How a cast member’s real health struggle was written into Netflix’s Sirens

Remember Patrice, the chef in Sirens? She makes all those smoothies that Michaela doesn’t drink. The stress of working for Michaela and Peter Kell causes her to develop Bell’s palsy. It turns out that Lauren Weedman, the cast member who portrays Patrice in Netflix’s Sirens, was really struggling with this health condition.

Bell’s palsy is a condition that temporarily causes a lack of movement in part of someone’s face. Doctors don’t know exactly what causes Bell’s palsy. In August 2024, Lauren Weedman was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. She couldn’t move the right side of her face, close her right eye or smile normally. Lauren had filmed two episodes of Netflix’s Sirens, but hadn’t completed her scenes for the other three episodes.

However, the showrunner Molly Smith Metzler still wanted Lauren to be in Sirens. Molly told Huffpost: “At that point, I had fallen in love with Lauren like everyone else had. I just felt awful that she was going through something like that. We didn’t even wanna conceive of the show without her in it.”

Lauren Weedman as Patrice in Netflix’s Sirens
(Credit: Netflix)

Lauren suggested to the Netflix writers that they change their plans for Sirens, and her character Patrice could also have the health condition Bell’s Palsy. The showrunners agreed.

Stress can be a contributing factor of Bell’s palsy. So, the showrunners decided that Patrice would experience Bell’s palsy again because she found it so stressful to work for Michaela and Peter. Patrice explains in Sirens: “Every summer, this happens; the stress of this job, my Bell’s palsy is back.” This makes perfect sense for the character.

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