<P> This is all well and good to Sidda, but doesn't change her opinion of her mother as a self - centered person unable to deal with her troubles, which she has unfairly inflicted on Sidda to the point of needing psychotherapy . Meanwhile, she tells Connor not to send out the wedding invitations, which troubles him enough to come down to Louisiana to find her . The Sisters then realize that Sidda must be told Vivi's deepest, darkest secret in order to understand . They try to persuade Vivi that she must do this herself, but she doesn't have the courage to tell her daughter, so they do it for her with Sidda's father present . In the meantime, Vivi tells Connor herself . The secret is that Vivi eventually had a nervous breakdown, and brutally beat Sidda and her siblings . What the children never knew was that Vivi had taken an overdose of Dexamyl, (an amphetamine used as an antidepressant), and had to be hospitalized . </P> <P> Sidda finally understands the depth of her mother's suffering, and that she didn't have to waste money on therapy trying to find out why it was her fault . She also recalls a happy memory of her mother: when Sidda missed out on an airplane ride because she was too scared but then changed her mind, Vivi borrowed money to get the pilot to give one more ride, which she took with Sidda . Vivi and Sidda reconcile, and Sidda decides that she wants to marry Connor in Louisiana . Vivi makes her daughter a Ya - Ya headdress, and the Sisters induct her into the order . </P> <Ul> <Li> Sandra Bullock as Siddalee "Sidda" Walker <Ul> <Li> Allison Bertolino as the child Sidda </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Angus Macfadyen as Connor McGill </Li> <Li> Ellen Burstyn as Viviane Joan "Vivi" Abbott Walker <Ul> <Li> Ashley Judd as young Vivi Abbott - Walker </Li> <Li> Caitlin Wachs as the child Vivi Abbott </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> James Garner as Shepherd James "Shep" Walker <Ul> <Li> David Lee Smith as young Shep </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Maggie Smith as Caroline Eliza "Caro" Brewer Bennett <Ul> <Li> Katy Selverstone as young Caro </Li> <Li> Mary Katherine Weiss as the child Caro </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Fionnula Flanagan as Aimee Malissa "Teensy" Whitman <Ul> <Li> Jacqueline McKenzie as young Teensy </Li> <Li> Alyssa May Gold as the child Teensy </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Shirley Knight as Denise Rose "Necie" Kelleher Ogden <Ul> <Li> Kiersten Warren as young Necie </Li> <Li> Nicki Tschudi as the child Necie </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Matthew Settle as Jack Whitman </Li> <Li> Cherry Jones as "Buggy" Abbott, Vivi's mother </Li> <Li> David Rasche as Taylor Abbot, Vivi's father </Li> <Li> Gina McKee as Genevieve Whitman, Teensy's mother </Li> <Li> Mark Joy as Mr. Whitman, Teensy's father </Li> </Ul> <Li> Sandra Bullock as Siddalee "Sidda" Walker <Ul> <Li> Allison Bertolino as the child Sidda </Li> </Ul> </Li>

Who played the mother in ya ya sisterhood