The 63-year-old actor, cancer survivor and philanthropist is back in our news again because the show that made her famous is finally available online. This past week, both longtime and new fans fell in love with the beloved CBS sitcom about the woman who wears red while everyone else wears tan.
With “The Nanny” coming to HBO Max, we discussed with Drescher her favorite episodes of the popular series as well as her least favorite episodes.
“First of all, I’m so grateful,” she told TODAY of the show’s resurgence in popularity when it debuted on HBO Max. “Because it was a miracle. Everything about it has such meaning. My goal is just to become famous so I can do all the other things I do and be able to have a platform to do them.”
When asked about her favorite episodes, she quickly named the show’s premiere.
“The pilot is a great pilot, because you really want to go back and spend more time with these people you just met,” she said. “But they really don’t have enough budget. They didn’t want to give us all the money, so we borrowed everything to do it and as soon as we were chosen, that’s when we did the animated opening titles. That’s when we got the beautiful curved staircase and all that.”
Drecher added that the pilot could be done 150 different ways, but the overall story needed to be told in the most concise and digestible way possible.
“So what happens in the pilot is a fish out of water, trying to show that Fran Fine is a big-hearted, beautiful, flirtatious and diminutive, cocky young woman who change this family’s life and turn that house into a home. ,” Drescher explains. “That’s what the whole series is about and it’s been tested, and then you have to figure out how to tell that story over and over again in each episode. No one really wants to see anything else. It’s a sitcom.”
Another memorable episode that Drescher loves is season three, episode 18, titled “Val’s Boyfriend.” This episode has a pretty unforgettable scene where Fine tries sushi for the first time. Drescher’s physical comedy here is truly top notch, her animated facial expressions are something any acting novice could learn from.
“My other favorite episode was when I was with C.C. went to a sushi bar, and I had never eaten sushi before and I ate wasabi and it cleared my sinuses,” she said. “To me, it was like the candy on the conveyor belt of ‘I Love Lucy.’ . ‘ Everyone brings it wherever I go. So I would say that was one of the memorable ones.”
One fan agreed this week in a viral tweet, writing that “the nanny joke where Fran swallows a wasabi is funnier than anything any man has ever done.”
Drescher also added that she loved the many times she got to dress up as a different character from “The Nanny” or the many guest stars who appeared throughout the series, including Rosie O’Donnell, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Midler and Elton John.
As for her least favorite thing, Drescher struggled for a specific answer, but then described a more visceral feeling that led to her answer. ”Some episodes reminded me of when I was going through difficult times in my own life and the character was in a much happier place for me to escape to when my marriage fell apart. or when I feel like I’m in trouble.” the symptoms were not properly diagnosed,” she said.
In 1999, the same year The Nanny ended, Drescher was diagnosed with uterine cancer after more than two years of being misdiagnosed.
“So it’s the end of the series. My personal life is not happy. I was really sick and undiagnosed going to doctor after doctor,” she said. “Also, my marriage is falling apart. I’ve been with Peter since I was 15 and it was a very painful time, I wasn’t used to being alone and it was a really huge transition period, full of pain.”
“People don’t really realize that actors have that dual reality. Often, that episode, movie, or play will remind you of what was going on behind the scenes during that time in your life, and you’re really the only one carrying that experience in your head.”
