Roseanne Barr Confronted John Goodman About His Drinking Problem: 'It's Hard To Watch'
During Roseanne's original run, John Goodman's alcoholism was in the spotlight. As the cast prepares for the show's revival, the subject comes up once more.
Now eight years sober, the actor reveals that his past drinking problem escalated to a point that costar Roseanne Barr felt the need to confront him.
Goodman, Barr On His Alcoholism
In an interview on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show, the costars talk freely about Goodman's struggles with alcoholism, which made itself known on the original set of their show.
Back then, Goodman says he wasn't picky with his alcohol and would drink "anything that was wet and of certain proof." He spiraled deeper and deeper into his alcoholism until the problem became a matter of "life or death," as he described to The Guardian back in 2012.
It was not a fact lost on his costars, least of all Barr, who has seen all of this before.
"She was scared for me, but she was more confrontational," Goodman recounts, as Entertainment Weekly reported. "She'd already had a husband [Tom Arnold] go through the process."
The comedian revealed that at the time, he would even drink on the set and be unable to stop despite feeling ashamed of his actions.
"It's hard to watch," Barr admits. "Me and John, we have a friendship off the show, too. John has held my head when I was barfing in a bar. I drank too much, too."
"I still do. I didn't give up like John," she quips.
It's natural for Barr to help out struggling cast mates or deliver a dose of tough love, if the need arises. Goodman isn't the only one she had to confront during the nine seasons of Roseanne, remembering getting angry at the entire crew when she found out that they let Sara Gilbert smoke pot with everyone.
"I was f**king furious over that," she recalls. "I called her mom, I called everybody's mom. Lecy [Goranson] was having trouble, too. I called her parents. I'm Jewish and I'm a mother. What do you want?"
A Highly Anticipated 'Roseanne' Revival
Thirty years after its debut in 1988, the groundbreaking show comes back for its 10th season on ABC, picking up where it left off with the original cast members including Goodman, Barr, Gilbert, Goranson, Sarah Chalke, and Michael Fishman, all of whom still charm the audience as much as they did in its nine-season run.
The new Roseanne exists in the post-Trump world and it's addressed unflinchingly in the show with the character Roseanne voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 elections. After all, Barr points out during a panel reported by Paste Magazine, the show has always prioritized being a realistic reflection of the times.
"This is a time, as we all know, where our country is very divided," Gilbert explains. "We did have a wonderful opportunity to talk about this in the context of family. I think what's going on is, people feel like they can't disagree and still love each other or still talk to each other. To me, it was a great opportunity to have a family that can be divided by politics and still is filled with love."
