Cassidy was surprised at what she learned about her costar when reading her new memoir
Credit: Warner Brothers
NEED TO KNOW
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Joanna Cassidy played Rose Lindsey in 1991’s Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, alongside the film’s star, Christina Applegate
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Cassidy, 81, spoke with PEOPLE for the film’s 35th anniversary, sharing what it was like to bond with the actress, 54, on set
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Cassidy references Applegate’s recent memoir, You With the Sad Eyes, for giving her more insight into her costar’s life at the time
Joanna Cassidy has a lot of love for her Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead costar.
Speaking with PEOPLE for the film’s 35th anniversary, the actress, 81, opened up about working with Christina Applegate on the 1991 comedy. Cassidy played Rose Lindsey, boss and mentor to Applegate’s Sue Ellen.
“I knew that after meeting Christina Applegate, the most important thing for me was to be like a mom to her,” she tells PEOPLE. “I could have played the part really mean, but I didn’t want to do that. I wanted her to be a hip, funny, kind boss, kind of opposite of how you mostly see bosses.”
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Credit: Wilbert Roberts/Getty; Kevin Winter/Getty
Cassidy opened up about reading the 54-year-old’s recent book, You With the Sad Eyes: A Memoir. She called it “one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read.”
“It’s amazing. I didn’t know at the time she was with someone who was really hurting her,” she continues.
“She was so serious, and I just thought, ‘Oh, maybe she’s afraid because this is her first movie role.’ But part of it was that,” she adds.
“But also, she was going through a lot in her life, and there was something so endearing and vulnerable about her. I just knew I wanted to kind of embrace her as a person and as a character. How could I not? I looked at that face, and she was so adorable.”
In the book, Applegate talked about a troublesome relationship she was in during the time of filming the movie. She wrote that her boyfriend at the time “seemed unhappy” about the job, “jealous that my time was being taken away from him.”
“I was madly in love with him, but something was always off…He would call up my mom and tell her, ‘I don’t understand why she’s not paying attention to me,’ “ Applegate wrote in the memoir.
Applegate’s mother, Nancy Priddy, would reply, “She’s making a movie. She’s the star. The whole ten-million-dollar film is on her shoulders. Let her do her thing.”
You With the Sad Eyes: A Memoir is available wherever books are sold.
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