Published June 07, 2026
Anna Faris says a Thanksgiving getaway nearly turned tragic when she and several family members were exposed to carbon monoxide inside a rental home near Lake Tahoe.
Speaking on the June 4 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Anna Faris actress said, "There was a lawsuit, so I can't get too specific, but what I can say is that carbon monoxide is odorless and it is deadly."
Faris explained that she, her now-husband Michael Barrett, and roughly a dozen relatives were staying in a house during the 2016 holiday.
With the heat running and windows closed, several family members began experiencing headaches, drowsiness, and sluggishness. Faris joked that they felt "the opposite of euphoria."
At first, the symptoms were dismissed as "altitude sickness and being hungover," but the family sensed "something was afoot."
After Faris’ father went to the emergency room, doctors checked his blood and discovered elevated carbon monoxide levels.
That's when the situation escalated. "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."
Since the incident, Faris says her family travels with a portable carbon monoxide detector.
She also noted ongoing concerns about potential long-term effects, saying there are not "a lot of [studies] on the long-term effects of carbon monoxide poisoning."