Now and Then is one of the best friendship movies that revolves around a group of four women reminiscing about growing up with each other in the 1970s. In that group of friends was tomboy Roberta, played by Wednesday cast member Christina Ricci, who has a close bond with the naïve yet cautious Chrissy. Now, Rosie O’Donnell, who played the grown-up version of Roberta, revealed that her character was originally a lesbian, however, that piece of the character's identity was cut from the movie.
When Now and Then came out in 1995, lesbian relationships on-screen were not portrayed as frequently as straight relationships. Due to this lack of representation, studios were hesitant to include LGBTQ+ relationships in their movies. Now and Then was one of those movies, as Rosie O’Donnell revealed on Now What? with Brooke Shields (opens in new tab) podcast. She went on to explain that her character, Roberta, was originally written as a lesbian who intended to be in a romantic relationship with her childhood friend Chrissy until it was decided to change her sexual orientation to heterosexual.
You know what's funny about the movie Now and Then? My character was gay. She was a lesbian. And in the film, I'm very close to Rita Wilson's character and I'm a gynecologist and I'm delivering her baby. And then I look up from catching the baby and I say to her, 'I love you.' You know, just friends, not as a lover. And when they showed the film, the producer said, 'Let's take out that she's gay.' And they took every little, tiny thing that I had done to build the character into an accurate gay woman and made her straight.
According to People, a rep for Rosie O’Donnell said she misspoke about her producer making the change, and that it was New Line Cinema who made the decision about Roberta’s sexual orientation. As the former View host told this surprising behind-the-scenes story to Brooke Shields, it makes me re-thinking Chrissy’s birth scene. It’s true that the evidence really was right there. Especially in one of the childhood scenes, part of Chrissy's vow to her group of friends was for them to always be there for each other through adulthood even if she eventually “marries a rich doctor.” Well, Roberta becomes a doctor. That should have been a foreshadowing moment of what was to come. But instead as adults, Roberta “lives in sin with her boyfriend,” and Chrissy does marry a doctor, but it’s the geeky boy from their childhood she was repulsed with.
The Harriet the Spy actress continued to tell Brooke Shields she was in such disbelief at the time that the change to her character was happening. However, she remarked that this was before the Emmy-nominated series Will and Grace was created and before Ellen DeGeneres first came out in 1997. The Flintstones actress pointed out that being an openly gay female back then was very controversial, and her agent felt it would be risky for her career to take on the role of a lesbian character. However, O’Donnell, who identifies as gay, wouldn’t have let a character’s sexual identity scare her away from a role.
Back in 2012, there was originally going to be a Now and Then series on what is now called Freeform done by the Pretty Little Liars showrunner I. Marlene King. However, this TV series didn’t come to fruition. According to EW, King wasn’t happy with the show taking place in the present day with the flashbacks coming from the ‘90s instead of the ‘70s. As King said, it’s true that one of the most memorable aspects of Now and Then was the 1970s nostalgia. You couldn't forget the music, clothes, and subjects considered controversial back then during that decade like divorce. But, I’d like to believe that maybe if the TV series came to be, there would have been room to explore a romantic relationship between Roberta and Chrissy.
It’s unfortunate that a romantic relationship in Now and Then between Roberta and Chrissy was never explored in the film. Although, it’s a comfort to know that we’ve come a long way where LGBTQIA+ on-and-off-screen relationships are more accepted and represented today.
As of right now, O'Donnell doesn't have any projects in the works, but, be sure to follow our 2023 movie releases and the 2023 TV schedule just in case she returns to the screen.
