Fran Drescher shares her perspective on her character’s identity amid rising antisemitic attacks.
In the ’90s, the TV series “The Nanny,” written, produced, and starring comedian Fran Drescher, became a television sensation that endures to this day. Its humor, the charisma of its characters, and especially the fashion were key factors in the show’s lasting appeal over the years.
In the series, Fran Drescher portrayed a young woman who became the nanny of a wealthy family. But beyond the screen, the character has many similarities with her real-life counterpart, such as her parents having the same names, both being from the New York City borough of Queens, and both being Jewish. Amid high anxiety stemming from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the actress has emphasized that the character from “The Nanny” became a worldwide success that transcended religion.
“I think everyone related to that show,” she told Page Six exclusively at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. Drescher also noted that the show was a massive hit in majority-Muslim countries.
“It was huge throughout the Middle East,” she said. “In all the Arab countries, Jordan, Egypt, and the Emirates,” she explained. She pointed out that the show transcended religion because people could “identify” with it.
“The global message of the series was that it doesn’t matter how you look or sound; what counts is what’s in your heart, and I think that’s a message that works in any decade,” she told the media outlet.
The SAG-AFTRA president also shared the challenges she faced in getting the show on air.
“I was the first Jewish actress to star in a prime-time series and portray an openly Jewish character since 1948 (Gertrude Berg starred in ‘The Goldbergs’). With ‘The Nanny,’ they said they could sell the show to Procter & Gamble if ‘The Nanny’ was Italian and not Jewish.”However, the star refused.
“I don’t like living with regret,” she said on “The Originals” podcast in 2020, “and I don’t want to rush into doing something just to get the job, and then when it doesn’t work out or failed, I kicked myself because I thought, ‘Why didn’t we follow our instincts? Why did we listen to them?’”
“I thought, ‘I can’t live with that regret. I know this character needs to be written very close to me and all the rich and wonderful characters I grew up with,’” she continued.
That’s why Fran Drescher and her then-husband and producing partner, Peter Marc Jacobson, “mustered some boldness and said, ‘No, Fran Fine has to be Jewish.’
