Patricia Heaton won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond. The actress revealed the backstory of how she actually landed the role during the iconic CBS sitcom’s 30th anniversary reunion special.
The smart, savvy and often overwhelmed wife of Ray Romano‘s Ray was the backbone of the Barone family. In addition to juggling family responsibilities, she had to deal with Ray’s overbearing mother Marie, played by Doris Roberts.
“Well, I was going through — and I think why the show worked, we were all going through — what the Barone family was going through in our lives,” Heaton said. “I had a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old in my life. I had a babysitting issue when I was coming to the audition, I needed to get back. I was cutting out coupons for 50 cents off two packs of Ball Park Franks, so I needed the gig.”
When Heaton arrived at the audition, “there was a waiting room of at least eight women,” she recalled. “And I thought, I’m never gonna get back in time for the babysitter. So I went in and sat there, and I just needed to get this audition done. There was a guy sitting in the corner, and I thought, maybe he can get me some water while we’re waiting for Ray to come in. It was [Ray].”
Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal then weighed in, revealing that they saw 200 women for the role, but Heaton did one thing that stood out that none of the other actresses did.
“The two of you had the most spectacular chemistry and I always said that Patty Heaton’s the best wife on television,” Rosenthal said.
Added Romano, “We’re forgetting one little key element that really sold me on you during that first audition.”
“That’s how desperate I was to get the job,” Heaton said.
“Well, they don’t know what you’re talking about,” interrupted Romano.
“I kissed him!”, Heaton revealed.
There was a part where it says (in the script), she kisses her husband,” Romano explained. “And every other actress just kind of mimed it. For some reason, she did it.”
“Nobody else?” asked Heaton. Well, apparently not, and that sealed her deal.
“And when she walked out, I go, ‘That’s the one!” Romano exclaimed.
Rosenthal and Romano also revealed they knew immediately, that out of some 100 actresses who tested for Marie in the “Fruit of the Month” scene, that Roberts was clearly the standout.
“No one came close to Doris Roberts,” they both agreed.
Roberts died in 2016 of natural causes at the age of 90. She and other Everybody Loves Raymond actors who have passed away, including Peter Boyle, who played Marie’s husband and Ray’s dad Frank, and Sawyer Sweeten, who portrayed one of Ray and Debra’s twin sons, Geoffrey, as well as guest stars such as Fred Willard and Georgia Engel, were honored during the reunion special.
