CNN
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Rosie O’Donnell has moved an ocean away from Hollywood, but she’s still entertaining audiences.
The actress and former talk show host shared with Variety how she ended up playing a lesbian nun having a New York City adventure in “And Just Like That…,” which returned for its third season on HBO Max on Thursday. O’Donnell explained that she has long been friends with Cynthia Nixon, who plays Miranda on the comedy and its prequel, “Sex and the City.”
“My daughter was actually her assistant on set,” O’Donnell explained. “She put her on there, and then she said, ‘By the way, Michael told me that he has a role for you. Are you up for it?’ I said, ‘Are you kidding me? In a minute!’ I didn’t even have to think about it.”
O’Donnell has also known the show’s creator, Michael Patrick King, for more than 30 years.
“When I was a young comedian, he was in a comedy duo called King and Mindy — Lisa Mindy and Michael King,” she said. “I used to hang out with them at Catch a Rising Star and at the Improv. It’s been pretty amazing to see the people that began together doing so well.”
As for being gay in real life and learning that King had created a lesbian nun character for her, O’Donnell said, “I laughed my a** off. I thought — I know how to play this character.”
“I was very, very happy to be doing all my scenes with Cynthia. It was not acting for me. I don’t have to act in love with her, because I’ve been in love with her for many years,” O’Donnell said. “I saw her in ‘Wit,’ on Broadway, and even though I had known her for very many years and was friends with her in a real way, when I went backstage, I was awestruck and couldn’t find my words.”
O’Donnell, who has also appeared on the HBO comedy “Hacks” this season, said people like the character she plays, Mary, who discovers her sexuality later in life, are common.
“I know many women who only come to it in their 40s, and how hard it is when they set up a life with a man and children, and then they come to realize this basic thing about themselves,” she sad. “I understand their struggle. It was a relatable character — somebody who, for all different reasons, wasn’t able to be in touch with who they were, and then came to find the beauty that awaits the rest of her life.”
She also reflected on having moved to Ireland from the United States.
“Never, for one moment since I arrived here, did I regret my choice,” O’Donnell said.
“People have been so welcoming, so accepting, and they have a different view of celebrity in the culture here,” she added. “They are not prioritized over other people. People are much more friendly and intimate with each other in a real way.”
HBO Max and CNN are both part of Warner Bros. Discovery.
