Debra Messing Divorce Guilt: Actress Upset Over About Failed Marriage
Debra Messing says her divorce has brought feelings of guilt over her failed marriage to writer Daniel Zelman.
Opening up about her love life in the June issue of More magazine, Messing said the divorce guilt is weighing heavily on her.
“We both wanted it to last forever, and it’s a sad thing that it wasn’t able to go the course,” the Smash actress said of her 10-year marriage.”Part of me will always contend with guilt that I wasn’t able to give my son the fantasy that my parents were able to give me.”
Messing added that she and Zelman did all they could to make the marriage work, but ultimately had to give in. She said they now focus on raising their 9-year-old son, Roman.
“We really tried,” she says. “We made sacrifices and compromises, and in the end we both realized that we like the day-to-day domestic life.”
Those sacrificed included three years apart while Messing was filming Smash in Los Angeles. Zelman still lived on the East Coast, and the couple gave long distance their best try but realized it couldn’t work and they would not be able to salvage their marriage.
“We both wanted it to last forever, and it’s a sad thing that it wasn’t able to go the course,” Messing said.
Even though Smash was canceled, Messing has been able to push forward with her career. She recently signed for an upcoming pilot being developed by CBS.
The pilot finds Debra Messing in the role of Shira, a woman trying to find a happy medium between work and home.
Messing’s character is described as “a happily married but harried mother struggling to balance family, life and work. Between her job as a ghost writer for a demanding celebrity chef and having three children — ranging in age from preschool to 7 — she feels like the world’s worst mother because of her tendency to cut corners.”
Messing said the divorce guilt hasn’t stopped them from working together for the sake of their son. They still come together for Roman, and even had Thanksgiving dinner together last year.
