‘The Golden Girls’ star Estelle Getty once revealed what it took to transform into Sophia Petrillo.
Forget the fact that The Golden Girls was a TV show about four women in their golden years — the comedy appealed to viewers of all ages. Kids even watched it!
Estelle Getty played the oldest member of the bunch as Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy’s (Bea Arthur) sharp-witted mother. As many fans know, she was nowhere near her character’s age and she had to be aged up with makeup. But she once explained why the process didn’t take hours.
‘The Golden Girls’ Season 5: Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo
Estelle Getty was only 63 when cast on ‘The Golden Girls’
Plucked from the New York theater circuit, Estelle Getty joined the cast of The Golden Girls after a successful run of auditions at NBC. While Rue McClanahan and Betty White swapped out the roles they originally auditioned for, Getty was always pegged for Sophia.
In her memoir, If I Knew Then What I Know Now… So What?, she explained how her agent told her she’d be reading for Sophia. “But that’s an old lady!” Getty told him. At the time, the character was described as an 80-year-old rotund Italian woman who wore a bun. Getty had her reservations, but she tried out.
It took over a month for her to complete the process, and on her last callback, she switched things up. Getty hit up a thrift shop to buy a large dress, orthopedic shoes, and white gloves.
She colored her hair and hired a makeup artist to age her. There were concerns that she was too young for the part, but with her New York spin on Sophia, she landed the role.
Sophia’s ‘Golden Girls’ makeup didn’t take long for a reason
