By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-22 15:32:20 | Updated at 2026-07-27 13:14:08
4 days ago
Rosie O'Donnell has claimed late filmmaker Penny Marshall instructed her to 'lose 20 pounds' while they were making the 1992 movie A League of Their Own.
The 64-year-old star looked back on her weight loss journey after recently shedding 60 pounds in a candid interview with People.
O'Donnell recalled how her weight influenced her self-image as she rose through the show business ranks.
'When I would do late-night, my biggest concern wasn’t my set - it was, did I look fat?' O'Donnell said.
'On League of Their Own, Penny Marshall didn’t help by saying, "Rosie, I want you to lose 20 lbs." I’m like, "You think I carry it around for fun, Penny?"'
The hit film documented a World War II-era female professional baseball team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, as O'Donnell was joined in the cast by Tom Hanks, Madonna, Lori Petty and Geena Davis.
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for O'Donnell for further comment on the story but has yet to hear back.
Rosie O'Donnell, 64, says late filmmaker Penny Marshall had instructed her to 'lose 20 pounds' while they were making the 1992 movie A League of Their Own; seen in NYC in June
O'Donnell pictured at the 1994 Oscars at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in LA
O'Donnell said that she regrets being down on herself about her body image at the time.
'When I look back, I go, "God, I wish I could have enjoyed the size I was."'
O'Donnell, who started using Mounjaro three years ago amid a health battle with Type 2 diabetes, said she's 'now at that same weight' she was in the early 90s, but feels 'much healthier [and] more powerful in [her] own physicality.'
The star previously spoke about her experience with Marshall, who died at 75 in December of 2018 after battling diabetes and heart disease, while appearing on the podcast We Can Do Hard Things.
'I think she didn't like to think of herself as a feminist,' O'Donnell said of Marshall, who had also directed notable films such as Big, Jumpin' Jack Flash and Awakenings.
'She was older than me, and I don't know that she wasn't an ardent feminist like me.
She said that Marshall 'was kind of a closeted feminist in some ways,' as 'she didn't necessarily want to have the banner, but she really supported women and women's sports and women athletes' at a level she had not seen before.
O’Donnell, who portrayed the role of Doris Murphy in the beloved motion picture, said that Marshall left 'a profound impact on women's sports in the history of the United States because of that movie.'
She recalled seeing 'little kids coming to my door dressed as' her character Murphy from the film on Halloween, and they didn't know she played the role.
O'Donnell was joined in the cast of the hit 1992 film by Tom Hanks
Marshall and O'Donnell seen at an event on April 27, 2009 in New York City
O'Donnell in 2021 spoke about how she identified her character in the film as gay, which Marshall disagreed with, on the podcast Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino.
'It's funny, during League of Their Own, my character again, I think was gay,' O'Donnell said. 'And when she had that speech - "I never really felt like a real girl. I always felt like a fake girl, not even a girl, but now there's a lot of us and I feel like we're all okay" - I did that in the bus.'
O'Donnell said that Marshall wanted her to reshoot the take, telling her that the context of the speech was 'not a gay thing,' a notion which she said she challenged.
'I said, "Pen, did you read the words? The words are totally that she finally feels she fits in amongst this group of tomboys. There's this little bit of an undertone,"' O'Donnell said.
