Linkin Park founding member Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington’s widow, Talinda Bennington, are set to appear in a suicide prevention PSA alongside stars of ABC’s upcoming drama “A Million Little Things.”
DJ Nash, the creator of the drama about a group of friends reeling from their friend’s suicide, announced the news at the show’s panel at the Television Critics Association press tour on Tuesday.
“At the end of our pilot when this airs, three of our cast members, along with my friend Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park and Talinda Bennington, Chester’s widow, are doing a PSA,” said Nash. “It’s something we take unbelievably seriously.”
Chester Bennington, the lead singer of the band Linkin Park died of suicide last July.
Nash said he and the show’s writers were moved by the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain earlier this year to do their part in providing resources to those at risk.
“There’s absolutely nothing romantic about suicide, and I worry about every single person who’s suicidal,” Nash said when asked what precautions he’s taken to avoid romanticizing suicide on the show. “It’s a real, conscious thing in our room, and our writers are amazing. A couple of them have first-hand experience with losing a loved one to suicide, so it’s in our room everyday.”
“We have consultants who work on the show to make sure we’re not romanticizing the story, but telling it in an authentic way,” he said. “You watch the show and see that these people’s lives are forever changed by this. I don’t think you watch the show and say “I should do that too.” I think it’s a cautionary tale of what can happen.”
Set to premiere on ABC in the fall, “A Million Little Things” follows a group of friends who, for different reasons and in different ways, are all stuck in their lives. But when one of them dies unexpectedly, it’s just the wake-up call the others need to finally start living.
David Giuntoli, Ron Livingston, Romany Malco, James Roday, Grace Park, Allison Miller, Christina Moses, Christina Ochoa, Stephanie Szostak and Lizzy Greene star in the drama.