The Hunting Wives star Brittany Snow’s journey from child actress to mental health advocate

She got her big break aged 12 in the soap Guiding Light, but it was stepping away from the industry for 2 years that reignited the actress' passion

Dubbed "scandalous" and "this summer's guiltiest TV pleasure", Netflix's The Hunting Wives is an over-the-top soap complete with snarky housewives, buried secrets, affairs and even murder.

Based on the 2021 novel of the same name by May Cobb, the show premiered on July 21 and has already prompted speculation about a possible second season.

The show's lead, Brittany Snow - who began her career as a child model and actress - plays a housewife who moves from Boston to Texas and gets pulled into a circle of wealthy housewives.

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However there was a time when Snow wasn't sure she'd ever get back into acting. Here's a look at her career over the years.

Career beginnings: child star

Snow, 39, began modelling when she was just three years old. In the mid- to late 90s, she landed minor roles in TV shows such as family sci-fi action adventure Seaquest DSV and the historical drama series From the Earth to the Moon.

At the age of 12, Snow landed her first major role: as Susan "Daisy" Lemay in the CBS soap Guiding Light. The experience was a pivotal one, with Snow telling The Retaility in a recent interview, "I knew that [acting] was what I was going to do forever."

Her turn in the show saw her win the 2001 Young Artist Award for best performance in a daytime TV series.

Graduating to the big screen

In her 20s, Snow lent her talents to films including John Tucker Must Die (2006), Hairspray (2007), and Pitch Perfect (2012).

Before filming Pitch Perfect in 2011, she took a two-year break from the industry for the sake of her mental health. "I didn't think I was ever going to work again because I felt like I had to restart my career," the actress told People magazine in a recent interview. "But that time off was hugely important for me to find out who I was. It was a restart, in a way, that gave me a clear path forwards."

Going behind the camera

Aside from acting, Snow has directed the coming-of-age short Milkshake (2019) as well as the romantic dramedy Parachute (2023), for which she won best director in the feature film category at the Cordillera International Film Festival. "Parachute was my first attempt at trying to take what was in my head and putting it outwards instead of keeping it in," Snow told The Retaility. "It was therapeutic to be able to visually and aesthetically see what I was feeling."

Mental health advocacy

As a mental health advocate, Snow launched September Letters with her friend Jaspre Guest. September Letters is an online letter writing community that allows people to share their experience and encouraging words through letters. The co-founders later published a book by the same name, consisting of letters and essays from celebrities including Tom Hanks and fellow Pitch Perfect star Anna Camp.

Thirty years into her career, The Hunting Wives actress says she loves acting more than ever. "I think as I've gotten older, I've realised that there are so many different forms of success," she told People magazine. "Success, to me, is the fact that I'm still doing this, and I love it even more now. I remind myself all the time that I didn't give up."

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