Roseanne Barr Almost Played Rosie O’Donnell’s Tutu On Showtime’s ‘SMILF’

Roseanne Barr almost co-starred on Showtime’s “SMILF.”

Speaking at ABC Studios’ For Your Consideration event, series creator and star Frankie Shaw revealed that the role of her onscreen mother Tutu, portrayed by Rosie O’Donnell on the show, almost went to Barr.

“It’s been a secret until this moment,” Shaw, who plays Bridgette on the comedy, said (via Variety). “We did offer Tutu to Roseanne, and she was going to do it and then she broke her knee and had surgery.”

Shaw then recalled the moment she cast Barr for the part. “[After a brunch in Los Angeles] I was like, ‘You’re my hero, will you play my mom?’ And she said yes,” Shaw said of the time she offered the role to Barr. “And I went to Boston and then I got this call that she had fallen in a park and had like 45 stitches and wasn’t allowed to travel. I sent her this package and I even wrote the character would be in a scooter. I was like, ‘She’ll be in a scooter, we’ll just scoot you around you won’t even have to walk.’ And her doctor said she can’t fly.”

Two weeks before filming for Season 1 began, Shaw met O’Donnell, who ultimately ended up taking on the role of Tutu.

In an interview last November, O’Donnell shared how she learned about “SMILF.” “My agent sent me the short films that Frankie did, and I was blown away by both of them,” O’Donnell said (via Tribune News Service). “My agent said very meekly on the phone: ‘This is not really an offer. You have to talk to her on FaceTime.’ I was like: ‘Get that woman on FaceTime. Let’s see what we can do.’

“And I was just absolutely shocked by her talent and the message and the kind of feminist perspective that she had in a very universal way,” O’Donnell continued. “It was like a dream come true. I said: ‘I’ll do anything that she needs or wants if she’ll have me.’ And, she said yes.”

In an interview with The Cut last December, O’Donnell revealed the other reasons she wanted to be on the show. “I too was from a lower–middle class Irish-Catholic, generationally dysfunctional [family with] unspoken abuse patterns and addiction patterns,” the actress said of her similarities to Tutu. “Everything Frankie and I talked about was everything I care about and everything I want to do my art about. It always comes back to these core issues of justice around women.”

Do you think Barr would have been great in the role of Tutu? Tell us what you think in the comments section below!

“SMILF” Season 2 is expected to premiere later this year on Showtime.