Actress Kristin Chenoweth won a Tony Award for her role in the musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” and starred on television shows such as “The West Wing” and “Schmigadoon!”

One of her latest roles is appearing in a commercial for Oklahoma’s 988 mental health lifeline, which aired in the state during the Super Bowl. 

The spot featuring Chenoweth, an Oklahoma native, is part of the state’s effort to encourage people to call the number when they are experiencing a crisis, having suicidal thoughts or suffering from mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

The three-digit number went live across the country last year, replacing a 1-800 number that remains active, in an effort to give people an easy way to access mental healthcare while in crisis. The Biden administration provided $400 million in federal funding. 

Oklahoma has the 12th-highest rate nationally of people experiencing severe depression and the fourth-highest rate of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Mental Health America, a nonprofit that aims to help people with mental illness.

People have struggled to get treatment for mental health and substance-abuse issues because they don’t know where to start, said Heath Hayes, chief communications officer for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

“[Dialing] 988 allows you the ability to know what the first step could be to get ongoing treatment services and care,” Hayes said. 

The state, with the assistance of federal funding, is investing about $3 million in the campaign to promote the number, Hayes said.

The state launched the campaign during Pride month in June 2022 and then started to create murals advertising the number across the state, including at the United Way of Southwest Oklahoma in Lawton, which is near a U.S. Army post, and one at a microbrewery in Norman, the state’s third-largest city.

“We really wanted to focus on our different audiences because sadly, we did learn that people start having mental health [issues including] depression at a very young age,” said Taylor Ketchum, VP at Jones PR, which is managing communications for the campaign. 

Insight Creative Group did the creative work, RetroSpec Films was the video production agency and DSG Production Services was the signatory for the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. 

The Super Bowl advertisement has a light-hearted, humorous tone, with Chenoweth hassling a middle-aged man who appears distressed.  

“Remember when you pooped your pants in the fourth grade?” Chenoweth sings to the man as he lays in bed. 

She then whispers, “Everybody knows you cry yourself to sleep.”

As the actress continues to nag the man over dinner, his partner asks, “Honey, do you need to speak to someone about the Kristin Chenoweth in the room?”

He concedes that he does. The advertisement then informs viewers about 988. 

The organizations decided “from the very beginning to not go the direction of sadness,” said Ketchum. They wanted to “make this something bold so it stands out, grabs people’s attention and starts conversations.”

They used Chenoweth for her humor and because “Kristin is always relevant in our state,” said Ketchum, who is based in Oklahoma City. 

Since August, the hotline has received more than 3,200 calls per month, more than double the same period of last year, Hayes said. The program has a 91% stabilization rate, meaning the amount of calls that do not require an in-person response after receiving support over the phone, according to the state. 

“We want you to call us before it’s a crisis, before it’s a suicidal thought or an attempt because we want to be able to engage with you earlier on in the process,” Hayes said. “[It’s also] for your friends and your family members. If you are a concerned loved one or concerned about your coworker even and want some tips or tricks or advice on what to do or where to help guide people to, you can call 988 and get some resources.”

This article originally appeared on PRWeek US.