Mr.Blue
03-25-2004, 11:35 PM
Roseanne’s a homebody
By Jamie Portman – CanWest News Service
CENTURY CITY, Calif. – Roseanne Barr has been revisiting her past. She’s taken to watching her old hit TV series, in the company of her eight-year-old son, Buck, who’s curious about what his mom used to do. The only problem is that the kid’s a straightshooter.
“We watch my show at night. He’s really into it. He always goes: ‘Did you know you were that fat?’ He’s fascinated by how fat I was at the time.’’
Roseanne is amused rather than offended. After all, people keep telling her that she’s svelte these days. “I had my entire digestive system removed,’’ she explains matter-of-factly. “I’m able to stay at 170.’’
But she also hints that maybe the stapling surgery wasn’t worth it. “It’s so weird, the whole weight thing. I look in the mirror — I don’t see any difference.’’
It’s part of Roseanne’s nature to be frank about medical matters. Son Buck, for instance, happened because she had her tubal ligation reversed, because she wanted a child by third husband, Ben Thomas, whom she has now divorced. She has also talked candidly about her 1991 breast-reduction surgery which transformed her from a 40DD to a 38C, and once famously defended premenstrual syndrome “as the only time of month when I can be myself.’’
This morning, she’s reminding us that when her most recent foray into series TV — last year’s Real Roseanne Show — crashed, she was not only coping with an insensitive ABC network, but with the fact she had a hysterectomy in the midst of all the turmoil.
Now, she’s saying she’s happy that the show had a rapid demise.
“It was a mess. It was just a mess. I was happy that it ended. My family was happy that it ended. Yeah.’’
Here, we get glimmerings of the old feisty Roseanne — of the aggressive, outspoken personality who dominated the groundbreaking TV show that ran from 1988 to 1997 and opened a fresh and believable window on working-class America. But there’s also this sense she’s reining herself in. One has difficulty imagining the reflective 51-year-old grandmother chatting with reporters today once purchased an ad in The Hollywood Reporter to express her contempt for Tinseltown: “This town is a back-stabbing, scum-sucking, small-minded town — but thanks for the money.’’
She’s here to talk about Disney’s new animated comedy, Home On The Range, in which she supplies the voice of a formidable cow named Maggie. She and her two bovine co-stars (Dame Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly) are the heroines of the affectionate valentine to the old-fashioned Hollywood western: with the intrepid Maggie as leader, they set out to foil villainous outlaw Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid) from gaining possession of their farm.
Roseanne is convinced she’s at her worst this morning. She says she couldn’t sleep the night before after making the mistake of having one vodka screwdriver in the hotel bar and now she’s been forced to get up too early to talk to reporters.
“God, I can’t even think!’’ she exclaims after being asked to talk about the personality of Maggie the cow.
“I don’t know! I don’t know!’’ Then she pulls herself together. “Maggie is very self-determined, and she knows how to take care of business. I think she knows how to handle people and lead them. She’s way smarter than me.’’
Doing the voice of an animated character is about as much work as she wants to do these days.
“I’m really trying not to work and just take it easy and do nice things like this movie,’’ she says. “I’m trying to live a little. I’m trying to make it 10 more years or 20 for my little boy.’’
She exclaims: “I’m so old and tired!’’ And then: “This is a horrible interview.’’
Tell her she doesn’t look old and tired, and she has an immediate response: “It’s plastic surgery.’’ Ask her what’s the secret of looking good these days, and she replies with one word: “Drugs.’’ Especially caffeine. “That’s a massive drug right there,’’ she beams as a publicist hands her a steaming cup of coffee.
So what about the new man in her life? “Oh, I don’t want to talk about that,’’ she says wearily. But she does confide he’s a songwriter.
There’s resignation that she will never again attain past glories. Yet there’s a sense of even greater pride in her abilities as a homemaker. “I’m really good at running a house. I’m really good at that. I’m a good mom and a good gramma and a good homemaker.’’ She’s thinking of launching a food line of some of her recipes. “But there’ll be none of this low-fat stuff,’’ she snorts. “This will be stuff you want to feed your family.’’
By Jamie Portman – CanWest News Service
CENTURY CITY, Calif. – Roseanne Barr has been revisiting her past. She’s taken to watching her old hit TV series, in the company of her eight-year-old son, Buck, who’s curious about what his mom used to do. The only problem is that the kid’s a straightshooter.
“We watch my show at night. He’s really into it. He always goes: ‘Did you know you were that fat?’ He’s fascinated by how fat I was at the time.’’
Roseanne is amused rather than offended. After all, people keep telling her that she’s svelte these days. “I had my entire digestive system removed,’’ she explains matter-of-factly. “I’m able to stay at 170.’’
But she also hints that maybe the stapling surgery wasn’t worth it. “It’s so weird, the whole weight thing. I look in the mirror — I don’t see any difference.’’
It’s part of Roseanne’s nature to be frank about medical matters. Son Buck, for instance, happened because she had her tubal ligation reversed, because she wanted a child by third husband, Ben Thomas, whom she has now divorced. She has also talked candidly about her 1991 breast-reduction surgery which transformed her from a 40DD to a 38C, and once famously defended premenstrual syndrome “as the only time of month when I can be myself.’’
This morning, she’s reminding us that when her most recent foray into series TV — last year’s Real Roseanne Show — crashed, she was not only coping with an insensitive ABC network, but with the fact she had a hysterectomy in the midst of all the turmoil.
Now, she’s saying she’s happy that the show had a rapid demise.
“It was a mess. It was just a mess. I was happy that it ended. My family was happy that it ended. Yeah.’’
Here, we get glimmerings of the old feisty Roseanne — of the aggressive, outspoken personality who dominated the groundbreaking TV show that ran from 1988 to 1997 and opened a fresh and believable window on working-class America. But there’s also this sense she’s reining herself in. One has difficulty imagining the reflective 51-year-old grandmother chatting with reporters today once purchased an ad in The Hollywood Reporter to express her contempt for Tinseltown: “This town is a back-stabbing, scum-sucking, small-minded town — but thanks for the money.’’
She’s here to talk about Disney’s new animated comedy, Home On The Range, in which she supplies the voice of a formidable cow named Maggie. She and her two bovine co-stars (Dame Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly) are the heroines of the affectionate valentine to the old-fashioned Hollywood western: with the intrepid Maggie as leader, they set out to foil villainous outlaw Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid) from gaining possession of their farm.
Roseanne is convinced she’s at her worst this morning. She says she couldn’t sleep the night before after making the mistake of having one vodka screwdriver in the hotel bar and now she’s been forced to get up too early to talk to reporters.
“God, I can’t even think!’’ she exclaims after being asked to talk about the personality of Maggie the cow.
“I don’t know! I don’t know!’’ Then she pulls herself together. “Maggie is very self-determined, and she knows how to take care of business. I think she knows how to handle people and lead them. She’s way smarter than me.’’
Doing the voice of an animated character is about as much work as she wants to do these days.
“I’m really trying not to work and just take it easy and do nice things like this movie,’’ she says. “I’m trying to live a little. I’m trying to make it 10 more years or 20 for my little boy.’’
She exclaims: “I’m so old and tired!’’ And then: “This is a horrible interview.’’
Tell her she doesn’t look old and tired, and she has an immediate response: “It’s plastic surgery.’’ Ask her what’s the secret of looking good these days, and she replies with one word: “Drugs.’’ Especially caffeine. “That’s a massive drug right there,’’ she beams as a publicist hands her a steaming cup of coffee.
So what about the new man in her life? “Oh, I don’t want to talk about that,’’ she says wearily. But she does confide he’s a songwriter.
There’s resignation that she will never again attain past glories. Yet there’s a sense of even greater pride in her abilities as a homemaker. “I’m really good at running a house. I’m really good at that. I’m a good mom and a good gramma and a good homemaker.’’ She’s thinking of launching a food line of some of her recipes. “But there’ll be none of this low-fat stuff,’’ she snorts. “This will be stuff you want to feed your family.’’