Molly Shannon Explains Tragedy Behind Her Mary Katherine Gallagher Character

Legendary comedic actor Molly Shannon was just 4 years old when she lost her mother, sister and cousin in a tragic car crash. Now in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, she is sharing how that pain inspired her awkward, clumsy, Catholic school student character on "SNL," Mary Katherine Gallagher.

"I was very heartbroken and very sad and just trying to hold it all together as a kid," she told the LA Times. "There's no way that you could feel that type of deep pain about your mother and your sister being dead, so you just hold it all in, and it comes up later in life."

The embodiment of that later in life pain for Shannon became Mary Katherine Gallagher. The process of literally throwing herself into the physical comedy of the role was cathartic for Shannon.

"I didn't care if I cut myself or I made myself bleed," Shannon said. "I did not give a s–. I looked at it like punk rock. I was reckless, and because of what I went through, I just didn't care about anything."

Watch clips of Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher:

Today, Shannon has been busy throwing herself in roles that are emotionally demanding, such as her work on "The White Lotus," "The Other Two," and she finds sharing her story makes her feel vulnerable.

"You feel like you put your heart right there on the table, but I hope that my story can help other people," she said.

Shannon co-stars on the second season of "The Other Two,' which moved to HBO Max after being a cult hit on Comedy Central in 2019. On the show, which premieres on Thursday, she becomes the "adjacent celebrity" in the lives of siblings Cary (Drew Tarver), and his sister, Brooke (Heléne Yorke). In Season One it was their younger brother Chase (Case Walker) who became a social media sensation, leaving Cary and Brooke to live in his shadow. This season Chase has retired for college, but Shannon becomes a popular daytime talk show host, leaving Cary and Brooke to again live in the shadow of famous family member.

"The dialogue on the series will leave aspiring comedy writers seething with jealously. The crisp, agile joke writing is similar to comedies like Hacks and Search Party, and while The Other Two isn't exactly tonally similar to those shows, every episode generates wonderfully weird jokes and genuine laugh-out-loud moments," writes Josh Sorokach on Decider., calling Shannon "superb."

She also recently appeared in a hilarious cameo on HBO's recent hit "The White Lotus" as a super rich matron who crashes her son's honeymoon at at the luxurious Hawaiian resort of its title.