Amanda Peet: ‘There’s No Algorithm For Grief’
6/12/202636 min
Both of actress Amanda Peet’s parents were in hospice care when she learned she had breast cancer. Her father died the same weekend she was diagnosed, and her mother died some four months later. Now cancer free, she talks with Anderson Cooper about facing her own health battle while grieving her parents and feeling “untethered” in their absence. For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis. Host: Anderson Cooper Showrunner: Haley Thomas Producers: Emily Williams and Kyra Dahring Video Editor: Eric Zembrzuski Technical Director: Dan Dzula Bookers: Kerry Rubin and Kari Pricher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Anderson Cooper· Host0:17
Wherever you are in the world and in your grief, I'm glad you're here. My guest today is Amanda Peet. She's an actress, a producer, and a writer. She's been in films like The Whole Nine Yards and Something's Gotta Give. She's currently starring in Your Friends and Neighbors on Apple TV+. Amanda grew up here in New York City with her sister Alyssa, who's a doctor, her mom, Penny, who's a psychotherapist social worker, and her dad, Charles, who was a lawyer. Amanda has three kids now with her husband, David Benioff, who's probably best known for co-creating the TV series Game of Thrones. In late August of 2025, Amanda was diagnosed with breast cancer. The following day, her father died, and her mom died some four months later. I read a moving essay that Amanda wrote in The New Yorker about what happened, called My Season of Ativan. We reached out to her, and she kindly agreed to talk with me about it. Thank you so much for doing this.
Amanda Peet· Guest1:13
Thank you so much for having me.
Anderson Cooper· Host1:15
Can you talk a little bit about the diagnosis that you got?
Amanda Peet· Guest1:17
I was just blindsided. I mean, it was just one of those things. It was the Friday of Labor Day weekend, and I guess they were watching a spot. I didn't really realize that somehow. And I said, "If you were a betting woman, what