Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes) - Fran Drescher

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

This week Fran Drescher pays us a visit along with our first non-human guest (her dog Angel)! Fran talks to Ted Danson about her role in “Marty Supreme,” pitching “The Nanny,” forging her own leadership style during her eventful two terms as president of the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union, and the relationship she sees between trauma and cancer. Like watching your podcasts?  Visit http://youtube.com/teamcoco to see full episodes.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The union advised me to say no comment. And I said, I'll be goddamned if I'm going to say no comment. I say no to no comments. Welcome back to where everybody knows your name. I am so happy for the opportunity to talk to Fran Drescher. You know her from the nanny and this is spinal tap, but her life is much more than acting. She lives to serve others.

She's a cancer survivor and a cancer survivor. advocate, past U.S. diplomat. She's led two successful strikes as a past president of Sag Aftera and so much more. You can currently watch Fran on the big screen and Marty Supreme, which I highly recommend you do. It's a wonderful film and Fran's great. Let's meet her. Fran Dresher. Can people tell that we have a dog right here? Tell me now that I'm simmering down. I didn't take that many treats for her. What is her name again? Angel. Angel. Yeah. Hi, Angel.

Angel. Mama loves Angel. You have to lie down and relax. We have a blue. Oh. He was red to be blue. We thought, we tried Chauncey for a while, but then when you get in a dog park and go, Chonzie, you and the dog become instantly embarrassed.

Now, was that because of Choncy Gardner? Yes, because he was a rescue, but kind of a high. class rescue. He was bred to be a show dog, a mini Aussie, and then just kept growing into monster Aussie size. And so they gave... Australian Shepherd. Oh, Australian Shepherd. And then was given away to someone else who loved dogs and showed dogs, and then she passed away and da-da-da-da. So when we got him, he had seen very little trees, greenery, all that stuff. Oh, how tragic. I know. And he came to our house and he saw a squirrel, and his first squirrel, I'm sure, and he sat down and watched it on the tree without moving.

Wow. For like half hour. So we thought, ah, Chauncey Gardner. She'd never been at the beach until I rescued her. And then she became, at first she was afraid of the waves and then she became a beach dog. It's a great place for dogs to run. And we had a puppy once that got to be really strong running on the beach. But no more, not since the Palisades fires.

We don't live there anymore. Thanks for coming in. Thank you for inviting me. Can we start? Well, first off, I loved acting with you. Oh, yes. On the mayor. You have to know that there isn't that often that you get an opportunity to do a guest

on someone else's, particularly a sitcom, and it's that fun and interesting. Yeah, yeah, it was really fun. I'm sorry that didn't go on that show. I really enjoyed it. So that was fun. But what I really want to start off with was how much Mary and I loved your performance. Oh, and Marty Supreme.

Yeah, Marty Supreme. We watched a couple of nights ago. And this sounds like, it always sounds bad if somebody says, we wanted to see more of you like there's something wrong with the film. They didn't do it right. But we just literally wanted to see. hears that a lot and a lot of the reviews said that too. And he not, he had, I mean, did you shoot more? Was there more of you? It was a little more. There was definitely some more,

but not a whole lot. It could have been more developed, I think, the character. Um, but I, I say leave him wanting more is probably better than. Yeah, you're really good in it, Fran. Thank you. You are, because it isn't a big, huge on film. part lengthwise. So for you to come across so fully blown as a human being who, you know, you understood and had so much gravitas. It was really lovely. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. I really do. I mean, I'm really enjoying being in a movie that's this bussy. I mean, I don't know. It's been a number of years before I've been lucky enough to be in. something that's so hyped, so critically acclaimed. And now the cast was nominated for both the

actors' awards as well as the Oscar. So it's really lovely. Great. Good for you. Thank you. There's so many wonderful performances in films that don't get buzz, and so no one really sees them. That's true. And you don't get that attention. It's true. And that's usually the ones that have been. That's why this is such a nice, you know, new experience. How'd you get it? He called me, Josh Softie, the director and also co-writer of the screenplay. And, you know, I was actually supposed to do a different movie with him that was about baseball. And it had Adam Sandler in it.

And I would have been playing some scenes with Adam. him. And it was very dependent on the real baseball season because he wanted to shoot a lot of stadium scenes with real people and baseball players. And when the strike hit, Josh started calling me to get a pulse on what was happening because the movie, you know, he was losing the baseball season with every passing week. Right. And so we kind of developed a bit of a friendship. I always took his call and brought him up to speed on where we're at. But sure enough, the strike outlasted the baseball season.

And I don't know if that movie's ever going to come back around, but certainly not until the baseball season comes again. That's Angel. Can I disclaim for that? YouTube viewers. My big silly grin was not because of what you were saying, because Angel came over and I got a... A little attention.

Maybe she smells blue. Yeah, definitely. So, anyway, then he offered me this part to play Timmy's mom. And I was, you know, just really delighted. I'm a big fan of Softie and also of Timmy. I like him in all of his movies. So, you know, to play his mom, it's a distinguishing character in the movie because I don't really have to say anything except I play his mom. I play Marty's mom.

And it's nice that I'm a part of it. Great cast, great direction. I'm very, very thrilled. And I brought my 91-year-old mom to go see it when I was visiting her down in Florida, and she absolutely loved it. Yeah. And I really, most people do.

I haven't really, you know, maybe people are not telling me. No more, no. Are you going to have to go out? I'm sorry. For the listeners, Fran is now talking to me, not her dark. I can't remember what year does the movie take place, I forget.

I think I did 52. Production value was amazing, too. It was really beautifully shot. Beautifully shot. And the music was great. Yeah. It was very riveting and kept, you know, the pace of the movie. And the whole movie is just such a complete ride.

You get on it and you're not, you know, it's just, unrelenting until it's over. If you had your druthers, would you stick more to film now? Or are you up for anything? Well, I don't see myself doing another sitcom. Nor I. Oh, really? Yeah.

At least the three camera live. That takes a lot. You know, it's just the idea of going. into the soundstage every day. The last one that I did wasn't my show. I played the mom in it. And I really didn't in, I loved the people, but I didn't enjoy the experience that much

because I would, we were shooting it over the winter months. It was pretty dark when I entered the stage and it was dark when I left it. Right. And I thought I just lost the whole day. Was this worth it? Is this how I would have wanted to spend the day if it turned out to be the last day of my life? And it wasn't.

Now, maybe when I'm writing an executive producing, directing all of those hats that I wore in my own shows, maybe it would be more stimulating and, you know, gratifying. Right. But in this situation, I think just playing the mom in it, it just wasn't enough for me. And I felt like I could have been doing other things during my day. Well, let's back up then. And then I want to, I keep, this is what I do. I back up a lot. That's okay.

So I just recently listened to you talking about your plane ride. Oh, just against me, yeah. Head of CBS, right? Yeah. And you sat there. You had done a lot of work before then. I did do a lot of work, but nothing was, you know, I mean, I was getting known within the industry. I don't know how known I was with the public.

Right. Besides being maybe that girl with the funny voice, who I saw in this or that. but I was still trying to define myself as a lead and a star instead of the nutty neighbor, the third banana, you know, and when you're like got a funny voice, maybe, I don't know, they didn't really see me as the star as much as I did. And I really had to create my own show. So you get on a plane, you're going to Europe, coincidentally,

you end up nine hours of talking to Jeff, the president of CBS. And convincing him that, you know, he said there's a lot of pilot scripts coming down the pike and we'll find something else for you. And I said, you know, you won't because I'm very too unique and it's not going to fit me hands and glove. You got to hear me pitch with Peter. And did you are, you and Peter had already come up with this idea? We were developing things because a pilot that I did not that long before that. And then another very short-lived series that I did with Julie Haggerty and Twiggy was like defining life-changing moments for me because I realized that I can't do this this way. I feel like I'm, you know, smarter than a lot of the people I'm working for.

And they don't know what to do with me. Now, do that again, because that's accurate, would be my guess, turned out. I'd be so afraid to say that. How did you know, how did you have the whatever within you to not have it be an arrogant, misguided thought? Because a lot of people think that, and they're very misguided, and they're very misguided, And not very satisfied people, in my opinion. How did you know? I, you know, I mean...

Because it's not arrogant coming from you. I know, no more. Okay. No more. I'll move on there. I'm not... Audience, I'm talking to the dog, not dead. I actually thought to myself that,

if I can't be on the inside in a big way, I'm getting out. Because this, you know, waiting for the phone to ring and doing what they see me doing, is unfulfilling. And when I was very young, and I'm very aware of life lessons that the universe offers me throughout my life. And I was actually a teenager just starting out as. a professional actress. And I went on an audition for a commercial. And I was still living at home with my parents. You had to take like two buses and a train to get into the city from where my parents lived.

And I went all the way. I took the two buses, took the two trains, put on the makeup, did the hair, all of this stuff, went all by myself into the city. and when I was at the audition, I kind of held back. I felt self-conscious about what they wanted me to do. It was just a commercial, but it seemed so stupid. But I, all the way back home on the train and the two buses, I had such profound regret because I knew that I didn't get it because I got in my way.

And when I should have just thrown myself into it, 150 percent. So that became like a life lesson to me that, you know, go for it. Because the feeling of regret is far worse than if you just do it. That was why I had the chisper to talk to Jeff on a plane because I would regret that I did in Carpe Diem in that moment. And that was why I decided I have to get on the inside or get out, and I gave myself a finite amount of time, and I manifested it because it was, even when I was president of SAG, I never, SAG after, I was never really involved in the union prior to that, short of being very proud to be a union member from the time I got my first union card. But I never was on any committees. I never ran for any office.

I was invited to run for president, and I knew I would be good at it because of all my experience that led up to that one defining moment. And I told everybody very candidly, I could not do what you guys do. I have to be president or nothing. And that's the way it is with me. I have to be in charge. Or it's not really fun for me. No, I mean, if you know that, and that's the truth, then how wonderful. Yeah, I mean, I knew I would be successful at whatever I really put my mind to.

So saying I'm going to walk away from show business because they won't let me do anything but be a third banana on someone else's show. You know, didn't frighten me because there were other things I could do well, and I would just throw myself completely into that. But success was always my main objective. As an actor or as anything. I wouldn't be, you know, like, I was in my 30s when the writers were on strike and I went on unemployment and I said, I'm not going to turn 40 and still be doing this. On and off unemployment, forget about it. I'm not, I'll drop out before.

become one of those, you know, actors that are really waiters. It's not for me. We do. Your mom and dad, are they? My dad passed away a year and a half. March will be two years. And my mom, God bless her, is still alive and well. And I was very close with both of them and remained so with my mom and spiritually with my dad.

and, you know, they were very, very happily married for all of their marriage, which was a very long and beautiful one. And when I was a child, we shared a bedroom wall. And even as a kid, I remember listening to them giggling on the other side of the wall and thinking that that was like music to my ears, that I was lucky to hear them be so, you know, in love. Yeah. I brought them up, but I'm glad you got all the way back to Queens, basically.

Yes, flashing. But your mom and dad, if they were in the room talking and listening to us talk, would they recognize that person that, you know, had the Hutzpah or learned the lesson after the commercial and the Hutzpah to sit next to the head of CBS? That girl way back when you were a little girl. When I was in middle school, now, they used to call it junior high, you had to take some kind of an elective course,

and one of them was typing. And my mom said then, you don't need to learn typing because you're going to have a secretary. And that was when I was like 12. And she saw that in you, not just she was trying to manifest self-confidence or something in you. No. No. She saw that. I was once when I was still in elementary school, we were on a fire drill.

So the class walked outside of the building as a class. And I saw across the street, there was a for rent sign. And I knew my parents were looking. And I said, you know, right across the street from the school park, it looks like a very nice building. And that's where we moved. How old? I don't agree you? I think I was 11 or 12.

Yeah. So, you know, I'm me and I've been me my whole life. That's amazing. I'm trying to see if I can apply any of it to me and learn. I'll do that on my own time. You don't need to learn anything. You're doing great. I am.

I am. And I do. So, okay, so you convinced Jeff to have come in with an idea to pitch something to him or them, right? And you and Peter, your husband? Yes, he was my husband at the time. Slash partner? Yes, we were developing together. We hadn't really done anything.

I think he actually wrote something with Dan Aykroyd. So he was a pilot. He was a pilot. He started out an actor, and I told him that you're much more empowered when you talk about writing and producing. And the acting, you're very insecure. You can't take rejection. You know, it's not healthy for you. He took a moment and finally talked to you again.

Did it hurt? Or did he get it? He got it. I think he got it. It was a little hard for him to walk away from it. But he knew what I was saying was true. You know, he would get depressed if he got, if he didn't get something or if he'd beat himself up. He'd think that he made a mistake.

He shouldn't have done this. Why was he so nervous? All of this. It was just very unhealthy. And he came from a dysfunctional upbringing, so it didn't feed him in a healthy way. Okay. So you guys are partners looking for something specifically for you. to do, or just projects in general?

No, we're trying to come up with an idea, yes. And you call them at one point and say? Well, it wasn't until on that trip, I was with Twiggy, the one and only, who was in that short-lived CBS series, we both did along with Julie Haggety. They did, I think, seven episodes, aired four, and then pulled it. So, but I remained friends with Twiggy, and I was going to see her when I was in Europe, except she and her husband were working on a project, and so I ended up spending time with their 12-year-old daughter. And she said to me, my new shoes are hurting me while I'm schlepping her all over London.

And I'm thinking, why should tell them in? She wanted her? She wanted me to take her back already? We just got here. So I said, oh, honey, just step on the backs of them. And she said, won't that break them? And I said, break them in. And I couldn't get this relationship out of my head because it felt very funny to me that I was telling her

what was good for me, not what was good for her. I really wasn't behaving like a true child caregiver. And I called Peter in the middle of the night, London time, in L.A. And I said, I think I got the idea that we should pitch to Jeff. What do you think about a spin on the sound of music? Only instead of Julie Andrews, I come to the tour. And he thought for a moment and then said, that's it. That's the one we'll pitch to CBS.

As soon as you get back, we'll develop it a little. But honestly, we went in with that log line. and they greenlighted it right there and then. So as producer, right, you and Peter? Yes, we were an executive producer. He might have been, but I wasn't. And I was a producer. What does that mean?

You were a producer. Yeah, I think that they were all concerned that I would maybe have too much say. Back then, there weren't a lot of women star executive producers, writers, creators. you know, so, but eventually I did get everything. But it was your, right. Who was your idea, though?

It was built on everything. But it was, but it was created by M. Peter because there's so much that he contributed to it. Right, right. But were you both in the, were you in the writer's room? I was, I had my own writer's room because I broke and outlined every episode. And I never took WGA credit. for doing that, which I actually regretted because it's good to have the points that you earn in that union because there was, you know, I became a cancer survivor years later and there was always that pressure that what if I don't work enough this year to get, you know, the insurance. So I regretted not doing that. I had brought it up at the time.

to the other showrunner. And I said, you know, I mean, I'm writing every week. These are my shows. And then we're handing it to a writer. And then they hand me the first draft. And then I give them extensive notes on it. And then they go back and write it again, all before it goes to the room.

And the other showrunner had said, you know, but this is how we keep good writers. You know, you're a, you know, you're a, you're making the lion's share of the money. And if you take the story by credit, then you're taking it away from the writer. And so I said... And you're a woman?

Was that in there or no? That didn't come up, but a lot of it has to do with... I constantly see that. Even when I was, you know, led the union into a historic strike, I realized that there was a lot coming at me because I was a woman leader. And to tell you the truth, when the opposition, all of the producers, the MPTP, hired a very big PR firm that has a reputation for handling the bad guys, essentially. and they're in Washington, D.C., and they brought them in.

They went for the lowest hanging fruit, trying to discredit the woman leader and making me out to be buffoonish. And the union advised me because all of the press was wanting me to comment on some of the things that they were released, leasing of how I was in the negotiating room. And the union advised me to say no comment. And I said, I'll be goddamned if I'm going to say no comment. I say no to no comment. And I decided to do a

self-video where I was putting on my makeup as millions of women do every day to go to work. And I was going into the negotiating room. And as I said, you know, what I realized was that there's even a bigger story here than me leading this union strike because I have to show women and girls what women leadership could look like. And it's not to roll over and show my soft, underbelly when I'm being wrongly accused of things to try and make me look bad. How did you just, can I, sorry.

Yeah, well, I was just going to say that, you know, as I'm putting on my makeup, I was talking into the camera saying, I don't have to emulate male energy to lead. I can lead with wisdom and empathy and compassion. intellect, and I can still rock a red lip. And that went viral. That was after my strike speech, which was seen 12 billion times around the world. And that speech became a mantra for all labor, not just actors. And so it was a much bigger story than ultimately of their successful billion dollar strike contract. Wow.

Yeah. How do you, I'm saying wow, because it's just not in my who I am. That is not my comfort zone that you just described. How do you know, did you know whether or not there was a little bit of fuck me, fuck you back, as opposed to staying on course of what was needed for the union? Was that ever, you know, I mean, if you're getting insulted in the union, is that the president maintained absolute credibility. That was needed for the union without question.

Right. Because the most important thing during that whole period was that I keep my 160,000 members, of one mind and body. And the minute people start losing confidence in me, we're in trouble. Because then they want you to negotiate and give up or something. Yeah, whatever.

I mean, they start fragmenting. Some are for me. Some are against me. Some want it over already. They don't have confidence in me. You know, that cannot happen. I have to lead and, you know, and be very strong.

And I can't have people questioning me or doubting me, but having confidence in me. And so it was very important. Who had your back? I mean, forget about man, woman, whatever. That's a lot, which you went through, it seems to me. Yeah. One of the members who's very active in the L.A. local, David Jalloff, He really gave me some very sound advice when it was all beginning. And he said, you're going to have to get your own little team. And they don't have to be in this union. And they don't have to be involved in the negotiations.

They have to be people that you're going to turn to, people that you trust, people that can be your advisors and help get you through this, because it's going to be a lot. And I did that. I took his advice. And I had my own private group of people that were in on everything that I was going through and helped me through it. Because besides the negotiating committee, which was amazing, and the union staff, and all of them, you know, helped carry me. But ultimately, I mean, I thought, if this doesn't.

and kill me. I don't know what will, because the stress was just unbearable at times. But, and, you know, I did two terms. It's a, it was really, because over the course of those two terms, was COVID, which also not only, you know, fractured the nature. bought the union. And then, of course, there was negotiating the contract, ultimately striking, and then having to negotiate again our terms in our offices. And then my dad passed away, and then there were the Palisades fires. And that was my tenure.

Wow. So, you know, it's when I, they wanted me to run again. I said, I, I'm flattered. I can't. I absolutely can't. I have to find myself, find my way back into my career. You know, and I thought I was going to be blacklisted after that, quite frankly. But thank God for this movie, Marty Supreme, because it put me right back in

center of the business in a very potent way as an actor. Yeah. Which I'm extremely grateful for because, you know, I half, only half kiddingly said, you know, there's a blacklist out there with one name on it and you're looking at her. So I didn't really know how long a grudge was going to be held, if at all. I didn't know. But, you know, here I am. they'll come knocking

so how about how about how long ago was that when did your tenure end it ended this past September September of 25 right so how did you take care of yourself

after the fact because that's a lot of adrenaline pouring through your body a lot of anger coming your way a lot of all that stuff and I've heard you talk and I would love to talk in a minute about how unexperienced grief, unexperienced anger can harm you, your body and all of that. You must have been pretty conscious of somehow taking care of you and your health in your body in the midst of all of that.

Yes, very much so. I mean, as a cancer survivor, I have to really self-care. And also... What self-care means emotionally? And physically. Okay. You know, my world became very small. I had to rest a lot.

And, you know, it's funny because I'm not... Sorry, during the strike, during that time. Yeah, during the strike and even during the presidency, because it was really one thing after another. I forgot to even mention that, you know, the Hamas-Israeli war broke out while I was president, and that also divides a union that's... very quick to fracture.

Yeah. And we, you know, as a union, represent people from many different nations all over the world, you know. And for me, I felt like it was really important to set a very strict policy that we don't engage in polarizing conversation, but we encourage all the members to, align themselves with special interest groups that are geared for that and completely in agreement with your point of view. And I encourage people to do that. I'm an activist. But within the halls of the union, our objective is to protect our members with contracts and protections. And

And in order to really successfully do that, opposite, you know, behemoths like the industry studios, you have to be of one body, one mind, one heart. And you can't bring in their very volatile subjects. and there's a wealth of them that will very easily fragment the member body. When right outside our doors, there are really noble activists that are ready to welcome you into their folds and go for it with, you know, great seal. So, you know, that was all part of it. And that kind of leadership, it takes a lot of guts because people very quickly fall into a predictable pit.

And it's very hard to climb out of that. And I, you know, can see it coming from a mile away. So I had to be very strong about how and why this must be for this union. if we're to be successful as a union, because we're unique. Some unions, like almost everybody in the union, is cut from the same cloth. That is not sag after. Where many different peoples, many different walks of life, many different points of view, many different politics, many different ethnicities, races, nationalities.

religions, because we represent performers who can play everything. And not only that, but we also represent dancers, commercial actors, singers, stunt people, puppeteers. I mean, the list goes on and on. Now we just took on a whole new community of the people who, intimacy coordinators. So, you know, it's like that's a lot of people with a lot of different points of view living all over the country and the world. We're not the union to start taking political stands, you know. Good for you. Good for you, friend. Well, it's just to protect our best interests.

Yeah, I had a, when I first got here, I had a SAG and after experience with insurance that was so noble. My wife then, Casey, was giving birth to our first child and had a massive stroke during delivery. Wow. And I went when things, you know, in a couple of times. you know in a couple of weeks things started to settle and not settled but you know she was going to live and all that stuff i went to the union and i was i think i was first after and then sagged but they were different yeah that was usually that way someone would first one would pick up and the second one would whatever wasn't covered pick that up so you really were totally covered

between the two. And I went to after and the lady looked up at me. And I told her why I was there and just wanted to check everything. And she said that my after had run out like two weeks before. And then she looked at me and said, but don't worry. We'll make this work somehow. And I never really asked. It was such a trauma all around me that I didn't really follow up. Other than there was no reason legally, technically, that I would have been covered. Our family would have been covered in that moment. And we were. They covered it.

They looked at it from a human point of view and took care of us. It was huge. Wow. Well, there is a, you know, like you can extend past the eligibility for a small amount of money that you keep paying. I forgot what that's called, but everybody can extend their insurance past the point for a while, for I think at least a year or maybe 18 months. I'm not sure. Talking Greek.

I'm just nodding my head going, oh, I'm so glad you're our president. But I'm not anymore. John Aston is now, and so I'm sure he's going to do a great job. Can we talk about what happened to you in your apartment that you were attacked and then years later you ended up having cancer and the connection between the two? I would love, I don't, the stories of the stories and are huge, but the connection you make between the two I found fascinating and real. Well, you know, I think that the mind-body is connected.

There's nothing that's autonomous from the other. It's systems within systems and everything, everything connects. And actually in Chinese, Asian medicine, there's a huge acceptance of this. But in Western medicine, not as much. And I was in my condo with my girlfriend and Peter, my husband, at the time, when two men broke in with guns and raped me and my girlfriend and stole everything and left. And thank God, left us, you know, alive, even though at the time, you really don't know whether you're going to get through this or not. And by the grace of God, they were apprehended

and put in jail. So we had closure to the whole experience. but still, I write about it in both my books. It's something that shatters you in a very profound way. And I think that I've never really been, you know, fearless because of that experience. Because I'm always a little anxious or nervous or fearful, or I always carry this. is a 911 thing that I always carry with me. I have a big, you know, dog that's very protective of me. And that helps me to function in a very good way. But it's, you know, everybody, it manifests differently in everybody. But that was kind of how it manifested in me. And yet I didn't really completely

unpack what I was feeling. I just sort of went back to my life and let these residual neuroses kind of begin to rule me. This is in the middle of a nanny. No, actually.

Yeah, was probably like eight years before. And then I got the nanny. I mean, we made the nanny happen. And the last season of the nanny, which was in 98-99, I started to have symptoms that I couldn't really explain.

And over two years, I went to eight different doctors. And I was told I had perimenopause, I was told, you know, I needed to go on hormone replacement therapy. But nobody gave me a very quick in-office test to see if I had uterine cancer, even though I had symptoms of uterine cancer, except for the fact that I was typically too young and too thin. So I slipped through the cracks. And what was more typical from my age was perimenopause.

So they just immediately assumed that was my problem. And after two years, the last HRT that I went on, I had, you know, breakthrough bleeding that was 24-7, not just minor, but really like full on. And the doctor said, well, I probably just, it's probably just the wrong hormone combination that I gave you stop.

And just to be sure, we'll do a endometrial biopsy. Well, that was what doctor number one said I was too young for. And I never really asked, well, what would it prove or disprove? I really had no idea what they were thinking at the time.

But in fact, that test two years later showed that I had early uterine cancer. And so I was immediately put together with a gonacology oncologist. And my sister, who's a nurse in New York, said, have that oncologist do another endometrial biopsy. because she's in a hospital, it's a controlled environment, and I would feel better if she did her own tests. So the doctor, the oncologist, said, well, I don't, I mean, this is, I did check with the pathology report, and this is you, and you do have this. And I said, I'm not doubting that I have it, but my sister said that you need to take

your own tests. And sure enough, the next day she called back and said, am I glad we listened to your sister because the doctor in her office took two superficial a tissue sampling of the endometrial lining of the uterus and where she was picking up on cells that were like just turning to be grade one or I'm picking up on grades three and four and And I said, well, what's the highest grade? She said, four, and now I'm concerned. And this isn't something that just started.

You've had this a couple of years. So that kind of was just really very difficult news to hear. And I felt like if maybe it wouldn't have happened, not that the medical industry would have missed it because that happens all the time, so much so that I felt the need to start my own nonprofit called Cancer Schmanza,

because more people should be recognized in the early stages, but they don't get the tests that they need that would rule out that. And so, you know, I'm turning patients into medical consumers and empowering them to know how to deal with their doctors. But I always felt like because I really didn't deal with the rape in a very healthy way, it created a cancer within me and, poetically, in my reproductive, you know, my female parts. So I do think that there's a strong connection, and I think that it got me on a path of feeling my pain, much more so than I used to. I used to kind of put it away and just get on with things and thought that that was a sign of strength.

But in fact, really strength is to lean into your pain, to allow yourself to feel your pain. And, you know, I'm really good at doing that now. Good, yeah. But I wasn't 25 years ago. But the cancel was an opportunity for me. And because I'm kind of a Buddhist, I'm always trying to understand why is the universe presenting this to me. Yes. And what can I learn from it?

Is that so empowering? Yes. You go from... Turn everything. Otherwise you're the victim. Right. Exactly. Yeah, I'm trying to stay curious about what's next.

Yes. Even though next is becoming a little more obvious, you know, as you age, you go, oh, boy. I know, it's true, but it is. It's every passage of life, you know, offers us opportunities. But I am looking at the generation just ahead of me. and where they're at if they're still living. And so, you know, that's the next chapter, the next passage. Just going back for a second, I've known a lot of women who have had breast cancer.

My mom had pretty sure environmental breast cancer if she was downwind from Nevada, Adam bomb testing. And it was so clear that the government didn't even ask if you could prove you were downwind during those times. and had cancer, they would give you $10,000 or something. And my sister also preventatively had a double mastectomy. And I've heard this many times before that the connection for women of un-whatever, this examined grief and grief and breast cancer seem very tied together in a lot of doctors will say, have you just gone through a sorrowful experience in your life?

For Cancer Schmanza, my organization, you know, we speak to a lot of really amazing cutting-edge doctors who began very traditional Western medical careers and started questioning that there's got to be a better way and took their medical prowess and and began a new path. And those are functional medical doctors of all different specialties from cardiology to oncology and everything in between. And they look at the body as a system and that includes your motions, which is so important. And that's why even, you know, I mean, I think that most people nowadays have accepted that stress is a killer.

Yeah. Well, you know, that's an emotion. Yeah. And we, you know, we. And usually an unexamined emotion. That's right. So you raise money and then what do you do with your money? What is the?

Well, we have a really amazing. are you a building? Masterclass Health Summit. We're education. Okay. We wake you up, shake you up, and motivate and activate you. Out of complacency,

out of mindlessness, we teach you how to be a mindful consumer. We teach you how to become better partners with your physician. We have a very progressive program called detox your home. And annually, we have the Fran Dresher Master Class Health Summit.

This last one, every year it's a different theme. This last one was empowering the aging woman. I had the privilege of interviewing Jane Fonda. And then we have three great doctors. Yeah. You know, you go to Cancer Shmanza or you go to YouTube and you can watch it as it's happening live. Then we're also involved in Washington. You know, I got a...

How so? So we got a bill passed. by unanimous consent, which means all 100 senators said, yes, Fran, which is a feat. And I was written up twice in the Congressional Record. And that was the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act, the first of its kind in U.S. history. I'm thinking that it might have been in 2007. And from there, it was at the tail end of George W. administration. And I was then given the opportunity to have the appointed position of at the U.S. State Department of now, what the hell was my title?

Oh, my God. Oh, yes, thank you. Well done. Yes, public diplomacy. envoy. And so I was sent around the world to speak to our allied nations and military basis on just what cancer schmanza teaches everyone is how to take control of your body, how to become better partners with your physician, how to recognize the early warning whispers of the cancers that may affect you, how to detox your life, how to detox your home, how to eat differently, everything.

I tell you, what's great about that is, if you do one or two of those things, you become addicted to feeling empowered and not victimized by, you become less fearful, you become more hopeful. Well, you know, at the end of the day, you can only really control yourself, but each one, teach one. And each one, teach one. So is that me? I'm sorry. I think it's Angel who so wants out of this room. Okay. I know. I'm surprised. You wanted to come with me. Yeah, you look at me with that gorgeous face.

It doesn't even know how gorgeous she is, do you? One blue eye, one brown eye. Yeah. The best. I know. Mama loves you. Mama loves Angel. What's the next view? Looking for acting roles? producing, directing? Yes, all of that. All of that.

I'm writing something with Peter right now, which we're very happy with. And I probably have another book in me. I've written a couple of New York Times bestsellers, and I haven't really sat down and talked about the enormity of the last four years and everything that kind of led up to that. And I might be working in Germany in April. Yes.

There's an interesting part that I'm considering doing. How nice to consider doing something. Yes, I know. It's a very, I mean, every day I'm grateful. Yeah. Every single day. And that, you know, I can go to a supermarket and buy, what I want and not, I read labels, but I really don't, you know, look at how much this tomato

cost versus that tomato. I'm much more interested in getting the tomato that's farmed organically and, you know, regeneratively. I've always been in the act. I'm never, I'm, I'm, I'm a contract player. I'm most comfortable when they'd say, okay, thank you, Ted. Take off that hat, put on the cowboy hat and go over to that soundstage four and do that. Well, you've been a star a long time, but if you're so easygoing, then maybe I'll hire you. Because I love Mayo Leeds that are like that. I was always so grateful for Charles Chornazzi on the nanny

because he was never threatened by me. He knew I had his back. He believed in me. and he was always very supportive of me. But not all men are, and I've worked with both. Which is so silly, because acting is a contact sport when done right, I think. Well, there's a lot of ego and dysfunctional people in our industry. But in the middle of this contact sport, metaphorically, when you smack somebody,

you want them to smack you back harder so that you're into this ping-pong, game or something whatever. Right. You know, and so you want a strong leading man or a strong leading lady. It seems very strange to want someone less than... It's not being strong as an actor. Let me... I understand.

Correct. Yeah, it's me wearing all the other hats and being his boss. Yeah. And writing all the shows and, you know, directing some episodes. I mean... And playing, you know, Now, in a part that was really like in support of the female lead. Right.

Now, he couldn't have done it without Mr. Sheffield, and he was magnificent. But not all men would have been as magnanimous as he was. And I was always very grateful to him. I'm trying to think if I'm just playing the role of a magnanimous. I can't say it. So maybe I am. You mean an actually your opinion? I love how strong my wife is.

Mary's very strong. She loves men. I do, too. Totally loves men and loves women. I'm a man's woman and a woman's woman. Yeah. I didn't know the term sister until I met Mary. And she goes, that person's not really a sister.

And I go, oh, I see that. You're right. You know. Yeah. No, I, you know, I'm very, very supportive of women. And I think it's really important because I think historically, you know, we were almost pitted against each other for male attention. And the more we realize that we don't need to do that and we don't need the male attention to validate who we are. It becomes easier to be part of the sisterhood.

I mean, I've been, you know, felt like I'm very supportive of women. For example, you know, sometimes I'm more single than involved with someone, especially in the past years. And sometimes that's threatening to married women. you know, when I'm with someone, I get invited to those couple dinner parties, but never by myself when I'm alone. And, you know, I've always been very candid about the fact that I never understood women that go after married men. I would never do that to a sister. And I don't respect a man that does it either. If you're feeling dissatisfied in your marriage, then, you know, man up and talk about it.

Yeah. And if it means a separation, okay, everyone will live, but don't be behind the scenes and hurtful in that way. And I would never partake in that, I don't, you know. And I've always been very candid about that. But having said that, there are still a lot of women. out there that are threatened by single women. Trying to think of a dinner party. Fan.

Come to our home. Do you know Mary? You'd love her. Yes, no, I do know Mary. You, I can realize. And you know, while we've met back in the day at Hillary Clinton events. Right, right. But, yes, I've met Mary several times.

Were you in Ragtime? Wonderful, yes. Do you think you guys met on that or did you shoot in different time zones? I don't think we, yeah. I was on the Lower East Side. That's the only place that I shot. Yeah, she was in the Hamptons or wherever. Yes, exactly, exactly.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but that was a great experience. And I loved working with Millershorman. Yeah. Did you get to meet James Kack? Isn't that his last role? Yes, his last role. You know, I think I might have met him, but not when we were shooting, but afterwards.

My stuff was with Mandy. Yes, who's wonderful acting. And I shared a dresser, if you could believe it, with Elizabeth McGovern. Who was on the other side of the tracks from you? Wasn't she on the rich side of the town? Well, she was the whore on the rich side. I mean, really. I got to watch this again.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know if horror, maybe that's a hard word. But, yeah, she was like a woman that slept her way up into, you know, wealthy men. Yeah. And she was, but I don't think she herself came from any kind of a pedigree. And in fact, when I was talking to Milosh, I said, you know, I'm the Evelyn Nesbeth of the Lower East Side. So that was what broke me up with Mandy's character Tata because he caught me with a guy that wasn't selling art on the United. the street, but actually had his own like Taylor Shop or something. So, yeah.

And I auditioned for a different part in that movie. Emma Goldman screen tested with Natasha Kinski. Didn't get it. Neither one of us got it, me or Natasha. She was auditioning for Evelyn Nesbeth. And I was auditioning for Emma. a Goldman. Neither one of us got it, but then

Milosh put me in the movie anyway in that small role of Mama. Yeah. Do you think you'd be happy just being an actor, doing wonderful films and roles and everything? Or do you want to go be producer-director?

I do like wearing multiple hats because especially in movies, there's a lot of sitting around. And I like to multitask. You know, I love the end result of a movie, and I love that it has a finite amount of work time and then you're done. But the sitting around is excruciating for me.

And unless you're like, Timmy, when you're in every scene, okay, then you're busy, wall-to-wall busy. But when you're a character like mine, you're sitting around a lot. And I didn't have that experience on the nanny, obviously, or any of the series that I starred in, you know, happily divorced. But living with Fran, but I, you know, I don't know. I mean, it's lovely to do a movie. And I love supporting it by promoting it. And all of that.

It's a movie. I mean, it's still a movie. Yeah. It's very exciting to be a movie. It is. It is. exciting to be in movies. But there is a lot of sitting around.

It can be excruciating sometimes, the waiting game. Yeah, oh, that's true. I mean, I don't know. That's just me. I, but I wouldn't, you know, if this movie puts me back into, like, are the indie films or stuff,

I mean, I've done a lot of, of those and I've done a lot of movies. I'd be happy because I don't know if I want to do, I don't think I want to do a series really, but you never know. You never know, you know, because it's a different game. When I was doing The Nanny, for example,

we would do 27, 28 episodes a year. Like 10 months a year. Oh, it was absolutely crazy. And you have to be very young to do that, which I no longer am. I don't know if I have the adrenal system to stand in front of an audience anymore. I'm okay with single camera. Yeah.

I don't mind that, I don't think. I like the thrill of being in front of the audience and putting on a little play. And maybe because now with streaming, it's much smaller seasons. So maybe doing a single cam or a multi-cam without a live audiences and shorter seasons, maybe it's not so difficult. I don't know. I'll see. Don't have to keep this in. Don't have to be political.

But I am always asking people how your heart is nowadays. It's a lot of sadness. A lot of things that make me very angry and sad. Well, you know, it's funny because, you know, I grew up in a family that wasn't directly, as far as I knew, affected by the Holocaust like other people that I grew up with and knew who had parents who were Holocaust, or immigrant grandparents who escaped the Holocaust that came during the program, you know, all of these historic tales of very haunting, political, you know, escapes, refugees who left. And I always felt so lucky to be born in the United States where everybody was running too. But in the back of my mind, because of all the countless movies, no, stop it. No, come on.

We're almost done. Give me a break. You wanted to come. I was nice. I said, okay. Now you got to wait. Just wait. Give me a minute.

But I always, when you'd watch like Holocaust movies and stuff like that, I would always think, would I know when to get out. Because a lot of people didn't. They had their whole lives. Their homes, their businesses. They were German. And so why should they go? This is going to blow over. You know, I mean, it's, I'm not going to like leave everything.

So in my head, and then they ended up getting stuck. And so for some reason, I've always had this rattling around in the back of my mind. Would I have known when to go, when to just drop everything, pack a bag, and get the hell out of Dodge? And now is when I'm beginning to see these, you know, little indications of, fascism that frightened me. And, you know, kingsfall, empires crumble, and maybe this country had a great run, but as Jefferson said, it's an experiment. And it's either going to recover and come together and, or it won't.

And it's not the first one. I mean, when everybody was living in ancient Rome, nobody saw that Rome would someday fall. Nobody saw it with Greece. Nobody saw it with Great Britain. You know, there have been many, many empires in civilized world. And, you know, I'm a systems analyst daughter. I see systems beginning to break down in many ways.

It was why I was so I saw things that needed to be put in the contract for SAG After because I saw a system where it was broken. And other people got so nervous because I said, well, let's not make that the deal breaker. That's the deal breaker, baby. And I have my deal breakers all the time. And I'm already thinking that if this nation turns into something that I don't recognize, then that's not my nation anymore. I don't know.

I don't want to stay too long at the fair. And I definitely don't want to be an ostrich. I want to, you know, keep advancing in a place where this country recognizes that we're a country that's built on immigrants, that diversity. is the name of the game. It strengthens us as a people. You know, improve on our farming, improve on our education, improve on our environment.

Don't make money the deciding issue for the way you process decision-making. Make kindness and compassion your compass. And let's go there because that's where we should be heading. And we're a work in progress. So I hope that everybody wakes up and smells the coffee and sees that we're going off the rails a little bit. I hope they do.

Love talking to you. Thank you. I love talking to you. And I love working with you. Yeah. So we'll have to make that happen someday too. I love that. I got to see that episode again.

It was so fun. That was the great Fran Dresher and her dog, Angel. Some of the groans, I hope you know, are not coming from me or Fran, but from Angel. Do me a favor and yourself a favor and go see Marty Supreme this weekend, if you haven't already. That's it for this week. Special thanks to our friends at Team Coco. As always, subscribe on your favorite podcast app and maybe.

give us a great rating and review on Apple Podcasts if you're in the mood. If you like watching your podcasts, all our full-length episodes are on YouTube. Visit YouTube.com slash Team Coco. See you next time, where everybody knows your name. You've been listening to Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes. The show is produced by me, Nick Leow, our executive producers are Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and myself. Sarah Federovich is our supervising producer, engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel

with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Graal, talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Batista. Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Anthony Yen, Mary Steenbergen, and John Osborne.