"I wasn’t normal at all" - When Cheryl Hines discussed her upbringing in Florida
Cheryl Hines has firmly established herself as one of the leading names in Hollywood with her numerous appearances that stretched from her television roles, like in Curb Your Enthusiasm, to her film roles, like in Life After Beth and Labor Pains. At 59, the actress has been around for the last three decades.
Of course, as most people know, Cheryl Hines is also renowned for being the wife of lawyer and former 2024 United States presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. But Hines is also just as big a name by herself.
Hines is also renowned for her great public presence and comic timing. For instance, she shared funny anecdotes about her upbringing in Florida. Speaking to The Believer in 2007, Cheryl Hines spoke about her small-town upbringing:
"Growing up in Florida, and small towns, you don’t really realize how strange it is or how weird the people are until you leave. And then you’re exposed to a lot of different people and you see what society sees as normal and you realize, Oh my gosh, I wasn’t normal at all!...So, it definitely informed my point of view about life and characters."
She further opened up about Tallahassee and how she felt about it. She also opened up about how and when she started feeling like she wanted to leave Florida.
"When you start to realize that, you start to want to leave" - Cheryl Hines on why she planned to leave Florida
Growing up is a different experience for everyone and the place people grow up in always has a huge impact on their upbringing. But growing up is always dynamic, and this is why many choose to leave a certain place.
Hines also discussed this in the same interview, stating how and when she decided to leave Florida. When asked if Tallahassee was a place people wanted to leave, Hines explained:
"Oh, yeah. I mean, Tallahassee is fun for a while, because Florida State is there, and FAMU is there. We’ve got some good colleges, so there’s a lot of exciting college events happening, but then you realize at some point, Oh, it’d be nice to have more than two theaters to choose from, and, Oh, maybe we need a museum."
She expanded:
"You start to realize that there are other things out there than just going to a Florida State game and trying to sneak a beer on a Saturday night. When you start to realize that, you start to want to leave."
Leaving is the first step towards achieving something new, and Hines seems to have achieved just that. Although Hines graduated from the University of Central Florida in 1990 with a degree in radio and television production, she broke out while performing improvisational comedy at The Groundlings Theater in Los Angeles.
Since then, Cheryl Hines worked extensively in the industry. Some of the notable films and television shows that Cheryl Hines worked on include The Ugly Truth, Think Like a Man 2, The Benefactor, Swamp Thing, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Super Hero Squad Show, A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! and The Flight Attendant.
