Playing a brat on a hit TV show saved Alison Arngrim during one of the darkest periods of her life.
The former child star played “Nasty” Nellie Oleson, the villainous rival to Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) in the ‘70s series “Little House on the Prairie.”
The actress said playing a mean girl was an unlikely therapy, allowing her to channel the anger she felt after being physically and sexually abused while growing up.
Arngrim, 61, has previously detailed her struggles in the 2010 memoir, “Confessions of a Prairie B—-: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated.” She has been traveling across the country for her one-woman show, leading up to the 50th anniversary reunion of “Little House” in March.
Melissa Gilbert, left, as Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder and Alison Arngrim as Nellie Oleson. (NBCU Photo Bank)
On set, Arngrim received support from her castmates and made friendships that have lasted to this day. But it took a while before fans of the series warmed up to her, she said. She said after filming her first episode, she received an unexpected review from a classmate.
“This girl … just screams at me as I walked, ‘You b—-!’” Arngrim recalled. “And I realized this was it, this was how it was going to be. … So I simply looked up at her and said, ‘Thank you!’ and bowed. And people did hate me.”
“Little House” saw a resurgence during the coronavirus pandemic. (NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal)
“This was a very emotional show,” she shared. “People connected to it. They feel like the characters are their friends or their family. … So you can imagine what they thought of me. … I was in the Hollywood Christmas parade and someone threw a McDonald’s cup of orange soda at my face. They had really good aim. Boom, right in the side of the head, McDonald’s orange soda. I got beat up. People threw things. People called me horrible things to my face every single day.”
“Little House on the Prairie” aired from 1974 to 1983. (NBCU Photo Bank)
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“And as you see, I’m still laughing,” she said, smiling. “I knew it wasn’t real. I was friends with Melissa Gilbert. We’d beat each other up all week and then go to each other’s houses for slumber parties and make fudge and watch TV.”
Today, Arngrim is looking forward to reuniting with her former castmates and reliving the good times.
“If you had told me or any of the actors that the show would still be airing, we would have said, ‘Do they still have TV in 50 years?’” she chuckled. “We didn’t think it’d still be running in 10-20 years. … But we’re so thrilled. … When times get hard, you’ll always have ‘Little House on the Prairie.’”
Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.
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