Brittany Snow

The actress opens up about her mental health journey and how it inspired her latest projects: “September Letters” and “Parachute.”

By Lindzi Scharf

“Well… I wonder…” Brittany Snow says, thinking out loud. “Can I talk about this?”

The actress-turned-filmmaker, and newly minted author, is debating whether she can share how her earliest childhood memories informed who she is today. 

Snow is sitting with me to discuss her mental health platform and its corresponding guidebook, “September Letters,” as well as her feature directorial debut, “Parachute”—two deeply personal projects which were shaped by her experiences growing up around the entertainment industry.

But it’s a tricky time.

We can’t talk about Snow’s many other accomplishments. Not right now, at least. There are historic actor and writer strikes prohibiting us from discussing the projects – from her breakout roles on “Guiding Light” and “American Dreams” to “Hairspray” and the “Pitch Perfect” franchise – which have kept her in the spotlight and regularly working since she was a teenager.

It’s a cloudy day in mid-September and the parameters of what we can and can’t discuss are plentiful. Not because there’s a publicist in sight. But because neither of us would dare cross the picket line. (In fact, there isn’t a make-up artist, a stylist, or anyone from her team present, a refreshing change from the typical Hollywood status quo.) We’re just two likeminded women hanging out in a Silver Lake home that Snow is currently renting from a friend who is living abroad.

“I’m always texting [my manager], ‘Am I doing this wrong?’” Snow says, seated on a grey couch with her pup, Charlie. “I’m so worried because I really want to uphold [what we’re fighting for]… Even right now, a bunch of my best friends are picketing and I was like, ‘I can’t cancel this photo shoot one more time.’” 

Snow and I have been trying to get this date on the books since January 2023. Then, the industry came to a screeching halt as everybody navigated appropriate next steps. Luckily, a few weeks after Snow and I meet, the Writers Guild reaches an agreement with the studios and streamers following a 146-day strike; and two months later, the Screen Actors Guild settles after 118 days.

To Snow’s surprise and delight, many months later, a short film she starred in, “Red, White, and Blue,” becomes Oscar-nominated. She and the film’s director Nazrin Choudhury are invited to the Academy Awards — ushering in a new era for Snow after decades of hard work.

However, at the time of my conversation with Snow, it’s a precarious moment for anyone working in — or in proximity to — the entertainment industry.

For her part, Snow recognizes she’s had the good fortune of working since she was a child. But that’s not to say she hasn’t struggled in her own way while growing up in a notoriously tough industry.

During her early teen years on “Guiding Light,” Snow struggled with anorexia, depression, and anxiety.

“I look back at my early career and I think it’s funny that I have this persona of being bubbly,” she says. “As a teenager, that was my mechanism of trying to fight through some of the darkness that I was going through. Some of the best acting that I’ve ever done is being a person that people thought was so happy.”

Having first spoken out about her personal mental health experiences in the early aughts—long before people were comfortable sharing their truths—Snow has long been a mental health advocate for the likes of The Jed Foundation, “Love is Louder,” and, most recently, “September Letters,” the latter of which she launched three years ago with her close friend Jaspre Guest.

“I wanted to create a community of people sharing their experiences because that’s what worked for me [in my recovery],” Snow says. “I wasn’t thinking big. I wasn’t thinking it was going to take on [a life of its own]. But Jaspre knows how to create something [impactful].”

“September Letters” is a letter writing community that allows readers to submit and receive words of wisdom and encouragement. Snow explains, “The letters are anonymous because it’s not about who writes them; it’s that somebody else’s words can help someone feel less alone.”

Following the popularity of the “September Letters” online vertical, Snow and Guest released a book in May that bears the same name. It features letters, memos, mantras, and essays from the likes of Tom Hanks, Anna Camp, Amanda Kloots, and Kid Cudi, as well as interviews with David Kessler, Jay Shetty, and a slew of mental health experts.

It’s been a big year for Snow on a number of levels including the fact that she released her directorial debut, “Parachute,” at SXSW in March. (Note to those wondering: We can discuss this film because she doesn’t act in the project and it was created independent of any studio. In fact, film festival circuit aside, it’s still awaiting distribution.)

“‘Parachute’ was my first attempt at trying to take what was in my head and putting it outward instead of keeping it in,” she says of the project, which stars Courtney Eaton, Thomas Mann, Dave Bautista, Kid Cudi, Gina Rodriguez, Francesca Reale, Lukas Gage, Joel McHale, and Chrissie Fit. “It was therapeutic to be able to visually and aesthetically see what I was feeling.”

While Snow has been prolific with her creative output over the last handful of years, it’s also been a time of great personal change. “This year has been the most I’ve learned about myself, probably, in my whole life,” she says, alluding to her recent divorce from Tyler Stanaland. “I am shocked at how much resilience the human emotional body can take. I’m proud of myself. I’ve been on a healing journey.”

And part of that journey is taking the high road when talk shifts to her divorce.

“I want to lead with integrity and even though things are hard, it’s still something that I like to maintain, which is, like, you guys can do whatever you want over there. I’m going to maintain who I am,” she says. “It’s obviously very public but, you know, I am not a person that has ever, ever wanted my private life or someone that I loved to be…”

She stops short of finishing the thought as she chooses her words carefully.

“I never wanted it to be public,” Snow says. “I’ve always been really private about the intricacies of people that I care about in that way and, so, that’s something that I like to maintain. One day, in my sixties, my memoir is going to be chef’s kiss because I’ve got all the secrets. But until then…”

She’s focused on projects and people that promote positivity.

“I am proud to put good into the world because that’s what matters,” Snow adds. “My mom instilled in me something that I hold very dear, which is that what you put out in the world and the respect that you have for yourself and other people, is more important than putting negativity into the world.”

Snow has consistently found strength in struggle. But in order to understand how she became who she is today, let’s revisit where she’s been—while avoiding discussion of her past studio projects, of course.

GROWING UP

Snow was born in Tampa, Florida. “I came out of the womb being a performer,” she says. “I have a group of girlfriends that I’ve been best friends with since we were born. Our moms were in Lamaze class together, so we grew up together. They always make fun of me because whenever we would get together for playgroups, I would be the director, the writer, the producer, and the star and they got to be, like, the trees. They got to swing in the background.” She laughs. “I wanted to be the person that did it all. I was also a sensitive kid, so much so that it was worrisome to my parents because I was empathetic and attuned to other people’s emotions. When I was kid, if I saw another kid crying at the grocery store, I would start crying.”

Her mother felt she needed a positive outlet, so she put her into acting and modeling at three. “I started loving it,” Snow says. “It was never something that I felt forced to do.” As a preteen, Snow booked a sizable role on “Guiding Light,” which required flying back and forth between her hometown and New York. It was a game-changing moment. “I knew that was what I was going to do forever,” she says. “And I was 12.”

From there, Snow booked the lead role on “American Dreams” and moved to Los Angeles at sixteen. She eventually landed parts on shows like “Nip/Tuck” and in movies including “The Pacifier” with Vin Diesel. However, during her early teen years, she began dieting and developed an eating disorder while battling anxiety, depression, and, eventually, self-harm.

“I felt alone in what I was going through because I didn’t understand it,” Snow says, explaining she checked herself into a treatment facility when she was nineteen. “I was putting a lot of things before myself in terms of my career. Being a child actor, you unfortunately learn that what you do is more important than who are you. Your achievement and being good at whatever it is—and I’m sure athletes and entertainers and any occupation goes through this; I don’t think it’s reserved for actors; I think anybody who grows up in a certain field—it can get muddled when you’re trying to figure out [who you are outside of your job].”

During this time, Snow temporarily put her career on hold. “There was never one second that I didn’t think I was going to act again,” she explains. “I just knew that I wasn’t going to be able to act again if I didn’t take that time. I needed to take care of myself. It was good for me and saved my life.”

“It put me on a path of reading, therapy, groups, communities, and podcasts,” she continues. “It made me strong. There were so many times where I realized that it was not going to be for nothing.”

Snow says the experience also prepared her for the future. “The good thing about going through a mental health journey when I was in my early teen years is it helped me recognize what I need to do [for my mental health long term],” she says, explaining it’s given her a unique perspective and coping mechanisms that she can now share with others through her work. “I have in a tool box of sorts.”

Upon resuming her career, and in between booking major films like “Hairspray” and “Pitch Perfect,” Snow took it upon herself to speak up about her struggles at a time when few were discussing their mental health. She began working with The Jed Foundation and founded “Love Is Louder” in 2010 to help with suicide prevention, bullying, and mental health resources for teens and young adults.

“That was scary for me because I was trying to give back, but I was also unsure how it was going to be perceived or received,” Snow says. “It was beautiful to be able to be a part of something where I was helping and I felt good working on that but at that time the mental health conversation wasn’t what it is now.”

While Snow’s involvement may have helped pave the way for today’s mental health discussions, the early aught zeitgeist hadn’t yet caught up, which was initially tough for Snow as she dealt with internet backlash. Even so, she has no regrets. “I wanted to stand up for the people who go through something but who don’t feel like they can speak out,” she says, “because it’s seen maybe as vain or self-serving or all those things that back in the early 2000s a lot of people thought of mental health because they didn’t understand it.”

Because Snow felt strongly that she wanted to take her pain and turn it into purpose, she didn’t back down. “It was a movement that helped a lot of people,” she says of her work with The Jed Foundation and “Love is Louder.” “It formed a community of people who wanted to talk about their story with bullying and struggles in school. It was beneficial for a lot of people and for me. I loved it.”

SEPTEMBER LETTERS

Snow’s latest project, “September Letters,” is focused on healing through letter writing and community building. While “September Letters” officially launched in 2020, it was a concept that had long been bubbling.

“When I was a teenager, the first time that I realized I even had anything going on with me was when I read an article in a magazine about a woman who was going through anxiety, depression, and an eating disorder,” Snow explains. “What she was saying in the article was the first time that I realized what I had. I didn’t know what was going on with me. I couldn’t even compute why I was doing these compulsive things.”

“I ripped out that article in the magazine,” she continues. “I carried it around in my back pocket with the understanding that there was some sort of answer to what I thought I was alone in. It completely changed my life.”

This is precisely why she’d made her story public way back when. “When I shared my story with People Magazine, back when I was 22, I talked about this article and how that was the impetus for a lot of change in my life.”

The moment came full circle. “I was at a coffee shop,” Snow explains. “A girl was standing in front of me and she turned around. She was crying. She had my article in her back pocket.”

The experience inspired Snow to launch “September Letters,” which encourages writing as a therapeutic exercise. “The excavating of your emotions and getting out something is therapy because you get to see your own perspective and own take on it,” she says. “That’s why therapy has been helpful for me. I tell my therapist what I would say to somebody…”

Snow laughs, then turns serious while explaining that she and her co-founder Jaspre Guest put a lot of thought into the site’s content. “Jaspre and I really go head-to-head on this,” she says. “There’s a fine line of sharing your experience to help someone or everybody just complaining all the time, you know? That’s the balance we like to find with ‘September Letters.’ It’s important – for anybody’s recovery – for it to come from a place of hope and strength.”

While Snow has no regrets about sharing her journey, she admits it can be hard to have her past so present on the internet. “I don’t want that story to define me,” she says, referencing the 2007 essay in which she first opened up. “It makes me a little cautious that I do so much with mental health because I don’t want it to feel like I’m harping on something either.”

THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR

Earlier this year, Snow also released her directorial debut, “Parachute,” at SXSW. The film picked up multiple awards including the “Thunderbird Rising Award” for Snow’s direction. “Parachute” loosely follows her personal experience with falling in love after battling addictions to food and body image. “It started off as a story that had to do with me,” she says, “but then it really became Courtney [Eaton]’s story and Thomas [Mann]’s story and a bunch of my friend’s experiences are in there.”

Snow first dipped her toes into the directorial water in 2019 with a 19-minute short film called “Milkshake” starring Anna Camp about a young girl seeking her mother’s approval. “It’s about a moment that happened in real life where, for the first time, I realized I could use something that I was feeling in a way that was therapeutic for me,” Snow says. “It made me realize that’s what art is. It’s using something that you’re going through for good.”

Snow says moving into directing has been a long time coming. “I remember the moment that I was like, ‘Wait a second, I want to do that; there’s something that’s pulling me to this,’” Snow remembers. “On ‘Pitch Perfect,’ [producer Elizabeth] Banks was talking about the way a scene was being shot. She was talking to Jason Moore, the director, and they had this collaborative conversation about the story and the feeling of the movie. I remember looking at her and being like, ‘I want to do that.’ I was twenty-six at the time. My goal was to be like Elizabeth Banks. I’ve told her that, too, and so, then, when she directed the next movie, I watched her closely and I followed her around.”

Snow says previous directors that she’s worked with like Adam Shankman, Ti West, and Maggie Kiley have also allowed her to shadow them over the years. “I’ve been fortunate that a lot of my friends have been open about sharing how they direct,” she says. “I’ve been gearing up for this for a long time. During COVID, I put myself through my own film school. I started taking online classes and read books by Sidney Lumet and David Mamet. I watched three movies a day and listened to all the podcasts. I thought, ‘If I’m going to do this, I’m going to go to film school all by myself.’”

A SURREAL YEAR

While Snow has admittedly experienced more than she could have imagined – both personally and professionally – over the last year, there’s one person who may not have been surprised. “This is a psychic reading,” Snow says, pointing to a loose-leaf piece of paper with writing scribbled on it. “Not that you should read it.” She pauses. “But last year, a psychic told me [some things] and every single thing on this page is true. Every single thing that she said happened.” 

Snow explains a friend of hers introduced her to the psychic. “My friend is the producer for ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,’ and she needed to produce this one segment where they were going to go to a psychic in New Orleans,” Snow explains. “I don’t think it ended up on the show, but she was like, ‘This psychic that I went to for ‘Queer Eye’ is legit.’ So we ended up going to her and it was the craziest psychic reading I’ve ever had. I left there crying.”

“But now everything is true,” Snow adds. “So I keep it here as a little reminder that there’s something in the world—I don’t know what it is—witchy or spiritual or whatever it is. I’m not very into that stuff, but it did make me think. It was too weird. The things that she knew were too specific.”

Snow says she’s traditionally a realist, but that she hasn’t made sense of the experience. “My brain automatically goes to, ‘How can I disprove this in my mind so I can feel safe? So I can know that maybe there’s another answer,’” she says. “Because as humans we want to make sure that everything makes sense. But what’s cool is the ‘I don’t know.’”

WHAT’S NEXT

Snow – like many of us – is learning to embrace the unknown – as well as the act of gratitude. “I’m grateful that ‘Parachute’ did so well at South by [Southwest] and that it’s gotten into so many festivals because it’s opened up a lot of doors for me with directing,” she says. “I have a lot of things I’m working on, which is exciting, and I definitely want to direct more.”

But Snow says she’s cautious about where she’ll next focus her attention. “What I learned from ‘Parachute’ is that I have to believe in whatever I’m directing,” she says. “So much so that I can’t stop thinking about it – where it gets me up early in the morning and I’m obsessed with it. A lot of things aren’t going to be that way for me unless I have creative control over the writing of it, too. So unfortunately, I’m setting myself up for a lot of work because the things that I’m writing I’ll end up directing.”

Snow also hopes to eventually establish her own production company. “I want to create movies and TV shows that I care about,” she says. “I want to create things that matter to me and also things that I think would be fun. I love learning new things constantly.” While she hasn’t directed herself yet, that’s her next goal—even if it’s a bit daunting. “I’m a harsh critic of myself,” she admits. “I pretty much hate everything that I have done; so I think it will be a cool, therapeutic exercise to be able to direct myself. I would imagine it’s tricky. And I don’t know what I’m going to do when I have to get into the edit and I’m just staring at myself.”

Snow has used the downtime during the strike to develop personal projects—outside of the studio system, of course—although she’s currently mum on the details. “I’m in the middle of writing three different scripts right now,” she says. “Not to give too much away, but the next movie that I’m working on is the antithesis of [‘Parachute’]. It’s so much fun and crazy. All of this art, or whatever [you want to call it], doesn’t always have to be tied to pain.”

As for Snow’s personal mental health journey, no question she’s been tested over the past year. But she’s doing better than fine—she’s doing great, in fact.

“If someone would have told me back when I was in my teens or my early twenties what was going to happen, I would have said, ‘There’s no way that I’ll survive that,’ and I not only survived it, but it hasn’t shaken me as much as I thought,” she says. “People are stronger than they know they are when put to the test.”

She buttons the thought: “You know better than anybody.”

It’s only in this moment that I realize Snow has done as much research as I have before sitting down for the interview.

True to her empathetic nature, it becomes clear she’s read at least one of my essays about my family and is aware that I lost my daughter to a rare mitochondrial disease last year. As I try to deflect attention off myself and say, “Oh, I don’t know if…”

She insists, “But you do.”

I then realize why there’s a level of comfort, an unspoken sense of understanding as we chat. Because while our experiences and pain may differ, there is a collective relief in sharing our stories—which I have done over the years while writing for various media outlets like the L.A. Times. Snow and I both buy what we sell. And she apparently already knew this when she sat down with me.

We share an all-knowingly look, and then I briefly open up about my personal struggles over the last handful of years. As she and I bond over life’s unexpected moments, we come to agree that we never know what goes on behind closed doors.

“I’m too old for everybody putting up a front,” Snow agrees. “We’re all going through something. We’re all just trying to do the best we can. And some of the cool girlfriends that I’ve made in the past however many years have been so honest about their shortcomings and what we all go through and that’s what I love – nobody’s got it all together. Let’s just be honest.”

HOW SHE LIVES…

“This space represents a lot because I’ve been single for a year,” Snow says, seated on a grey couch inside her friend’s Silver Lake home. “This has been such an amazing home where I’ve really cultivated my own [life]… being with myself, solitude, cooking by myself, being with [my dog] Charlie, spending time with my friends, writing, and reading. It’s been a nice atmosphere to rediscover who I am.” While the furnishings are her friend’s, the white, airy space includes unique touches from Snow that make it feel like home—like pictures of her late dog Billie, who passed away two years ago, and her dad, John, in the eighties who is pictured reading a book that says ‘Caring for your first child’ while nursing a broken ankle. “Look at that smile,” Snow says, laughing. “This picture reminds me why I like mischievous guys.” 

HER DOG

“When Billie passed away, we ended up giving all of her toys to Wagmor,” she says. “We wanted another dog to have the benefits of all of her stuff. I told the lady who runs it if there was another dog that came around to keep us in mind. She sent me a picture of Charlie, who was left in an abandoned house in Bakersfield with her brothers and sisters. She looked like a little anime character. I said, ‘That’s my dog.’ we picked her up the next day. It’s been a great little journey. I’ve had her for two years.”

THE JOURNALS

“These are just some of my journals,” she says, opening a credenza stocked with old notebooks. “I don’t even know how many boxes of my journals [I have in storage]. I’ve probably kept a journal since I was a kid.” She adds, “I write every day. I don’t journal necessarily. I write little notes down. But my favorite thing is collecting journals. I had an ex-boyfriend who got me a gift certificate to Staples as a birthday present. He’s not my boyfriend anymore, but I was kind of like, ‘Okay, I get it,’ because I do love journals. My favorite thing to do is writing down little thoughts. Sometimes it’s just lists. Sometimes it’s things I’ve thought of during the day, inspiring [words]. I’m not a long-form, ‘Dear Diary’ person.” She adds, “I have a notebook that is just people watching. I’ll go to a café and I’ll watch and I’ll create characters for them. Although that might be creepy, I do really like watching people in their habitat and sometimes I write about what I think their life is like.”

HER DAD’S SWEATER

“I have a bunch of my dad’s sweaters that I’ve stolen from him,” she says, wearing one of his cozy sweater over a gorgeous, slinky, black silk dress. “They’re Brooks Brothers—old man sweaters, but it’s my favorite thing to wear.”

THE POTS

“This MyPlace cookware is the cutest,” Snow says, explaining that she’s not a big cook but that she tries. “I’m obsessed with cooking shows, which is bizarre. I’m obsessed with all things ‘Top Chef’ and ‘Master Chefs.’ I can cook a little bit, but I’m not good at it.”

PURE NOSTALGIA

“I’m a really nostalgic person,” she says. “I save everything in terms of things that I’ve worked on. I have the original script for every single movie that I’ve been in. I’ve saved them all, so I have a chest that’s in storage of all the scripts, all the backs of my chairs, a prop from every movie that I’ve done. And it’s so much crap, but I’m also like, ‘I can’t give it away.’ But then with clothes—I’m the total opposite. I don’t save anything. I give everything away.”

THE EARRINGS

“These are my mom’s earrings,” she says. “My mom saved everything my whole life, which has been nice for me because half of my closet is her clothes. So I think because she was so obsessed with saving clothes, I’m the exact opposite and I give all of my clothes away.”

THE POTTERY

“This is something my best friend made me before she started her pottery journey,” she says. “She wrote at the bottom: ‘I love us.’ I’ve kept this at every single house that I’ve been.”

HER PARENTS

“This is me and my parents,” Snow says, referencing a family photo. “I am eight. They just look so happy and cute. I love this picture of us.”

THE AWARD

“This is the ‘Parachute’ SXSW Special Recognition Award,” she explains. “It was huge and so unexpected. I definitely didn’t think we were going to win or think I was going to win, so I didn’t have a speech prepared. It was a huge recognition and deal for me. I was honored. I wish I had more confidence in myself to think that that meant something for the movie, but it’s still a long road to get it out there. We’ll see what happens, but I’m very humbled by it.”

THE AUTOGRAPHED PHOTO

“For no reason and unwarranted, one of my best friends, Scott [Mescudi—aka. Kid Cudi], decided to sign a picture of himself for my home,” Snow laughs. “I didn’t ask for this. I think he honestly thinks that I am going to frame it or something, but I love him dearly and I do think he was kind of joking… question mark…? We were supposed to do a movie together a number of years ago. I want to say six years ago. We met through that and then we ended up doing ‘X’ together. And that was a really tough movie for me. I had to do some things that I had never done before and we really bonded because he was such a gentleman and we became really close friends. He’s like my family now.”

THE SKETCH

“This is from when I started to try to draw and sketch with one line,” she says. “I started taking classes online with one line sketch drawings. I’m not very good at it, but I have a couple of them framed because I actually did it okay.”

THE SKETCH: PART TWO

“It was one of those things where I wanted to have more hobbies,” she says. “So I [thought], ‘I’m going to sketch,’ but it didn’t really catch on. I have a full sketch book of things that I’ve tried and threw away.”

THE HOBBY

“I never show anybody most of my photography,” she says. “And I don’t post [it on social media] because I’m just trying to teach myself. It’s more of a personal exploration of what I find interesting and beautiful, but I don’t feel like I’m good at it and so that’s why I never really show anybody anything. But I like doing it because it’s a singular thing that I can do for myself. There’s also a billion photos of Charlie. She is my model at all times.”

THE CAMERAS

“I mostly photograph people and things that I see along the way,” she says. “The other day I went out and walked in Silver Lake and took pictures of random people and signs and places. Sometimes people get mad at me, but most of the time, they don’t care. There was one time an old man yelled at me for taking his picture. I should have asked first. I take a lot of pictures of my friends. One of my good friends, Lauren Withrow, has been teaching me and we had little photography days where she takes me out and teaches me about film and light. It’s been fun to learn. I’m getting better at it.”

THE POST-IT WALL

“I love Post-Its,” she says. “These are all of the things that I’m working on. These are the things I have coming out and then these are the things that I’m writing. And these are the things that I’m directing. And then this is September Letters stuff. I don’t want anyone to know what I’m working on.”

She relies on Post-Its to keep everything straight. “It’s how my brain works,” she adds. “I’ll start writing something and then I’ll completely forget and start writing something else. So this is to keep me organized. I’ll realize, ‘Oh wait, I forgot about that thing that I have to keep writing.’ I’m in the middle of writing three different scripts right now. I have different binders and folders for each one of them. I have to keep it organized in my brain because they’re so different, too. I feel like I would get more done if I just did one at a time. But then when I’m working on one, I get inspired by something to do for the other. Sometimes they spark different things, so then I end up having to maneuver.”

THE DOG FIGURINE

“A friend of mine, as a wrap gift for ‘Parachute,’ got that specially made,” Snow says. “It’s a clay Charlie figurine. I knocked her over on accident and she lost an ear. It was so sad when her ear came off. I don’t know where it is. I searched high and low. I think Charlie ate her own ear.”

HER BOOKS

After referencing the aforementioned psychic reading, I mention I’m reading the book ‘Signs,’ which is written by a medium. “Laura Lynn Johnson?!” she exclaims. “I love that book! Did you read ‘The Light Between Us?’ You have to read her first one. I read that book in one day during COVID. I started it in the morning and I stayed up until three o’clock in the morning. I read the entire book. I loved ‘Signs’ too, but ‘The Light Between Us’ is much more grassroots.”

THE PICASSO

“It’s a sketch that Picasso did,” she says, explaining her best friend recreated it for her. “It’s my favorite. I have loved it since I was a kid; so as a birthday present, she painted it for me. She’s so talented. She did that in one swoop.”

THE PARACHUTE PIECE

“This is a line drawing sketch of ‘Parachute,’” Snow says, “of the scene where they’re in the bathtub together. That’s my favorite scene. I don’t know who made it though. My assistant got it from an artist friend of hers.”

HER MORNING RITUAL

“I have a ritual where I put on music,” she says of her daily routine. “In the morning, every morning, I drink half a cup of coffee and a half a Celsius because I can’t give up either of them.”

HER BEAUTY ROUTINE

“I use a bunch of Kate Somerville products,” she says, referencing their Liquid ExfoliKate and DeliKate Recovery Cream. “I wash my face and Kate Somerville it up. Last night, I did a face mask alone with Charlie.”

THE FLEA MARKET FIND

“I got this at a flea market,” she says. “I thought it was so great. I like little quirky things like that. I mean, he’s really mad at him. He did something really wrong. My favorite thing to do is to go the Rose Bowl. That’s how I decorated my old house. It was completely with farmer’s markets, the Rose Bowl, and the Long Beach Flea Market.”

THE JEWEL BOX

“I got it during my best friend Jess’s wedding in Morocco,” Snow says. “I loved Morocco. It was beautiful. I came back with so much stuff. I also got a Moroccan rug that I was so excited about. I was like, If you’re going to be in Morocco, you have to get a Moroccan rug.’ I got it sent to the place I was living at the time and someone stole it. So someone has a really lovely Moroccan rug.” She laughs. “And they wouldn’t refund me because it got delivered, so someone has an actual legit Moroccan rug.”

THE MOMENTOS

“Everything’s in storage,” she says. “It is so crazy the bill I get from the storage company every month is so crazy. I do have some things here. But they’re not up—because I’m moving.” She pulls out a small Tupperware container. “I’m pretty nostalgic in general. Billie wore this at my wedding. This was my badge when I did ‘X’ in New Zealand. These are sides from ‘X.’” She spots something that never reaches my eye line. “Oh my God… Need to throw that away.” She laughs. “I used to love Polaroid’s, so I have so many old pictures and back when I used to have a house, I used to decorate an entire full wall of photos.”

THE LETTER

“This is one of the first notes I ever got from somebody telling me that my story really helped them in her recovery,” she says.

THE NAME TAG

“This is my grandmother’s who passed away,” Snow says. “She used to wear this at the bank that she worked at. I have her name tag.”

THE SIGN

“Yoga never really spoke to me,” she says. “I’m just not a yoga girl. I’m a Pilates girl. I love Pilates, but I get so angry in yoga. I feel like in Pilates, I go to the place that I think you’re supposed to go to in yoga because I’m active. So I’m actually tuned out and I don’t think about anything the whole class. But in yoga, in this one pose for ten minutes, I’m thinking about all the things. And I know that’s the whole point and you’re supposed to clear your mind and actually be present.” She advises do what’s best for you. “I started taking meditation classes and started trying to meditate and a lot of what I’ve learned is that I’m just not a TM meditator,” she says. “I’m a going on a walk alone without Charlie…” Right on cue, Charlie growls. “Sorry, no offense. But I like to walk alone and not listening to music, and that is a form of meditation. That’s where I’m at right now with that.” She poses like a yogi. “I’ll get to sitting like this one day, but also, maybe I won’t and that’s okay.”