'90s Movie Star Celebrates Birthday by Restaging Childhood Birthday Party

Actress Ashley Judd celebrated her 58th birthday in an unusual and nostalgic way. The Double Jeopardy star shared on social media that she was trying to recreate her 12th birthday party, posting images of herself smiling beside a brown-and-yellow iced cake.

"My inner 12-year-old was ready to receive love, care, attunement, delight, protection, and provision," the actress said in the caption of her Instagram carousel.

"Have you ever considered, from your adult perspective, restaging for your sweet inner child an experience she either never had at all?" she added. "Or an experience that did not unfold with the safety and attention it should have?"

It has become something of a tradition for the star, who is the daughter of Naomi Judd and Michael Cininella. The year prior, on her 58th birthday, she celebrated with a party for her nine-year-old self.

"Many of us grew up with unmet needs," she wrote. "Today, as adults, we can listen carefully to those missings, identify what happened that should not have happened - and, crucially, what did not happen that should have happened - supplying that, now, with love and humor to ourselves."

"We backfilled what was always missing and no longer is, thanks to vulnerable imagination," Ashley wrote. "We laughed, frolicked, square danced, took a Scopes Monkey Trial True or False quiz (including quite a bit Mrs. Minor did not cover in 1979), and ate a dream cake any 12-year-old would adore."

Ashley also created a jar where party goers could anonymously confess their sixth-grade embarrassments. "Shame reduction! Who knew others were also awkward and scared at times."

Last year, Ashley opened up about using these parties to please her inner child, describing her difficult youth on social media. "As a teen (& even 9 year old) I was left alone for months (& lived alone in 10th and 11th grades) with no adults or caregiver in my homes. My teen endured so many grave boundary violations."

She described these celebrations as a way to be there for her "inner teen as she heals," and to "deparentify" her younger self of all "those responsibilities that never should have been hers as an adolescent."

Ashley has been open up about her traumatic childhood, which included, according to ABC News, attending 13 schools before she was 18. She struggled with depression as a young woman and has written about being abused by numerous men, including an unnamed family member.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available 24 hours a day through RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.

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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 11:16 AM.