Ruby Barker has claimed she received “no support” from Netflix and Shondaland after she suffered “two psychotic breaks” while filming the show.
The 26-year-old is best known for her role as Marina Thompson in the period drama.
Speaking during her appearance on Oxford University’s The LOAF Podcast, the actress alleged she didn’t receive any support from production when she had her first breakdown in 2019 and second three years later.
“Not a single person from Netflix, not a single person from Shondaland, since I have had two psychotic breaks from that show, have even contacted me or even emailed me to ask me if I’m OK or ask me if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare or support,” Ruby alleged.
“Nobody.”
The actress explained that her experience on set was isolating because of Marina’s storyline which saw her having to conceal a disgraceful pregnancy.
“During the filming, I was deteriorating,” the 26-year-old said. “It was a really tormenting place for me to be because my character was very alienated, very ostracized, on her own under these horrible circumstances.”
Ruby found herself in hospital for the first time after filming the first season of Bridgerton in 2019.
“It was really covered up and kept on the down-low because the show was going to be coming out,” she said.
“My life was changing drastically overnight and yet there was still no support and there still hasn’t been any support all that time,” she said.
“So I was trying really, really hard to act like it was fine … that I could work and that it wasn’t a problem.”
Goss.ie has reached out to Netflix and Shondaland for comment.
In May 2022, Ruby revealed she had been hospitalised for a second time after struggling with her mental health.
The actress previously admitted she had been “struggling since Bridgerton” and had been “unwell for a really long time”.
In a candid video shared on Instagram, the 26-year-old said: “I just want to be honest with everybody, I have been struggling.”
“So, I’m in the hospital at the minute, I’m gonna get discharged soon and hopefully get to continue with my life and I’m gonna take a little bit of a break from myself.”
“And I want to encourage others, if you are struggling, please do yourself a favor. Take a break, stop being so hard on yourself. And people used to always tell me not to be so hard on myself, and I never really, really knew what that meant.”
Ruby confessed she was “rage-filled, frustrated, and angry” before seeking help for “all this intergenerational trauma bundled up inside me.”
“I was carrying the weight of the world on my back. And now, I’m at a point where I have a diagnosis, and I will talk to you about that at another time,” she continued.
“But I have a diagnosis, and I am relinquishing myself and forgiving myself and drawing a line in the sand. I can’t carry on the way that I’ve been carrying on. I need to change. So, that’s what I’m trying to do.”
At the time, Ruby concluded her video by thanking her friends and family for their support, and the actress also credited Netflix and Bridgerton’s executive producer Shonda Rhimes of Shondaland “for saving me”.
The 26-year-old added: “I cannot wait to fulfill all of my engagements and to have a good career and a good life. Because I do not want my diagnosis to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“I want to survive and I will survive, and I’m going to. And so are you. That’s the beauty of it, so are you. If you’re with me, you’re in good hands. Thank you.”
