Christine Baranski's work 'saved' her after husband's death
Christine Baranski has credited her work with "saving" her after her husband's death admitting she found the lost "disorienting" but she was able to focus her "energy" on acting.
Christine Baranski has credited her work with "saving" her after her husband's death.
The Mamma Mia! star, 74, was left devastated back in 2014 when her husband of 31 years, Matthew Cowles, died at the age of 69 after suffering congestive heart failure and the tragedy came shortly before she was about to start filming a new season of hit TV show The Good Wife - but Christine is thankful she had work to focus on as she battled her grief.
She told the Telegraph newspaper: "I remember being nervous [about going back to work] because it’s so … I would say death is … death is not just sad, it’s disorienting. It’s so weird. Death is weird for the people left behind.
"When you lose a spouse with whom you lived for 30 years ... Things aren’t quite right in so many ways. And I worried about my concentration, my ability to just focus."
However, she took comfort in being around the cast and crew and work helped her through the dark times.
She added: "But work, because I worked with such wonderful people, and it was such a family, that did save me. It was a place to go and it was a place to put my energy.
"And, honestly, I’ve never stopped. I went from The Good Wife to The Good Fight, and while I was doing that, I got The Gilded Age.
"And for the last year I was doing two almost at once. Um, not every day, but there were days when there were overlaps where I went from being [characters] Agnes to being Diane. That’s what you call a champagne problem, right?"
Christine is staying busy by fulfilling a "dream" by performing in London's West End.
She will make her West End debut in a new production of Noel Coward's comedy Hay Fever, which runs from September 22 until December 12 at the Wyndham's Theatre, and Christine can't wait to tread the boards in London.
She told BBC News: "It's been on my bucket list for years. It's going to be just wonderful, I can't tell you how excited I am. Believe me, I'm already studying the role, learning my lines, and working to polish an English accent."
Christine, who will appear in the production opposite Richard E Grant, said her busy filming schedule had always prevented her from returning to her theatre roots.
She said: "The problem has always been my filming schedule, which has not allowed me to carve out enough time to do a play, but if ever there was a play for me to do, it would be this one.
"The skill set involved is so to my liking - dusting off my light comedy skills and doing it with an ensemble cast of actors who are keen to revive Coward in that way."
