Anna Faris recently revealed one of the most terrifying health scares of her life—one that occurred during what was supposed to be a festive family holiday.
The Scary Movie actress detailed her family's carbon monoxide poisoning incident on the June 4 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. She, her now-husband Michael Barrett (whom she married in 2021), and roughly a dozen family members had rented a house in Lake Tahoe, California for Thanksgiving in 2019.
What began as a cozy holiday getaway quickly turned into a nightmare. With "all the heat going" and windows sealed shut, Faris and her family—especially her dad—began feeling unwell. Headaches, drowsiness, and sluggishness set in, with Faris describing the feeling as "the opposite of euphoria." At first, they blamed altitude sickness or hangovers. Then things deteriorated.
"There was a lawsuit, so I can't get too specific," Faris explained, "but what I can say is that carbon monoxide is odorless and it is deadly."
When her mom insisted her father—who had underlying health issues—go to the hospital, doctors at the Lake Tahoe emergency room made the life-saving discovery by checking his blood carbon monoxide levels. The realization that followed was horrifying: Faris and her husband were already unconscious.
"Next thing you know, my husband and I were passed out," Faris recalled. "And we were being shook awake by firefighters. I have this hazy memory of being told how lucky I was by a firefighter. It was awful."
Years later, the trauma persists. Faris and her family now travel with a portable carbon monoxide detector and remain concerned about long-term health effects. The North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District called the family "lucky to be alive" at the time, with Fire Chief Mike Schwartz praising their "situational awareness."
