Sarah Drew opens up about online trolls and hurtful comments

Sarah Drew became famous before the rise of social media, but she still recalls how she dealt with trolls even before the existence of Instagram.

In a recent episode of Broad Ideas podcast, the Branching Out actress revealed that her first ever show, Everwood, began her addiction to reading online forums and message boards as social media wasn’t a thing back in the day. 

"It was so bad for me because I came on to play the ugly wallflower best friend. I was the ugly one, the ugly duckling," she shared with the hosts Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen, referring to the character she played on the show.

She acknowledged that while there was a chance that many people loved her performance, but its the negative comments that she still remembers, including a harsh remark, "Sarah Drew is so ugly that the television cracks every time she steps in front of it."

"It hurt so badly," Drew admitted. 

The 44-year-old actress and director's first major role was voicing Stacy in MTV’s animated series Daria at only 17-years-old. 

At 24, she was cast in Everwood, which launched her acting career and eventually led to her more well-known role as Dr. April Kepner on Grey’s Anatomy.