Fran Drescher had no problem taking on “the kings” of the Hollywood industry.
Drescher worried she might never work again after leading the successful 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The ‘Nanny’ star feared she was blacklisted – before landing a role opposite Timothée Chalamet in the Golden Globes-nominated film ‘Marty Supreme’.
“It’s a lot of fun for me because I was competing against the kings of our industry, and if there was ever a blacklist, honey, my name would have been on it,” Dresher said. People magazine. “I thought I might never work again. I also thought, if that’s the case, I’ll always do something else. I’m a writer. But actually this has elevated me a bit, so I don’t really have that fear anymore.”
“I may not get to star in films, we’ll see,” she added. “But that’s okay, because I don’t have to work so hard to carry anything anymore. That’s a lot of work. And I love my playtime!”
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Drescher was president of SAG-AFTRA when the union rose up against major studios and streaming giants. She claimed that the strikes actually helped her land the role in “Marty Supreme.”
The film’s director, Josh Safdie, and Drescher had been working on another film that was shelved due to the strikes. The two kept in touch during the negotiations.
“It made us friends because I always answered his phone call,” she told the outlet. “And then ‘Marty Supreme’ was his next film planned, and Josh felt like Timmy and I were alike. And he said, ‘I know your background, and I know there’s a depth in you that I want to draw out for this film. I know you have that in you.” You have to love a director like that. They’re always the good ones.”
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Fran Drescher was the president of SAG-AFTRA during the 2023 union strike. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
Drescher’s first notable performance came with ‘Saturday Night Fever’ in 1977. She then made her breakthrough with the role of Fran Fine in ‘The Nanny’. The show lasted six seasons, making Drescher a household name.
She wanted to act from a young age and was inspired by ‘I Love Lucy’.
“I could do that,” Drescher remembered telling her mother. “I could do physical comedy, make funny faces, wear nice dresses.” She started to make her dream a reality by joining the high school theater group.
“I went on auditions and got a McDonald’s commercial and a root beer commercial,” she recalls. “They wouldn’t let me say either one. Even my high school theater teacher said, ‘If you’re going to make it, get rid of that voice!'”
Fran Drescher starred in “The Nanny” with Daniel Davis, Charles Shaugnessy and Lauren Lane. (CBS via Getty Images)
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“The Nanny” ran for six seasons on CBS. (CBS via Getty Images)
Drescher enrolled in elocution classes, where she learned to speak “low and slow,” and tried to erase her Queens accent. The plan apparently backfired when she went to audition for a period piece.
“She talks very slowly throughout an 18-hour miniseries,” the casting director told her manager at the time. “I thought, ‘You know what? I’m a beautiful girl with a funny voice who can do comedy.’ That’s my favorite place. Let’s just call it what it is.”
“I would never have Meryl Streep’s career. And I didn’t have to be able to do a bunch of accents. I could play a variety of emotions based on the women who come from where I come from.”
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