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And yetSleeplessis also very much a fantasy itself, and a lovely one at that.
Even the way Becky holds Cheetos, her pinkie raised as if theyre fine dining, is amusing.
Together, the two movies made ODonnell a star.
Although romantic comedies were thriving thanks to sensations likeMoonstruckandPretty Woman,Sleeplesswas seen as a sleeper hit.
The tactic worked.Sleeplesssaw the largest opening gross for a rom-com at the time and became 1993s fourth-highest-grossing release.
ODonnell had been a successful stand-up comic, but her movie career soared after that.
Eventually, she deployed her charisma as the host of one of TVsbest daytime talk shows.
That was what I was dreaming of.
Or being a backup singer for Bette Midler.
Those were the two things I had in my dream pile.
We became close friends, and I lived in the same building that she did.
She got me the apartment.
So when I think ofSleepless, the first thing I think of is Nora.
It was a pretty trippy ride.
And then out ofLeague, Nora Ephron came and did a reading with me.
And Jacob, her gay son, said, Oh my God, I love her!
Shes friends with Madonna!
Mom, youve got to cast her.
So I always credit Jacob Bernstein with being in Nora EphronsSleepless in Seattle.
But I think it was a really fortunate, lucky three rolls of the dice.
When you were auditioning forSleepless, had Meg Ryan already been cast?
They were looking for Meg Ryans best friend in the new Tom HanksMeg Ryan film.
I was just sort of thrown into it, in a way.
It was such a Hollywood story.
Both of these movies star Tom Hanks, and theyre also both directed by women, which was rare.
And on top of that, both grossed over $100 million domestically.
They thought it was a good forecaster of your future work.
Right afterSleeplesswas coming out, I adopted [ODonnells first child] Parker.
It was very much a family thing.
Nora was very invested in the baby, and she really did create that family feeling.
Her sister Delia was there, and they were writing it together.
Nora said a few interesting things about your role as Becky in various interviews from that time.
Did she ever tell you that?No, she never did.
How do you feel about that today?Thats a lot of pressure.
That washer Oscar-winning performance, was it not?
Im glad she hadnt told me that so I could go in there and do the best I could.
It was an homage to Bette for me.
When Im walking with Meg in the park, Im doing my Bette Midler walk.
That makes so much sense.
I kept thinking,What would Bette do?
It was likeEve Ardenfrom those old films: the funny, caustic best friend with a heart of gold.
Nora also said she told you that you guys could rewrite lines if they werent funny.
Im doing this whole thing, and she yells, Cut!
It was atree, not thetree.
She kept saying Cut when I wouldnt get it right.
I sort of looked at his leg and read it.
And she said, Cut!
And what was perfect were the words that she wrote.
When people write and direct, its their words.
Theyre connected to them.
There were some performances where it was largely improvisation, likeLeague of Their Own.
I loved when I got to guest-star on Larry DavidsCurb Your Enthusiasmbecause thats all improvisation.
They just give you the basic setup and you have to make it up from there.
That, I thought, was really thrilling to get to do as a stand-up comic.
But not a lot of actors like improvisation.
I remember when I did my first sitcom,Stand by Your Man.
The pilot was with Christine Ebersole.
It has to be on the page before its on the stage.
Shes a Broadway, Tony-winning actor.
When you do plays, youre not allowed to change the words.
But somehow with TV or movies theres more of a freedom sometimes.
It depends on how the actor is trained.
Maybe Nora was being hyperbolic about the freedom she allegedly gave you.
My act was all about that.
It was only my second film.
I hadnt really worked that much, and I was trying to measure up to Meg and Tom.
What was your first meeting with Meg Ryan like?It was totally like high-school girlfriends right away.
I loved her right away.
Shes really a great woman.
Shes very smart and adorable and funny and interested.
The reason America fell in love with her is the same reason I fell in love with her.
Shes easy to love.
I made sure to watch it over and over.
This is pre-computer times, so a VHS in your room.
At the hotel, they had to hook up the machine for you.
I remember watching it and watching it and thinking,I just want to get this right.
I hadnt been familiar with that movie, to tell you the truth, before I was cast.
You attended the movie premiere with Madonna, who you were good friends with at that point.
Did you just call her up and say, Come with me?Yep.
I said, I got a premiere for my new movie.
She said, Sure!
We went and picked her up, and my sister was there and some of my brothers.
It was like a big family thing.
I remember Celine Dion was there because she did the song [When I Fall in Love].
She was so kind and so fun, and I got to know her better when I hadmy show.
We did somefunny segmentstogether, me and Celine.
She asked me to comeco-hostwith her because she was scared, so I went and did it twice.
It was a much subtler character, more refined, more feminine, more of a professional woman.
It was a great contrast.
Adults stop me and say, Oh my God, you were Golly!
I loved that movie when I was a kid!
The other week, I was on$100,000 Pyramid, which we filmed during the pandemic sometime.
Do you prefer it that way?Listen, the wave of fame eventually hits the shore.
And then it goes back out, but its never as strong as the first wave.
It never really scared me.
I always knew it would have a finite beginning and end.
I wasnt looking to sustain it.
I would have stayed on my TV show if I was.
Had you lost the acting bug?
I think it would have been hard to cast me in a role in a movie.
I wasnt going to have plastic surgery.
I would get to play the Colleen Dewhurst roles.
That has turned out to be true.
Im getting all this acting work now that Im closing in on 60.
Which is incredibly refreshing.
I was talking about the problems with George Bush as a president.
I was somewhat polarizing.
I was also home with my kids.
I needed a long recovery from the six years I did [onThe Rosie ODonnell Show].
That superstardom is close to a postmortem feeling.
Its isolating and disorienting.
Lucky for me, I had five children to ground me and remind me of whats important.
But make no mistake, that was a topsy-turvy time for me.
You mentioned that you and Nora ended up living in the same building.
I assume you crossed paths a lot.
What was your relationship like as the years went on?It was great.
She invited me into her family and took me to the Hamptons on the weekends.
It was a beautiful thing to live literally right above the Ephrons.
Nora and I really formed a wonderful friendship, and I miss her to this day.
What a lovely thing.
Were Nora and Penny Marshall friends at all?No, I dont think they ever met.
They were almost like polar opposites.
Their lifestyles were very different.
Nora would throw parties with beautiful linens and table tweaks.
She was always gathering people for a Hanukkah/Christmas party, Thanksgiving, Sunday dinners.
And Penny was more of a once-a-year-with-Garry [Marshall, her brother].
She was much more into enjoying herself, not a married life raising children in New York City.
They just had very different worldviews.
What is your favorite nonSleeplessNora movie?When Harry Met Sally, as far as the writing goes.
I lovedthe Julia Child movie; I thought that was beautiful and touching.
ButSleeplessis my favorite of all her films, and I think its a lot of peoples favorites.
It really strikes a wonderful tone, and the characters seem real.
It still holds up.
I just saw it about four months ago.
You sounded like Rocky.
Do they care about your celebrity friends?
Are they fascinated that youve known Madonna for years and years?No, none.
They were like,How can that be her?Its really her, Im telling you the truth.
