A League of Their Own is being rebooted as a television series for Amazon, and original cast member Rosie O’Donnell has confirmed she’s making a cameo in the pilot episode.
The 1992 film starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Lori Petty focused on the Women’s Baseball League in the 1940s. With all the men away at war, women’s baseball was promoted as an alternative option for baseball lovers.
Directed by Penny Marshall, the film was one of the first projects to put Rosie O’Donnell in the public eye. She played the outspoken Doris Murphy, while Madonna portrayed best friend Mae Mordabito.
The new version of the story is being created by the team behind the series Broad City and “takes a deeper look at race and sexuality, following the journey of a whole new ensemble of characters as they carve their own paths towards the field, both in the League and outside of it.”
The new series will see Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman appear as Casey ‘Dove’ Porter an ex-Cubs pitcher brought in to coach the Rockford Peaches.
Abbi Jacobson, Chanté Adams, D’Arcy Carden, Melanie Field, Molly Ephraim, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Roberta Colindrez, Kelly McCormack, Priscilla Delgado, and Kate Berlant will all be in the cast.
Speaking to the Everything Iconic With Danny Pellegrino podcast, O’Donnell said she jumped at the chance to make a cameo in the new series.
“I’m playing a bartender in one of the scenes at the local gay bar,” O’Donnell said. “I had a great experience on A League of Their Own, I love the Broad City women and when I was told Abbi was doing League, she called me up and said, ‘Ro, would you do it?’ And I said, ‘In a minute…’ Then she sent me the pilot that she did and it was just really beautiful.”
O’Donnell also said she always thought her character in the original movie was gay, sharing that when her character gave a speech about finding her place in the world, she took it as having a gay subtext.
The actor said director Penny Marshall had told her the speech was “not a gay thing”, but O’Donnell said to her there was a clear undertone. “I played it the way I played it. But again, to me, that was a gay character.”
The new series is currently filming.
OIP Staff
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