at a Time. The present adopted divorced mother Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin), who was elevating two youngsters, Julie (Phillips) and Barbara (Valerie Bertinelli). Phillips starred on the present for the primary 5 seasons, however her struggles with habit led to her being fired, per Selection. She returned to the collection in a recurring capability, although she was finally fired a second time.
By the ’80s and ’90s, Phillips continued to behave, showing on quite a few widespread collection together with The Love Boat, Homicide, She Wrote, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, NYPD Blue, and Chicago Hope. In 1999, she was forged as rock-star mother Molly on the Disney Channel collection So Bizarre. The present ran for 3 seasons, ending in 2001.
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After getting fired twice from One Day at a Time, Phillips continued to battle with habit, culminating in a 2008 arrest for drug possession. She was on her method to a reunion of the beloved ’70s collection. Phillips documented the arrest and a long time of challenges in her 2009 memoir Excessive on Arrival. Now sober, she speaks candidly about her life.
In a 2019 interview with Selection, Phillips mentioned, “There’s a lot stigma hooked up to not solely being an individual with an energetic substance-use dysfunction, however for being an individual in restoration. The extra folks communicate out and the extra clear [they are]—the extra individuals are prepared to, as we are saying, ‘recuperate out loud’—the extra folks will perceive it isn’t a shame-based factor to get assist. It is actually reasonably brave.”
Youthful TV viewers (notably Netflix followers) may acknowledge Phillips from her more moderen roles. In 2o18, she had a memorable one-season position on Orange Is the New Black as Barb. In an interview with the Related Press on the time, Phillips spoke about taking part in a hardened inmate and searching her age. “I am a lady of a sure age who hasn’t had any cosmetic surgery and plans to maintain it that means,” she mentioned. “Contemplate this: Had I been Botox’d and nipped and tucked and lifted, they by no means would have employed me. I am very pleased with my age as a result of I by no means thought I might stay this lengthy.”
However Phillips took on a lighter half on one other Netflix present: the reboot of One Day at a Time. She was reunited with creator Norman Lear, whom she had labored with on the unique collection. “I am working with Norman Lear once more, and hanging out with Norman on set. Now we have an actual lengthy historical past collectively by way of my habit, and his kindness has solely grown over time,” she informed Selection within the 2019 interview.
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Phillips does not solely discuss her personal struggles with habit—she additionally helps others overcome theirs. Along with performing, she grew to become a counselor at Breathe Life Therapeutic Facilities in 2016. In an interview the next yr with the Los Angeles Occasions, Phillips defined why she determined to tackle a brand new profession. “All my life I have been inquisitive about why folks do the issues they do,” she mentioned. “Once I was little, I wished to be within the subject of irregular psychology. However the performing practice pulled into city and off I went. I not too long ago began realizing: I am not going to be alive so long as I’ve been. What do I need to do with the remainder of my life?”
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