By clothing-bag, 08/03/2023
Fran Drescher: "In real life I get involved in social issues, not everyone does"
“La niñera” told us about her drama, her activism and her Christmas movie for Lifetime
This Friday, December 10, Lifetime held an exclusive virtual event for the Latin American press with the special participation of the actress Fran Drescher, known for her role in The Nanny, to present her Lifetime XMas Movies.
By Walter Pulero
Follow @WPuleroToday at 9:20 p.m., with a repeat on Wednesday, December 15 at 11:00 p.m., Lifetime will premiere Cita navidad, the first Lifetime LGTBI Christmas movie. Its protagonist, Fran Drescher, the unforgettable Fran Fine from La niñera (The Nanny) spoke with Cinergia and other Latin American media in a virtual event. Everyone knows you because you were the protagonist and producer of La niñera”. Tell us about that show and what that role meant to you. Fran Drescher: Well, The Nanny is something I'm very proud of and one that I'm very grateful for because of its continued success and how super loyal the fans have been over the years. it continued to be broadcast and continues to be broadcast all over the world. I created it, produced it, and starred in it, and I continue to support and love that show. We are now writing The Nanny: The Musical which is going to be for Broadway and traveling around the world as a stage musical production. We are very excited. It's turning out spectacular. It is a beautiful story that will bring to life all the beloved characters of the series, and with excellent musical and dance pieces.
The babysitter is everything to me. I have been the nanny for almost 30 years and the series is more popular now than ever. So I'm very grateful, because it changed my life in a drastic way. And every time I go around the world, people know who I am and they warmly welcome me. And I love Fran Fine and I love that the show made me a fashion icon, a gay icon too. And all those things that I feel have become part of who I am or of my life. And I'm proud and grateful for that. Fran Fine for me always taught the public that it doesn't matter what you look like or the sound of your voice, what's important is what's in your heart. And this is something that I always wanted to make clear in all the episodes, that we could send those subtle messages. That even if she had no education or even if she was an employee, she had entered the Sheffield mansion and had been able to turn that house into a home and had brought love to the children and had made that dysfunctional family become a loving family and she didn't have much education, but she did have street skills and good instincts. So I think it's important that it doesn't matter how much money you have and it doesn't matter how you talk and it doesn't matter what level of education you have. None of that matters. What really matters is if you are a good person, if you are guided by kindness and love, compassion, if you treat children with respect, if you bring joy to people's lives every day. And for all these reasons I feel very close to that character who teaches me every day to try to be more like her.
Will you be a part of this musical?
FD: Well, I'm part of the musical because I'm writing the book with Peter. But hey, we're writing it with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's Rachel Bloom, who's writing the music and it's turning out great. So for now that's my involvement. I don't plan to be on stage. Although Peter says that he would love me to play Silvia, but it seems to me that that should not happen because I think that the musical has to be independent and that I should not be there and that maybe it will be more difficult for the actress who plays Fran Fine. So I think I'm going to be more behind the scenes on this production. And it's going to travel the world with different casts and it's going to be the story and the relationship that we've come to know and love. It's going to be great, it's going to be fun, it's going to be moving, with very good music and very good musical numbers. So I think it's going to bring the TV show back to life in a much bigger way and I'm very pleased.
Together with Lifetime Movies you have been making movies and one of those is about love being love. And this is one of the films that you are going to release in Latin America. How was your experience with her? FD: It was wonderful. That was the first trip and the first job after the start of the pandemic and the confinements happened and with the pandemic that had been in full swing. They offered me this role in a movie that was going to be filmed in Canada and they told me “if you want to do it then you will have to have all the necessary papers to travel and in order, you will have to have negative COVID tests”. I wanted to take my dog, so I had to organize that too. I had to quarantine for two weeks in Canada which I said I wanted to spend with my dear friends Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon. And I was able to do it and it was great to see them, because they had spent the first months of the pandemic locked up at home in Canada. So I missed them and was glad to be with them. And I remember when we started, the producer wanted to invite everyone to dinner. And I said “but I haven't been to a restaurant for months, this is all new. leave my house leave the country Come to Canada. I think I need to take it easy." So good, we set up our own bubble and it was great. The cast is excellent, the director and producers are all terrific. There was an incredible amount of security protocols, so we all felt good. The actor who plays my son actually has his birthday on the same day as me. So on September 30 we celebrated it together in Canada and we became a little family. We didn't want to open the bubble with a lot of people because we didn't want anyone to catch the virus and have to stop production, so we were very careful. And we really had a great time. And for me, also, I was starring in and producing my own television series called Happilly Divorced and it has to do with my relationship with my gay ex-husband, which happened in real life. Peter Jacobson was also my co-creator of The Nanny and wrote the scripts with me. So when we got divorced, we wanted to celebrate that people could live a genuine life, an authentic life. And reinvent relationships where there is always love, but sometimes what happens is that things are not what they were. And Peter and I are best friends. we adore each other But he's gay and I'm not. So we're not married anymore. And in the series we celebrate that friendship and that relationship. In this movie, Christmas Date, we do the same thing. It has nothing to do with that angst about the gay character having to come out of the closet or about parents who don't approve of his sexual orientation. It has nothing to do with the isolated fact that my son is gay. No way. It is a fact. I have a gay son and I have a straight son, I love them both and I want them both to be able to find love and to be in a relationship that makes them happy, that fulfills them. So I really valued that point of view in this film. I thought it's a divine romantic comedy, where the central couple is a gay couple. In real life, in fact, they are married. We see that they are adorable and the whole movie shows how the world should be. And I like that what this movie does is move the needle forward in terms of his past. Know? The announcement and the anguish of a family member who has to come out of the closet. All of that is now part of the past. Here we are all a happy family. Everyone has the right to live a happy and authentic life. And my children were born that way. And we embrace that with love and acceptance.
We've been watching Christmas movies for a long time, why do you think it took the industry so long to realize they could have an LGBTQ couple as the lead couple?
FD: I think there are several factors. First, I don't know if you know this, but when I started writing the pilot for The Nanny, they had asked me if the character could be Italian and not Jewish, because they were concerned that a Jewish actress playing a Jewish character would not look as good in a movie. some parts of the United States. And I said no, Fran has to be Jewish. And I was very grateful to the network that said yes. But for many years, many people did what the networks or media companies asked them to do, because they were afraid that those things could impact the success of the program. And I didn't think that mattered. And I was right. And I was lucky that the company wanted to do the series and that's why they let me go ahead with this. And this is true of any marginalized group or any preconceived notion that a certain demographic may not accept a story about a gay couple, for example. And I'm so glad Lifetime decided that this Christmas season it was time to celebrate all relationships. And also this includes a loving gay couple. It seems to me that times are changing and gay marriage is accepted almost everywhere in the world now and this helps in some way point us in the direction of normalizing same-sex couples. Also, I think the last presidency in the United States was much more conservative and as a result of that a lot of different groups took to the streets and started calling it loud. And they started shouting loud and proud “This is me, this is me, I belong here and I have the right to be here”. This includes immigrants, women, students, gay people, trans people, and all the different experiences within the human fabric that should be celebrated. We are complex creatures, with great diversity. We have to accept this, embrace it, celebrate it and not fear it. So the more we can see it, the more normalized it will be. And that's why I'm proud of what I did with Happilly Divorced. Because it normalizes a very loving relationship between a man and a woman who were married and who are now best friends and who still love each other, even though he is gay and she is not. And that relationship had never been explored before and a lot of people came up to me and said, do you know that my parents don't accept that I'm a lesbian? So, when they came to see me, they went to the house of my brother and his wife. But then we started watching Happilly Divorced together and as a result my parents became more comfortable with the idea of loving someone who just has another orientation and accepting them unconditionally. And this was told to me by a girl at a public event and she shared her story with me because she told me “Now when my parents come to see us they stay at home and have a great time”.
You are personally involved in a cancer and health organization. Could you tell us a little about this? FD: Yes, I have been well for 21 years, I am a survivor of uterine cancer and it took me two years and eight doctors to get a correct diagnosis. So I wrote the New York Times best seller "Cancer Schmancer" and then realized that the book was not the end but the beginning of what has become a mission for my life. So I started the Cancer Schmancer movement. And Cancer Schmancer means that cancer is not my voice, that we have power over our bodies. So the focus of my organization is that how they live is the same as how they feel. And if you start thinking about the things you buy for your house, to clean, to garden, all the things you have, such as oral hygiene, as well as the food you eat, and if you make sure that everything be clean, be friendly to the environment, be organic, then you will be supporting your immune system instead of degrading it. And when you support your immune system, you have a much better chance of not getting sick, because cancer is the final stage in a long history of inflammation. And inflammation is actually 90% from your environment. So at cancerschmancer.com we have a very progressive program called Detox Your Home. We know that sometimes it can be overwhelming to think about all the problems in the world: global warming, cancer, all the diseases that are out there. Just all the problems. So what we ask of you is that you fix yourself, your house, your family. And starting with that, each and every one of us can change this paradigm that human beings are in right now, that they are somehow accepting and embracing the natural world, and moving away from the carcinogenic elements and the toxins that they are not good for us, nor for the planet, nor for wildlife. That's why we have to start reading the labels. Everything should be like food that comes from grandma's garden. And we actually have a summit with a Fran Drescher masterclass that's free for everyone and it's going to be on January 8th. So go to the web and register, it's free. They will be able to watch the broadcast of our masterclass on January 8th. It offers a ton of information and really changes your life. And I interview doctors who are amazing, who think differently and who help us see our bodies and the world around us in a different way. And do you know? We have the power to change irresponsible manufactured trends simply by not buying those products that have harmful ingredients and that support industrial agriculture, which generally has unhealthy plants and animals due to the amount of pesticides, insecticides or growth hormones, antibiotics, and that they feed also to animals in a toxic way and with organically modified, genetically modified products.
You are the president of the SAG Association, the most important international organization of actors in the world. FD: Yes, I have now been elected president of the SAG, the Screen Actors Guild. It is the largest entertainment union in the world. And I have lots of great ideas for us to focus on the things that matter to us. And I am trying to form a green council so that the entertainment industry becomes part of the solution to the problem and that we try to be greener in all our productions. I am also forming a sexual assault committee because I don't want anyone to be sexually abused or sexually predatory. I think that people who are victimized need to feel supported and know that if they are going to point fingers at someone and accuse someone who acted inappropriately it is not going to be the end of their career, but it will mean that the person who is using their power irresponsibly you will have to answer for your behavior. This is very important to me because several years ago I was a victim of rape. I was held at a gun point in a robbery and raped by a man who was on parole. And the truth is that it takes a long time to be able to rearm after an experience like this. And today I tell them that sometimes it happens that I don't feel calm, alone, unless I have my dog with me, which is a service dog. And people unfortunately carry the burden of being victimized all their lives. So it is very important to me to support our members and set an example for other industries to have zero tolerance for people who do not respect the honor and personal space of others. So good, it's good. My idea is to change things, as well as improve contracts and protections. But if that's it, a lot, and over the years I was very active in Washington. I was able to get a bill passed and I was able to get my union to get another bill passed in Washington as well. So I'm with a lot of ideas. It's great and I feel like everything I've done in my life and being part of a union, being successful in my career, being active in Washington and also trying to support people who were marginalized. I always speak for civil liberties, but also for other marginalized groups. It is very important for me to take advantage of my fame to have the focus of the press and bring it to issues that matter. So it seems to me that my life led me to this very important moment as president of SAG.
Your personal life is also an inspiration to many people. How do you feel every time someone tells you that you changed their life? FD: I can't explain how grateful I am wherever I go. I am very grateful that my character is so loved and that I receive positive energy from people I don't even know from all over the world. And I realized well at the beginning that the character was loved, he was not a controversial character, he brought joy, he made people laugh out loud, he brought families together. And although I always hear that when a relative was sick or in the hospital they forgot about their problems when they sat in front of the television to watch The Nanny, it is something that they tell me a lot. And there are people who tell me that this was the only moment where the family sat in a group and enjoyed something together. When I hear those things they do my heart good, they fill me with love, with joy, with appreciation. And I always try to protect that aspect of the character. We never wanted the character to be written in such a way that she was negative or put other people down. She wasn't like that. maybe she denigrated herself a little bit, but never other people. So it's not a show with a bad spirit, it's a series of happiness that makes people happy. And I think it kind of blurs the lines between the working class and the aristocracy. And it seems to me that this is also important, because you have to learn that we are all the same and we are in the same boat, so you don't have to judge people.
You don't have much experience celebrating Christmas since you're Jewish, but why do you think Christmas movies have such a strong appeal, even for those who don't celebrate Christmas? FD: You know I'm Jewish, but I am also a Buddhist and I am a citizen of the world and I love to celebrate everything that generates joy, that unites families, that sits us around a table and makes us feel gratitude, that helps us to be more generous and the holidays are a moment to give, a moment to recognize those who are most in need, to unite as a family. I love Christmas and I love it for all those reasons. In general I have a tree. I have beautiful decorations and every year I have a Christmas party at my house and everyone brings an decoration. So all the little ornaments on my tree are a collection of things that my dearest friends, friends and family have given me. So I never go crazy trying to do something like very decorative. Not at all. What I want is for that tree to be full of all the memories of the people I love. I don't care if it matches, I don't care if it's something I would never have bought. It doesn't matter that. What matters is the Christmas spirit and the idea of giving and celebrating together. And we always have a beautiful dinner and gather around the table, some of us are family, some of us are long-time friends. And if someone tells me that this person is alone, I can take them and I say of course. The more we are, the better. So what I celebrate is the spirit of the festivity. And I also celebrate Hanukkah. But I also celebrate everything, everything, as long as it implies kindness, love, nature. I am very open to many religious holidays that express that and I think it is good to open your arms to the world to be able to share and enjoy something positive and loving.
And what about fashion? What does fashion mean to you now? FD: Well, my skirts are a bit longer now. I try not to wear too fashionable clothes that the following year will already be the mistake of the following year. I try from there, maybe buy slightly more expensive clothes that are classic. And now I'm using more colors. I'm moving a bit away from wearing as much black as I have in my wardrobe. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that I have a white dog. But I think it's more cheerful and makes me happy. And I think that for anyone to wear what makes you feel comfortable, comfortable, that represents how you feel about yourself, about yourself, yourself, that's the sexiest thing you can get. And that varies from person to person. Brenda Cooper, the costume designer of The Nanny in 2022 is going to launch a book on style called "The Silhouette Solution". Everyone should look it up because it teaches you how to have a limited amount of clothes and that way you can have a complete wardrobe if you know how to match them and if you know what shapes make you look the best. She taught me what to wear, what underwear to wear, because the look goes from the inside out. So I learned that from her. And also the colour. Color is very important, I learned that from her too. If you put a color in front of your face and it only shows on the outfit and not the face, that's not your color. So you have to find out what are the best colors that complement your skin tone, your hair color, that will not compete with you, but will frame your face. She taught me too. So, well, sometimes I dress very casually, with sports pants and a sweatshirt, sometimes a little more strange, but in general I like to wear clothes that define my figure, tight, that show my waist, that show my cleavage And I like to wear classic pointed toe high heels. High heeled stilettos. So the things that I buy, whether it's Jimmy Choo shoes or some Ralph Lauren or Versace outfit, whatever, are the designs of the season, which are the most classic for me. So recently I discovered a brand, if you go to my Instagram you're going to see me wearing some of that brand's clothes, and now it's coming to the United States. So I always discover new brands and new designers. I support them. But I like the classics and I like well-made clothes that will last me two decades if I take care of them. And I'm very good with my clothes.
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