In 2017, Van Patten took to the stage for the first time since high school in Hamish Linklater's Off-Broadway play Whirligig. Nerves aside, she fell in love with stage acting: "[It] is something that makes me feel so fulfiled because it takes so much discipline," she told Vogue. At first, she was nervous she'd get bored having to relive the same character night after night, but her experience turned out to be quite the opposite."It's like doing a different show every night with the same character. I'm dying to do another play as soon as it's possible, even though they terrify me," Van Patten said.