The comedian dished on possibly teaming up with the rapper, while attending the Friends of the Israeli Defense Force Gala on Thursday.
A TV project with Fran Drescher and Cardi B? Sign us up!
Having previously shared that she would love the 26-year-old rapper to play her daughter in a potential reboot of her ’90s sitcom, The Nanny, Drescher has revealed that the two are now exploring working on a different screen project together.
ET caught up with the 61-year-old actress at Thursday’s annual Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Western Region Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, where she dished on the potential project.
“I am actually talking to her representation, and it may not be for The Nanny, but it could be for something else,” Drescher shared. “A millennial-meets-baby-boomer kind of concept. I would love to work with her.”
“I think we could make a great combo,” added Drescher, who portrayed iconic nanny Fran Fine from 1993 to 1999. “We both are style icons and have funny voices! And I just think she’s funny, so we’ll see.”
A millennial-meets-baby-boomer show could be appropriate given the two formed their unlikely friendship in the most millennial way — over social media.
It all started when Cardi paid homage to Fran Fine by emulating her style in a cheetah print outfit during Milan Fashion Week and captioning the photo, “Fran Drescher in @dolcegabbana,” on her Instagram account.
Unaware of the “Bodak Yellow” rapper up until that point, Drescher said she instantly became a fan and has been listening to her music.
“I listen to her, I follow her on Instagram,” she said. “I only really got familiar with her when she paid homage to me on her Instagram, so it’s very nice that she’s a fan of The Nanny and a fan of mine and now I’m a fan of hers.”
After teasing a potential Nanny reboot to ET in June, Drescher told Extra earlier this month that she would love Cardi to play her daughter in the potential revival. Cardi then supported the idea by posting, “I’m with it,” on Instagram.
However, while the reboot project is still up in the air, Drescher indicated it’s not currently going anywhere, which may explain why she has been exploring other ways she could work with Cardi.
“I don’t have an update on [The Nanny] — we don’t have a home for it yet, surprisingly,” she said. “But that’s OK because I’m very fatalistic and if it’s not coming together now there’s a reason and I have confidence that what’s meant to be is what’s going to unfold.”
Reflecting on 25 years since the Emmy-winning series premiered, Drescher recalls her first day on the set and the simple perk that made her day.
“I just remember having my own parking space!” she laughed. “I was like, ‘Wow. I’ve really made it!’ It was very special.”
Since the series wrapped in 1999, Drescher has starred in shows including Living With Fran and Happily Divorced and appeared on Broadway in Cinderella. Her philanthropic efforts have seen her support the LGBT community, launch her own Cancer Schmancer charity after overcoming uterine cancer and step out for the star-studded FIDF Gala — which raised $60 million in under an hour to help provide educational, social, cultural and economic support for soldiers and families of fallen soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces.
The event, which featured a surprise musical performance by Pharrell, celebrated “70 Years of Israeli Heroes and Hope,” with several stories causing audience members to tear up, like when the mother of a fallen soldier encountered the crowd.
The comedian watched at a table with Hollywood hunks Ashton Kutcher and Gerard Butler, who was in good spirits, happily obliging the swarm of selfie seekers who shadowed him throughout the night.
Drescher, who is Jewish, said she felt it was important to support Israeli troops, more so after Saturday’s deadly shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where a shooter burst into the Tree of Life Synagogue declared, “All Jews must die,” before opening fire , killing 11 people and injuring several others.
“I’ve been to Israel and it’s a wonderful country and it’s nice to know that I’ve got a place to go if ever I get kicked out of the country that I grew up in … you never know! It’s nice to have a birthright,” she said. “And since the terrible, horrific hate crime in Pennsylvania, I think it’s important that if you’re Jewish we should be up front and center and talk about it and make sure that everyone understands that this is the most egregious thing that could happen to anyone — not just if you’re Jewish, but if you’re gay or a person of color. Anyone who thinks that someone who’s different from them is in some way a threat – there’s something really wrong [with that.]”
