As a fan of A Nanny from Hell, we will recognize the gesture of its creator and actress Fran Drescher among thousands: her hand swinging from bottom to top, her fingers Quickly snapping her hands… Not to mention her smile and tone. of voice.
Born in Flushing in Queens, New York, who, like her character Miss Fine, had her first job as a cashier at age 14, then cosmetics school, Fran Drescher felt allied with the strikers in his series as well as in real life.
As president of the Sag-Aftra union, which represents 160,000 professionals from the big and small screen, she fought in 2023 to improve the working conditions of actors and actresses during a prolonged strike. 118 days long. The 66-year-old activist pleaded for the presence of more women in decision-making bodies.
She tells us about the rape she suffered at age 28 and the therapy that helped her accept the pain but also cope with the misdiagnosis of uterine cancer. Interview.
Fran Drescher: I don’t want to stand still. According to my mother, at age 5, while watching I Love Lucy [an American TV series from the 50s, editor’s note], I told her: “I can do that!” At age 8, I chose clothes that made me feel like Audrey Hepburn. I wanted to try to reach out beyond the world I grew up in.
When I was about 13, I told myself that I would have the job that least resembled a job: an actor. I have no connections in show business. But I have ambition.
When I was 15 years old, when I participated in a beauty contest, I told myself that if I won, I could call my representative. I come from a very humble background and I want to experience as an adult what success can bring, which is not happiness or health, but the ability to pay the bills, not having to worry about it. anxiety, living in a nice house…I always feel like I’m speaking up for the oppressed. I think my parents taught me a moral code that allowed me to respect marginalized people. I didn’t grow up in a religious family, but in a home where we believed in the American dream, we wanted equality, equal access to opportunity for everyone.
I am somewhat known for fighting for LGBTQI+ rights. We must also never forget the rights of women, children and racialized people. I cannot stand any form of racism, people who think they are superior to other people or other life forms on this planet.
How does it feel to know that a generation grew up with Fran Fine?
It’s a great honor. Gift. This series has opened doors for me that people in my situation would never expect. Wherever I go, people welcome me, want to hug me, ask how I’m doing. I feel privileged. I see this as a great opportunity to stand up in the name of the common good and galvanize action.
How do you feel about portraying a Jewish woman on television?
It was rare in 1993, when I started playing Fran Fine, as a Jewish woman playing a Jewish main character, in the beginning. Before the series began, CBS, the television network in the United States, called me to say that the Procter and Gamble brand wanted to sponsor the series, but only if the nanny was Italian and not Brazilian. Jewish. One of my mantras is to only do something if I feel it in my heart. So I explained to them why Fran Fine had to be Jewish: when you have to create weekly episodes, it’s better to write about what you know, and I wanted to get inspiration from people grew up with me. I worked with Peter [actor and screenwriter Peter Marc Jacobson, editor’s note], my husband, and we are Jewish, not Italian.
