Christina Applegate: My character in 'Dead to Me' similar to real me

Christina Applegate is making a comeback after a seven-year break with Netflix's 'Dead to Me' in which the actor says she plays a character who is similar to herself.

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Applegate said that from the time she read the show's script, she believed she would play the role of Judy. "What a great character, it's a little bit less work. I don't need to be the star. I don't want to be a star of anything," she said.

"And Liz (writer) was like, "Oh no, you're not a Judy, you're a Jen." How do I take that? "You are a Jen." Like so, I'm an angry drunk? And then I was like, "Oh, you know what, you're right. This is totally me."

Christina explained the similarity between her character and real self, both of whom battled breast cancer. "I was trying to be positive and that was how I was dealing with it and surviving," she said.

"But when I was just sitting there with myself, it's an incredibly painful thing to go through. It's an amputation of a part of you. It's part of being a woman, and I wanted to be honest. So I brought it to Liz and she was like, 'OK, let me see how we can weave this in.' I think she did it beautifully."

This is a 10-episode series, with each episode slated to run for half an hour each.

The story revolves around a powerful friendship that blooms between a widow, Jen (Applegate), and a free spirit with a dangerous secret.

Applegate's character is that of a poised woman with a dark sense of humour and anger management issues, which she doesn't want to deal with every time.

She's been struggling to keep it together in the months since her husband was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

Written by Liz Feldman, 'Dead to Me' will see Will Ferrel, Adam McKay reunite with Applegate as the executive producers for this series.

The series dropped on Netflix on May 3.