Exclusive: Brittany Snow

The actress opens up about her mental health journey and how it inspired her latest projects: “September Letters” and “Parachute.”

“Well… I wonder…” Brittany Snow says, thinking out loud. “Can I talk about this?”

The actress-turned-filmmaker, and newly minted author, is debating whether she can share how her earliest childhood memories informed who she is today.

Snow is sitting with me to discuss her mental health platform and its corresponding guidebook, “September Letters,” as well as her feature directorial debut, “Parachute”—two deeply personal projects which were shaped by her experiences growing up around the entertainment industry.

But it’s a tricky time.

We can’t talk about Snow’s many other accomplishments. Not right now, at least. There are historic actor and writer strikes prohibiting us from discussing the projects – from her breakout roles on “Guiding Light” and “American Dreams” to “Hairspray” and the “Pitch Perfect” franchise – which have kept her in the spotlight and regularly working since she was a teenager.

It’s a cloudy day in mid-September and the parameters of what we can and can’t discuss are plentiful. Not because there’s a publicist in sight. But because neither of us would dare cross the picket line. (In fact, there isn’t a make-up artist, a stylist, or anyone from her team present, a refreshing change from the typical Hollywood status quo.) We’re just two likeminded women hanging out in a Silver Lake home that Snow is currently renting from a friend who is living abroad.

“I’m always texting [my manager], ‘Am I doing this wrong?’” Snow says, seated on a grey couch with her pup, Charlie. “I’m so worried because I really want to uphold [what we’re fighting for]… Even right now, a bunch of my best friends are picketing and I was like, ‘I can’t cancel this photo shoot one more time.’”

Snow and I have been trying to get this date on the books since January 2023. Then, the industry came to a screeching halt as everybody navigated appropriate next steps. Luckily, a few weeks after Snow and I meet, the Writers Guild reaches an agreement with the studios and streamers following a 146-day strike; and two months later, the Screen Actors Guild settles after 118 days.

To Snow’s surprise and delight, many months later, a short film she starred in, “Red, White, and Blue,” becomes Oscar-nominated. She and the film’s director Nazrin Choudhury are invited to the Academy Awards — ushering in a new era for Snow after decades of hard work.

However, at the time of my conversation with Snow, it’s a precarious moment for anyone working in — or in proximity to — the entertainment industry.

For her part, Snow recognizes she’s had the good fortune of working since she was a child. But that’s not to say she hasn’t struggled in her own way while growing up in a notoriously tough industry.

During her early teen years on “Guiding Light,” Snow struggled with anorexia, depression, and anxiety.

“I look back at my early career and I think it’s funny that I have this persona of being bubbly,” she says. “As a teenager, that was my mechanism of trying to fight through some of the darkness that I was going through. Some of the best acting that I’ve ever done is being a person that people thought was so happy.”

Having first spoken out about her personal mental health experiences in the early aughts—long before people were comfortable sharing their truths—Snow has long been a mental health advocate for the likes of The Jed Foundation, “Love is Louder,” and, most recently, “September Letters,” the latter of which she launched three years ago with her close friend Jaspre Guest.

“I wanted to create a community of people sharing their experiences because that’s what worked for me [in my recovery],” Snow says. “I wasn’t thinking big. I wasn’t thinking it was going to take on [a life of its own]. But Jaspre knows how to create something [impactful].”

“September Letters” is a letter writing community that allows readers to submit and receive words of wisdom and encouragement. Snow explains, “The letters are anonymous because it’s not about who writes them; it’s that somebody else’s words can help someone feel less alone.”

Following the popularity of the “September Letters” online vertical, Snow and Guest released a book in May that bears the same name. It features letters, memos, mantras, and essays from the likes of Tom Hanks, Anna Camp, Amanda Kloots, and Kid Cudi, as well as interviews with David Kessler, Jay Shetty, and a slew of mental health experts.

It’s been a big year for Snow on a number of levels including the fact that she released her directorial debut, “Parachute,” at SXSW in March. (Note to those wondering: We can discuss this film because she doesn’t act in the project and it was created independent of any studio. In fact, film festival circuit aside, it’s still awaiting distribution.)

“‘Parachute’ was my first attempt at trying to take what was in my head and putting it outward instead of keeping it in,” she says of the project, which stars Courtney Eaton, Thomas Mann, Dave Bautista, Kid Cudi, Gina Rodriguez, Francesca Reale, Lukas Gage, Joel McHale, and Chrissie Fit. “It was therapeutic to be able to visually and aesthetically see what I was feeling.”

While Snow has been prolific with her creative output over the last handful of years, it’s also been a time of great personal change. “This year has been the most I’ve learned about myself, probably, in my whole life,” she says, alluding to her recent divorce from Tyler Stanaland. “I am shocked at how much resilience the human emotional body can take. I’m proud of myself. I’ve been on a healing journey.”

And part of that journey is taking the high road when talk shifts to her divorce.

“I want to lead with integrity and even though things are hard, it’s still something that I like to maintain, which is, like, you guys can do whatever you want over there. I’m going to maintain who I am,” she says. “It’s obviously very public but, you know, I am not a person that has ever, ever wanted my private life or someone that I loved to be…”

She stops short of finishing the thought as she chooses her words carefully.

“I never wanted it to be public,” Snow says. “I’ve always been really private about the intricacies of people that I care about in that way and, so, that’s something that I like to maintain. One day, in my sixties, my memoir is going to be chef’s kiss because I’ve got all the secrets. But until then…”

She’s focused on projects and people that promote positivity.

“I am proud to put good into the world because that’s what matters,” Snow adds. “My mom instilled in me something that I hold very dear, which is that what you put out in the world and the respect that you have for yourself and other people, is more important than putting negativity into the world.”

Snow has consistently found strength in struggle. But in order to understand how she became who she is today, let’s revisit where she’s been—while avoiding discussion of her past studio projects, of course.

GROWING UP

Snow was born in Tampa, Florida. “I came out of the womb being a performer,” she says. “I have a group of girlfriends that I’ve been best friends with since we were born. Our moms were in Lamaze class together, so we grew up together. They always make fun of me because whenever we would get together for playgroups, I would be the director, the writer, the producer, and the star and they got to be, like, the trees. They got to swing in the background.” She laughs. “I wanted to be the person that did it all. I was also a sensitive kid, so much so that it was worrisome to my parents because I was empathetic and attuned to other people’s emotions. When I was kid, if I saw another kid crying at the grocery store, I would start crying.”

Her mother felt she needed a positive outlet, so she put her into acting and modeling at three. “I started loving it,” Snow says. “It was never something that I felt forced to do.” As a preteen, Snow booked a sizable role on “Guiding Light,” which required flying back and forth between her hometown and New York. It was a game-changing moment. “I knew that was what I was going to do forever,” she says. “And I was 12.”

From there, Snow booked the lead role on “American Dreams” and moved to Los Angeles at sixteen. She eventually landed parts on shows like “Nip/Tuck” and in movies including “The Pacifier” with Vin Diesel. However, during her early teen years, she began dieting and developed an eating disorder while battling anxiety, depression, and, eventually, self-harm.

“I felt alone in what I was going through because I didn’t understand it,” Snow says, explaining she checked herself into a treatment facility when she was nineteen. “I was putting a lot of things before myself in terms of my career. Being a child actor, you unfortunately learn that what you do is more important than who are you. Your achievement and being good at whatever it is—and I’m sure athletes and entertainers and any occupation goes through this; I don’t think it’s reserved for actors; I think anybody who grows up in a certain field—it can get muddled when you’re trying to figure out [who you are outside of your job].”

During this time, Snow temporarily put her career on hold. “There was never one second that I didn’t think I was going to act again,” she explains. “I just knew that I wasn’t going to be able to act again if I didn’t take that time. I needed to take care of myself. It was good for me and saved my life.”

“It put me on a path of reading, therapy, groups, communities, and podcasts,” she continues. “It made me strong. There were so many times where I realized that it was not going to be for nothing.”

Snow says the experience also prepared her for the future. “The good thing about going through a mental health journey when I was in my early teen years is it helped me recognize what I need to do [for my mental health long term],” she says, explaining it’s given her a unique perspective and coping mechanisms that she can now share with others through her work. “I have in a tool box of sorts.”

Upon resuming her career, and in between booking major films like “Hairspray” and “Pitch Perfect,” Snow took it upon herself to speak up about her struggles at a time when few were discussing their mental health. She began working with The Jed Foundation and founded “Love Is Louder” in 2010 to help with suicide prevention, bullying, and mental health resources for teens and young adults.

“That was scary for me because I was trying to give back, but I was also unsure how it was going to be perceived or received,” Snow says. “It was beautiful to be able to be a part of something where I was helping and I felt good working on that but at that time the mental health conversation wasn’t what it is now.”

While Snow’s involvement may have helped pave the way for today’s mental health discussions, the early aught zeitgeist hadn’t yet caught up, which was initially tough for Snow as she dealt with internet backlash. Even so, she has no regrets. “I wanted to stand up for the people who go through something but who don’t feel like they can speak out,” she says, “because it’s seen maybe as vain or self-serving or all those things that back in the early 2000s a lot of people thought of mental health because they didn’t understand it.”

Because Snow felt strongly that she wanted to take her pain and turn it into purpose, she didn’t back down. “It was a movement that helped a lot of people,” she says of her work with The Jed Foundation and “Love is Louder.” “It formed a community of people who wanted to talk about their story with bullying and struggles in school. It was beneficial for a lot of people and for me. I loved it.”

SEPTEMBER LETTERS

Snow’s latest project, “September Letters,” is focused on healing through letter writing and community building. While “September Letters” officially launched in 2020, it was a concept that had long been bubbling.

“When I was a teenager, the first time that I realized I even had anything going on with me was when I read an article in a magazine about a woman who was going through anxiety, depression, and an eating disorder,” Snow explains. “What she was saying in the article was the first time that I realized what I had. I didn’t know what was going on with me. I couldn’t even compute why I was doing these compulsive things.”

“I ripped out that article in the magazine,” she continues. “I carried it around in my back pocket with the understanding that there was some sort of answer to what I thought I was alone in. It completely changed my life.”

This is precisely why she’d made her story public way back when. “When I shared my story with People Magazine, back when I was 22, I talked about this article and how that was the impetus for a lot of change in my life.”

The moment came full circle. “I was at a coffee shop,” Snow explains. “A girl was standing in front of me and she turned around. She was crying. She had my article in her back pocket.”

The experience inspired Snow to launch “September Letters,” which encourages writing as a therapeutic exercise. “The excavating of your emotions and getting out something is therapy because you get to see your own perspective and own take on it,” she says. “That’s why therapy has been helpful for me. I tell my therapist what I would say to somebody…”

Snow laughs, then turns serious while explaining that she and her co-founder Jaspre Guest put a lot of thought into the site’s content. “Jaspre and I really go head-to-head on this,” she says. “There’s a fine line of sharing your experience to help someone or everybody just complaining all the time, you know? That’s the balance we like to find with ‘September Letters.’ It’s important – for anybody’s recovery – for it to come from a place of hope and strength.”

While Snow has no regrets about sharing her journey, she admits it can be hard to have her past so present on the internet. “I don’t want that story to define me,” she says, referencing the 2007 essay in which she first opened up. “It makes me a little cautious that I do so much with mental health because I don’t want it to feel like I’m harping on something either.”

Read more about what’s next for Brittany Snow at TheRetaility.com.