Key Takeaways
There have been a lot of speculations about West Duchovny illness. She is playing the role of Shannon Schaeffer a salesperson of the Purdue Pharma in Netflix’s Painkiller. Many have criticized her for being a “Nepobaby”, “Nepotisim Product” and “Bad Actor” as she is the daughter of actor David Duchovny.
The recent Netflix release “Painkiller” is among the hot topics in the entertainment industry. The series focuses on the opioid mafia in New York. However, the recent spotlight has been on the 24-year-old actor West Duchovny. She has been in the news for several reasons like her acting, recent health update, illness, and her parents.
Despite her strong performance, critics believe that she is in the industry as a nepotism product. Let’s try to find out more about the rising star. We’ll shed light on West Duchovny’s illness, her acting career, and her early life.
Table Of Contents
Painkiller: West Duchovny’s Recent Advent
Painkiller which got aired recently is a big break for the young actress. The web series is a drama, thriller, based on true events. The story takes you to the early era of opioid abuse in the United States.
The story revolves around a businessman played by Matthew Broderick. The businessman plays a vital role in the peddling of Oxycontin drug which was contributing to the widespread opioid crisis. The series is a pictorial representation of some of the events from the Book Pain Killer an Empire Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic.
Although the characters and events are fictionalized, the basis of the story remains to be true. The death toll due to drug overdose went up to 17000 in 2017.1Trusted Source✅ | NIH | Trusted Data From The National Institute On Drug Abuse (Government Authority) Go To Source The sad part was that the pharmaceutical companies were making a profit out of the demise.
The companies were deliberately manufacturing the drug looking at the outrageous demand in the public.
Role Of West Duchovny In Painkiller
You’ll see West Duchovny as Shannon Schaeffer who works for Purdue Pharma as a sales representative she joined the firm immediately after college. Shannon used to persuade doctors to increase the doses of Oxycontin while neglecting its addictive nature.
Shannon lives in constant denial through the six episodes of the series. Her conscience is against the work and the dilemma keeps distressing her. Although she’s able to make a hefty amount of money but the realization that it was out of people’s life, and money turns into remorse.
In the later half of the series, Shannon understands the gruesome reality of Purdue Pharma, and her morals stand tall against injustice. The strong personality of Shannon is visible as she fights the demon of greed in her head.
Journey To Being An Actor
West Duchovny is from a family of actors. Her dad, David Duchovny is an impeccable actor known for his stellar performances in the series X-files and several other movies. Her mother, Téa Leoni, who’s known for her comic role in the movie Bad Boys. Although David and Téa parted ways in 2014, their daughter is now following in their footsteps in Hollywood.
West shared her story of auditioning for the role of Shannon. “I just didn’t think with what I had done prior I had enough to show for myself”. After the audition was over, West was joyous as this was one of the best roles she has been offered still there was a tint of sadness. “I thought I won’t be able to get the role, that’s how my brain works,” says West as she was skeptical about getting the role.
After ding a tape she was waiting for a line of callbacks, however, the director of the show Peter Berg wanted to meet her. On her role she says, “The thing I liked about the role was the parallels she has in the pharmaceuticals and showing up for this huge project. The sort of imposter syndrome and fear, but also the desire to be great.”
Duchovny lived her childhood in California up until 10 years and then her family decided to move to New York. She describes this experience as a blessing in disguise since she was very upset while moving away from California, but now she’s happy that it happened.
Although her parents were established actors, she never had any plan to follow in their footsteps. She started her journey in pre-med school and was keen to continue on this path. However, during her days in college, she decided to play just for fun.
“And then I have never felt like this for anything before. I have loved doing anything I tried so effortlessly. I was just trying to push myself to do well in academics but perhaps acting is the first thing that I want to commit to.” says Duchovny.
The play was also a shocker for her parents. They complimented their play but it was more of a revelation for them that West likes acting too. “My mom wasn’t sure of this thing as the field is not that safe for women, although there are changes but still she was scared” as Duchovny describes her mother’s reactions.
But now Duchovny calls her mother whenever she wants any advice and her parents are super supportive now. Now she wants to play the role of a young woman with whom she can resonate her self.
West Duchovny Illness. Is She Sick?
With the rise in the fandom of West Duchovny, speculations and rumors surrounding her are also taking shape. Recent news that caught the attention of her fans was related to her health. The speculation of Duchovny being ill is spreading through the internet. However, West Duchovny is not suffering from any disease and she’s completely fine.
Acting, Allegations, And Way Ahead
In the online world, people are always ready to criticize. The acting of Duchovny is also under the heat of critique. There’s a debate about her bad acting and weak presence on the screen. Fans describe her acting as “out-of-the-depth” and that she needs to learn.
On the other hand, there are allegations of her being a “Nepo-Baby” as her parents were in the industry for such a long period. Nepotism is a hot topic in the industry and celebrity kids are under its radar.
Despite all the tussle, West Duchovny is all set to move ahead in her career.
- 1Trusted Source✅ | NIH | Trusted Data From The National Institute On Drug Abuse (Government Authority) Go To Source
About The Author
With experience of more than 2 years in various niche, Ashkrit Bhadoria believes in mixing research with creativity.