Katey Sagal’s son praised the “Married… With Children” star for “getting her s— together.”
Jackson White, who starred as Stephen DeMarco in “Tell Me Lies,” opened up about the example he had in his real-life TV star mom as he struggled with alcohol as a coping mechanism. White reflected on growing up between divorced parents, drinking young with his father, and using resentment as fuel in relationships – before realizing it was self-destructive.
“My mom got her s— together,” White said during an episode of “Call Her Daddy.” “She did, she got her s— together a long time ago. And I got to see that you can get your s— together. So I had a really great example in my mom. And I want a lot of things. Like, I just want a lot of things in this life.”
‘MARRIED… WITH CHILDREN’ STARS EXPOSE BEHIND-THE-SCENES DRAMA OF BELOVED SITCOM
White explained he chose not to let anything stop him from accomplishing family or career things he wants in life.
“If you’re being stopped from getting those things, and you’re seeing signs that you’re not getting those things – if you’re missing your audition, if you’re s—– on the phone, if you’re reacting poorly,” he said. “You just gotta focus on it. You gotta have that self-knowledge though.”
“The consequences are what start pushing that into action,” he told host Alexandra Cooper. “And if you don’t have consequences, sometimes you can go on and on and on.”
Sagal played White’s mom on the hit series “Tell Me Lies.” At first, he didn’t want to share the spotlight with the “Sons of Anarchy” star.
“There’s a little kid thing where you’re like, no, it’s mine. Right?” he told Cooper. “But then I thought, ‘Oh yeah, it’s fine. No, it’s great.’ I thought it was really full circle and I thought [Meaghan Oppenheimer] was … kidding when she said they want to ask [Sagal].”
“I was like, ‘Oh, that’d be hilarious.’ And then they did and … it worked out.”
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White also got to work alongside his real-life girlfriend, Grace Van Patten. The two played love interests in the toxic drama. Reflecting on working with his mom and girlfriend, White explained it could be difficult not to blur the lines between the show and reality.
“You want to not let it blend, but I think it does,” he said. “You do make believe for your job, you’re probably a little f—ed up. And so you take on a little bit of everything and it was hard. It was hard not to let the lines blur.”
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Sagal, now 72, became a household name after landing a role in “Married… With Children.”
She later earned a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Gemma Teller Morrow in “Sons of Anarchy.”
Sagal went on to star in hit shows such as “8 Simple Rules,” “The Conners,” “Shameless” and “Rebel.”
