How a traumatic childhood shaped the life of a Hollywood icon

She grew up in one of Hollywood’s most notorious neighborhoods with her famous, heroin-addicted mother.

Her childhood was marked by a trauma and tragedy that shaped her deeply.

Now, she says she never went out with anyone who had a real job, always drawn to “broken birds” she wanted to fix.

Her mom crying on the floor

We all come from somewhere, some places more painful than others, and it’s what you do with it that defines you.

Looking at the star we’re about to meet today, it’s impossible not to be impressed by the journey she’s taken — and the journey she’s still on. She once described herself as a “dark kid,” but today she inspires many and spreads love.

The Emmy-winning actress was born in 1971 into a life that was chaotic from the very start. Her father, Bobby, worked as a staff producer, while her mother made her living as a singer and actress. The couple separated shortly after her birth, and she was raised by her mother. Her father more or less disappeared from her life.

“I didn’t get to spend the kind of time with him that I think either he or I would have liked,” she once noted.

As a young girl, this future star — who today has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — grew up in Laurel Canyon, one of Los Angeles’ most bohemian and collaborative neighborhoods, a vibrant hub of American counterculture.

Unfortunately, her childhood was far from pacifistic. Instead, it was marked by instability and trauma, including experiences of molestation and abuse, witnessing her single mother struggle with heroin addiction, and enduring the violence of a physically abusive boyfriend who also turned his anger on her.

One of the most serious events in her childhood was being abused by a female babysitter when she was just five, an experience the actress recently revealed in her memoir.

“I think I had kind of the worst situation from 3 to 7, but there was stuff like that going on in all our homes. Single moms, men coming in and out, drugs. It’s always fun to see your mom crying on the floor and you not being taken care of,” she told People, reflecting ruefully on her childhood.