After confirming her split from Jason Biggs, Jenny Mollen used a Memorial Day essay on her Substack to describe feeling “in a rush” through life—and to frame her upcoming Italy trip as something other than “Eat, Pray, Love.”
On a holiday that usually slows the world down, Jenny Mollen wrote as if she was still catching her breath.
In a reflective Memorial Day essay posted on Monday. May 25. on her Substack. The Best Friend Experience with Jenny Mollen. the 46-year-old actress-writer looked back on a life she says has often felt like it’s moving too fast. She described herself as someone who has “always felt ‘in a rush’ through life. ” and she compared parts of her mindset to being stuck in waiting—“a little temporary. like a waiting room I’m trapped in before an operation.”.
That sense of being pulled forward showed up immediately in the timing of her next step. “I leave for Italy on Wednesday, which sounds soooo Eat, Pray, Love considering the current state of my life,” Mollen shared.
The line hit because it wasn’t just about travel. It was about what she doesn’t want from the moment—what she refuses to turn her life into. Mollen joked that she’s not planning some cinematic reinvention: “But I’m not going to find myself or sleep with some beautiful Italian stranger.”
Instead, she said she’s going for something simpler and more specific. “I already have two half-Italians at home. I’m actually just going because a friend invited me to her birthday party. It also happens to be my birthday as well.”
Her essay didn’t stop at the upcoming trip. She traced the pace of her ambitions in sharp, familiar images. “When you’re young and ambitious. or maybe just middle-aged with ADHD. it feels impossible to appreciate anything while you’re in it. ” she wrote. “I was in a rush to grow up. a rush to graduate college. a rush to land a TV show. and a billboard outside my ex-boyfriend’s apartment.”.
Mollen’s words carried the weight of what can’t be paused once it starts to slide away. “The highest highs of my life have all hit like pennies disappearing into a bottomless well,” she continued. “I’d wait- maybe a moment or two for the sound of something landing. but before it ever did. I was on to the next. Hoping that the next thing would finally be the one that cured me- the one that made me feel worthy and validated in a way that has always evaded me.”.
She did not name Jason Biggs, 48, directly in the essay, but the timing made the reference to her current chapter unmistakable. Her piece was titled “Don’t Tell Me What It Is,” and her mention of leaving for Italy on Wednesday landed right after her split became public.
A rep for the actress and her husband confirmed on May 14 that the two were separating after 18 years of marriage. while also emphasizing that they are focused on coparenting their two sons. The statement said they remain on “great terms. ” and that “They are very much connected. ” adding: “I have no doubt that they will remain on excellent terms.”.
Mollen and Biggs share sons Sid, 12, and Lazlo, 8. The actors met on the set of the 2008 movie My Best Friend’s Girl. They were engaged in January 2010 and eloped in a private ceremony in April 2010.
They’ve also continued to work together. Most recently, Mollen and Biggs appeared onscreen as recently as in Jill Kargman’s comedy Influenced, in select theaters as of May 8.
In her essay, Mollen’s central message wasn’t that life is over. It was that she’s tired of the feeling that everything is temporary while she waits for something—anything—to finally make her feel whole. For Wednesday’s flight to Italy, she seems determined not to chase an old script. She’s going because a friend invited her. it’s her birthday. and she says she already has family waiting for her back home.
Jenny Mollen Jason Biggs Substack The Best Friend Experience with Jenny Mollen Memorial Day essay Don't Tell Me What It Is Italy trip Eat Pray Love coparenting Sid Lazlo Influenced