John Goodman has no hard feelings towards his former costar Roseanne Barr.
Goodman, 66, made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday where he discussed the upcoming Roseanne spinoff, The Conners, revealing that working on the new show without Barr has been an adjustment.
“She is missed. After that many years, it’s like a family,” he said. “It was very weird doing the first show without her, because she’s my buddy.”
The hit Roseanne reboot was canceled by ABC in May following a racist comment Barr made about a former White House advisor. Weeks later, PEOPLE confirmed the network had greenlit a spinoff with five of the six core cast members returning for a 10-episode, straight to series order. The Connors depicts the beloved family moving on without their matriarch — Barr’s character reportedly will be killed off.
“It’s the same family, minus mom,” said Goodman.
How The Conners Will Move on Without Roseanne Barr: It ‘Makes Me Choke Up,’ Laurie Metcalf Says. Barr gave up all financial and creative involvement with the new series after working out a settlement with ABC.
“She gave up a lot so that people could work,” said Goodman.
And while he has since made peace with continuing the show without Barr, Goodman told PEOPLE in his recent cover interview with Sara Gilbert and Laurie Metcalf that he had a “bad time” in the weeks that followed the show’s cancellation.
When he first heard the news, “I was consciously trying to accept it,” he said. “Just like, ‘Okay, this is happening, just breathe and go with it.’ Underneath I’m trying to get out of a plastic bag that is closing in on me, but I’m trying to be calm on the surface. I remember that contradiction.”
Goodman recalled struggling “for about a month.”
“And then other things started going wrong,” he said. “I fell down the steps and broke a rib. My wife got sick — just all kinds of weird stuff happened at one time. But I just had a feeling that it would work out.”
