John Goodman Reflects On Defending Roseanne & Reveals Whether He’d Work With Her Again
The Conners actor John Goodman recently shared his thoughts on defending his co-star Roseanne Barr and whether he would work with her again. The revival of Roseanne, which saw Goodman and Barr reprise their roles from the original series, was canceled and spun off into The Conners after Barr’s racist tweets about former political advisor Valerie Jarrett. While speaking to The Sunday Times, Goodman expressed surprise at the response to the controversy and said, “I know, I know, for a fact that she’s not a racist.”
Recently, while serving as president of the fiction jury at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, Goodman spoke to Variety and reflected on his past comments. When asked if he regrets defending Barr, he said, “No. At the time, I remember going to some kind of junket where they saw the pilot, and then the interviews, and it just turned into an attack. And that made me very uncomfortable with them just attacking Roseanne. Yeah, I felt bad for her. And then, yeah … I just feel terrible about the whole thing. You know, we had a great time. And I love her. She’s just her own person.”
When asked if he would work with Barr again, Goodman responded, “I don’t know. If she’d like to … I just don’t know. I miss her. I wish her well.”
Barr’s Exit From Roseanne Continues To Generate Headlines (Making A Return Unlikely)
Barr has been open about her feelings regarding the way her exit was handled both on-screen and off. The first episode of The Conners takes place three weeks after the funeral of Roseanne Conner. Initially, it was believed that she might have died of a heart attack, but it was later revealed that she passed away due to an opioid overdose. Barr felt that The Conners was sending her a message, saying, “When they killed my character off, that was a message to me, knowing that I’m mentally ill or have mental health issues, that they did want me to commit suicide.”
Barr has also almost blamed former co-star and on-screen daughter Sara Gilbert, who played Darlene, for the end of the Roseanne revival. Barr said Gilbert stabbed her in the back after begging her to return for the 2018 continuation. Even beyond the fact that the character was killed off, the animosity still lingering about the end of Roseanne essentially rules out a flashback or a dream sequence.
For the most part, the cast and crew of The Conners have moved beyond the Roseanne revival controversy and have rarely commented on it themselves. Goodman’s remarks reinforce the fact that, even with some nuance and personal fondness for Barr, it’s unlikely that the spinoff about the dysfunctional Lanford family will go back to what it once was.
Source: The Sunday Times, Variety
The Conners star John Goodman reveals whether he regrets defending Roseanne Barr, and if he’d want to work with her again. The short-lived Roseanne revival, with Goodman and Barr reprising their roles from the original series, lasted only a few months in 2018. The high-profile continuation was canceled and spun off into The Conners after Barr tweeted racist conspiracy theories, referring to former political advisor Valerie Jarrett as the offspring of Planet of the Apes. She later apologized for the tweets.
At the time, Goodman struck a nuanced tone amidst the controversy, saying to The Sunday Times“I was surprised. I’ll put it this way, I was surprised at the response. And that’s probably all I should say about it. I know, I know, for a fact that she’s not a racist.” While serving as president of the fiction jury at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival recently, Goodman spoke to Variety about his past comments. In the quote below, the star of HBO’s Righteous Gemstones reflects on whether he regrets speaking up in defense of Barr and whether he’d want to work with her again:
“No. At the time I remember going to some kind of junket where they saw the pilot, and then the interviews, and it just turned into attack. And that made me very uncomfortable with them just attacking Roseanne. Yeah, I felt bad for her. And then, yeah … I just feel terrible about the whole thing. You know, we had a great time. And I love her. She’s just her own person.”
“I don’t know. If she’d liked to … I just don’t know. I miss her. I wish her well.”
Barr’s Exit From Roseanne Continues To Generate Headlines (Making A Return Unlikely)
Barr has been open about how she feels regarding the way her exit was handled both on-screen and off. The Conners‘ first episode takes place three weeks after the funeral of Roseanne Conner. It’s initially believed that she might’ve died of a heart attack, but it’s later revealed she passed away due to an opioid overdose. Barr felt The Conners was sending a message to her, saying, “When they killed my character off, that was a message to me, knowing that I’m mentally ill or have mental health issues, that they did want me to commit suicide.”
Barr has almost blamed former co-star and on-screen daughter Sara Gilbert, who played Darlene, for the Roseanne revival’s end. Barr said The Conners actor and executive producer stabbed her in the back after begging her to return for the 2018 continuation. Even beyond the fact that the character was killed off, the animosity still lingering about the end of Roseanne essentially rules out a flashback or a dream sequence.
For the most part, the cast and crew of The Conners has moved beyond the Roseanne revival controversy and have rarely commented on it themselves. Goodman’s remarks reinforce the fact that, even with some nuance and personal fondness for Barr, it’s likely extremely difficult for the spinoff about the dysfunctional Lanford family to go back to what it once was.
Source: The Sunday Times, Variety
