The Terrifying Car Crash That Changed Young Sheldon Star Raegan Revord's Life
"Young Sheldon's" Reagan Revord wasn't the same after being involved in a tragic car accident in January. Revord plays the sassy twin sister of child prodigy Sheldon Cooper in the hit "The Big Bang Theory" spin-off, which first debuted on CBS in 2017. In an interview with Popternative in 2022, Revord shared what she loves most about her character, Missy. "You know, most of the time, she is like a sassy, sarcastic character, and I love it whenever you get to see the bits where she is protective of her family or is there for her family," Revord said. "Like the part... where she was almost taking care of Mary ... It was so cool to see her kind of be there for her family and kind of hold them together, you know?"
She also spoke about her experience working with the cast of "Young Sheldon," including Iain Armitage, Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Montana Jordan, and the legendary Annie Potts. "It's like hanging out with your family all day," she said. "It's picking on each other a lot. A lot of banter, a lot of hugs. It really is just chaos, but it's so much fun." Adding, "It really does feel like having a second family."
While things had been going great on set, Revord recently revealed that she had been involved in a serious car accident while filming the show — one that changed her life and brought her even closer to her on-screen family.
Raegan Revord's mental health suffered
Raegan Revord opened up about the scary car accident that she endured prior to filming an episode of "Young Sheldon" back in January. In an Instagram post on March 30, Revord said she and her mother were heading to work when their car was struck on the side. "Tonight's episode was incredibly challenging for me to film, personally. On the way to work my mom and I were t-boned by a driver driving under the influence," she explained. "The irony here is I'm pretty much in a car for this entire episode, but you know what they say, 'You gotta get back on the saddle.'"
Revord said she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and had "full-blown" panic attacks for weeks after the terrifying crash. Speaking with ET about the accident, Revord remembered fearing she had broken her foot and had lost her hearing after their car was hit. "I didn't have hearing for, like, five minutes," she said. "That was the scariest thing about it." She also recalled breaking down and begging for her father to pick her up on the set once they were done filming. "I was sobbing," said Revord. "I didn't want to [go home]." She explained that her father had a gigantic truck that she felt was "indestructible" and was much safer to travel in. "I was like, 'Please, you have to come pick me up. I cannot go home,'" said Revord.
Raegan leaned on her co-stars for support
In her chat with ET, Raegan Revord said she insisted on still showing up to work that day in order to distract herself from the accident and be in the presence of her co-stars. "If I went home I would've sat and I just would've ran it over and over in my head," she told the outlet. "That would not have been good. So I was like, I have to go to work and be with these people that I love." In her post about the accident, Revord shared how the cast and crew of "Young Sheldon" supported her during that scary time in her life. "They checked in with me along the way and never made me feel like finishing filming was a priority, that my well-being came first," she said. Specifically, she credited her co-star McKenna Grace for holding her hand as she struggled with panic attacks during and after filming. "She was in my trailer, holding me, and I was sobbing my heart out," she told ET.
While she has yet to make a full recovery from the traumatic experience, Revord told People that she has been seeing a therapist to work on improving her mental health. She also shared her wish to inspire others with her story. "That's why I posted about the car wreck ... [to] show [that] not everything is rainbows and cupcakes. There are some harder stuff, harder aspects of my life that you have to deal with," she explained.