Not everybody loved the idea of Patricia Heaton playing the wife of Ray Romano’s lead character on Everybody Loves Raymond.
In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, the creator of the ’90’s and ’00’s sitcom, Phil Rosenthal, said the show’s network envisioned a different type of actress for the role, even before the star had the chance to audition.
“CBS wanted someone hotter to play Debra,” he said in comments posted on Wednesday, Sept. 15. “I almost quit the show over it.”Reps for CBS has no immediate comment about Rosenthal’s remarks when reached by E! News.
Rosenthal told Yahoo! Entertainment that CBS initially wanted a different actress to play the role of Debra and that he agreed to meet with her. He did not reveal her name.
“They insisted on this actress,” he said. “She wasn’t going to read for the role, but during the meeting I convinced her to read a little bit with me, and she was 10 times worse for the part than I thought she would be!”
