Laurie Metcalf Admits She Hasn’t Spoken to Roseanne Barr Since She Was Booted From Show
What To Know
- Laurie Metcalf revealed in a recent interview that she has not spoken to Roseanne Barr since Barr was removed from the show.
- After Barr’s exit and the show’s transition to The Conners, Metcalf described a sense of sadness among the cast.
Laurie Metcalf is an esteemed and established actress who has spent the better part of 30 years entertaining audiences with a bevy of characters who have reached out and made lasting connections on the small screen. From the malicious mothers of murderers in Monster: The Ed Gein Story to the God-fearing momma from the Lone Star State in The Big Bang Theory, Metcalf has left a lasting impression. But perhaps she is best known as the floundering Aunt Jackie, Roseanne‘s little sister in the original ’80s hit sitcom Roseanne, its revival, and its redux, The Conners.
But in a recent interview with The New Yorker, Metcalf admitted that it has been a long, long time since she last spoke to the star of the sitcom that made her a household name.
In 1988, Roseanne was a juggernaut, topping the Nielsen ratings and becoming the crown jewel of ABC. But behind the scenes, the cast and crew often found themselves navigating the strong-willed presence of the show’s star, Roseanne Barr, who, according to the publication, frequently clashed with others as she pushed for greater creative control on set.
“I saw somebody refusing to settle for anything, and it had her goddamn name on it, and she knew what she wanted,” Laurie Metcalf said, defending Barr. “And I saw her being right by far the majority of the time.”
Roseanne concluded in 1997, and in 2018, the cast reunited for a 10th season in which the family was divided by politics. However, Barr’s real-life politics became a focal point after she compared former President Barack Obama‘s former adviser Valerie Jarrett to an ape in a social media post. The post received a swift response, and Barr was removed from her own show.
After Barr’s character was killed off in a drug overdose, the show was renamed The Conners, moving forward without her. “There was just a general sadness around the whole place,” Metcalf said. The show would run for a total of seven seasons.
Metcalf admits she lost touch with Barr after the fallout. “There’s nothing controversial,” she said. “We just haven’t spoken since we said goodbye at the end of the reboot.”
Asked by the publication if she was angry at Barr for blowing up her own show, Metcalf replied, “I don’t even know how to answer that.”
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