Christine Taylor has opened up about a frightening experience from the early 1990s when she and her roommate were carjacked at gunpoint in broad daylight near their Los Angeles apartment.

The 55-year-old actress discussed the incident while appearing on Natanya Ross’ We’re Still Here, Babe podcast, explaining that the experience left a lasting emotional impact even though she did not fully process the trauma at the time.

Taylor said she and her Blossom costar David Pressman had lived together for several years when the incident occurred.

“We got carjacked together. By a gun. Broad daylight. It was 3 in the afternoon,” she said.

According to Taylor, the incident happened shortly after she and Pressman had parked their car near their apartment. They got out of the vehicle and were preparing to cross the street when another car approached.

“I parked the car. We got out of the car to cross the street to go to our apartment,” the actress explained. “This car slowed down, and I didn’t even think twice because the car was slowing down, but it was 3 in the afternoon, bright sunshine. The guy in the passenger seat got out with a gun and waved to David to stay on the curb and told me to give him the keys.”

Taylor recalled that she had a steering-wheel “club,” an anti-theft device that had to be removed before the car could be taken.

“I had my purse on my shoulder, and I just remember thinking, like, don’t go for the purse, just take the car. Just in my head,” she said.

The man also told her to leave her purse behind.

“And then, of course, he said, ‘Leave the purse.’ ”

Taylor remembered another detail from the incident: she had all of her laundry stored in the trunk of the vehicle when the car was stolen.

Although the entire encounter lasted only a short time, Taylor said the experience felt much longer.

“It probably all happened in the span of a minute and a half or two minutes, but it felt like time stood still,” she shared. “It was so scary. I was just so grateful that we were okay, and it was that thing of, you know, you would read about that because carjacking was big back in the early ‘90s.”

Taylor Did Not Process the Trauma Through Therapy at the Time

After the carjacking, Taylor said she spoke about what happened with friends, but she was not receiving professional therapy.

“I wasn’t talking, processing trauma in that way. We didn’t do that in the ‘90s, really. You had your friends and your family to lean on through those kinds of moments,” she shared.

Taylor said she later came to recognize that the incident had continued to affect her.

At the time of the carjacking, she was auditioning for the horror movie Night of the Demons 2. In what she described as a “silver lining” to the experience, she was cast in the film only a day or two after the carjacking.

The opportunity gave Taylor an unexpected way to work through some of the emotions surrounding what had happened.

“It was great to talk about, just the most therapeutic experience of working through trauma was getting on a set and getting to be in this horror movie where you’re running around screaming with kids your age,” Taylor said.

The Experience Still Triggers a Physical Reaction

Taylor explained that the effects of the carjacking have remained with her over the years. She said that after undergoing years of therapy, she has come to understand more about the way the experience affected her.

However, “as somebody who’s now been in years of therapy,” she said that the incident “comes up often” in how her body responds to “trauma,” noting that she still has a “reaction” or “trigger.”

Taylor recalled that the reaction was particularly strong soon after the carjacking.

“Very soon after it happened. If I saw somebody on the street in a crosswalk, my body would freeze because of seeing a person crossing and thinking they’re going to come to the car,” Taylor explained.

The actress’ recollection highlights how an event that lasted only a few minutes could continue to influence her reactions long afterward. While Taylor was grateful that she and Pressman were physically unharmed, she said the experience remained part of how she understood and processed trauma later in life.

Taylor’s account also reflects how attitudes toward discussing and treating trauma have changed since the 1990s. At the time of the incident, she relied primarily on friends and family rather than professional therapy, but she has since spent years in therapy and has gained a different understanding of her response to what happened.