Inside Hallmark Star Chyler Leigh's Complicated Relationship With Her Mother

In the 2023 series "The Way Home," Hallmark star Chyler Leigh's character Kat Landry returns to her family's Canadian farm with her teenage daughter, Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow). The move requires Kat to confront her long-time estrangement from her mother, Del (Andie MacDowell), forcing the family back into the past in more ways than one.

The mother-daughter conflict portrayed on-screen is especially significant for Leigh, as the North Carolina native has revealed how she draws from real-life experiences to relate to her character. "I have a very similar story in my own life now, not having spoken to my mother in 20 years," Leigh told KGET. "When I read this, it was eerie a little bit but very cathartic. I see a lot of myself in the character and also the storyline."

While she's kept most of the details private, Leigh has opened up about her complicated relationship with her mother, Yvonne Norton, over the years. The "Supergirl" actor has revealed how her tumultuous adolescence and mental health journey affected her maternal relationship.

Back when Chyler Leigh was debuting as Lexie Grey on "Grey's Anatomy," the Hallmark star opened up about her troubled past and strained maternal relationship. Leigh's childhood had its share of struggles, with her parents filing for bankruptcy when she was eight, and their eventual divorce estranging her from her father for six years. However, drug and alcohol abuse in her teen years specifically put a toll on her familial relationships.

After moving to LA with her mom in 1999, Leigh met her future husband Nathan West during an audition for the failed TV show "Saving Grace" and eventually left home to live with him. Together, to two began experimenting with drugs and alcohol, telling People that they "did everything but LSD and shooting up." Bordering on malnourishment due to the chronic drug abuse, Leigh was eventually confronted by a director on a movie set and was forced to face the negative effects her habit was having on her body.

She and Nathan committed to getting clean, crediting their sobriety to their newly ignited faith and their mutual support. While the two made efforts to mend burned bridges with their family members, Leigh's relationship with her mom remained fractured. "As a mother, I feel sorry for her because I know how much I love my kids," she shared in 2008, not having spoken to her mother in four years. "And I know how much she loves me."

While the details of Chyler Leigh's falling out with her mother remain private, the Hallmark star revealed that their complicated relationship deeply affected her mental health journey. The actor was diagnosed with bipolar disorder II, a mental illness that causes prolonged periods of manic and depressive episodes, when she was 29. Her mother also suffers from the disorder, having similarly been diagnosed later in life.

Though Leigh began experiencing symptoms of insomnia, recklessness, and mood swings from a young age, she explained to Prevention that "because I was put in a position to support my mother, I didn't get the opportunity to speak about my own feelings when I was in my teens." Instead, the Hallmark star didn't seek help until much later in life, revealing that it was thoughts of her children and her own childhood that finally convinced her to take the first intimidating step toward professional assistance.

"I was so terrified because of my past," she said. "I was so worried about turning into all of the things I hated when I was growing up, but it was life or death. I was going to make a change, or I wouldn't be here anymore." While not explicitly stated, it seems that Leigh's relationship with her mom affected her mental health diagnoses in more ways than one. Overall, we're just glad the Hallmark star is doing better these days.