Rosie O’Donnell Is Unrecognizable In New A League Of Their Own Series
It's an amazing transformation.
Rosie O’Donnell will not be suiting up as a ballplayer when the television reboot of A League of Their Own debuts on Prime Video. Instead, she’ll be stepping into a smaller but equally mighty role as Vi – a warm, gregarious bar owner who cheers on the Rockford Peaches at every game. She eventually crosses paths with Carson, the team’s catcher, and introduces the player to her close circle of friends. Now, fans have their first look at the character in a brand photo.
The image features Rosie O’Donnell as the slick business owner, decked out in an expensive-looking pin-striped suit with matching. She is pictured standing in front of her liquor-filled bar shelves, looking like the establishment’s proud owner. While the character is nothing like third base player Doris Murphy, who the actress portrayed in the film, Vi promises to bring a new dynamic to A League of Their Own. The series will also introduce fans to a brand new lineup of ballplayers, including Carson, Max, Greta, Lupe, Clance, Jess, and Esti. You can see the image of O’Donnell below.
Like the popular Penny Marshall movie, the Rosie O’Donnell series is an ensemble comedy inspired by the real women who played in the All-American Girls Baseball League in the 1940s. But this time A League of Their Own will take a deeper dive into themes the film only hinted at. This includes a story arc about how Black women were forbidden to play in the main team but found other ways to participate in the game. The show will also explore how many queer women were drawn to the league, a historical fact that the movie never acknowledges directly.
Speaking about the inclusion of an LGBTQ storyline, Rosie O’Donnell told Entertainment Weekly that although her movie character Doris wasn’t necessarily written to be a lesbian, she always interpreted her as queer. Now, the League of Their Own reboot will further explore those themes by introducing multiple queer characters. “We talked a lot about the show being about these characters’ journey to finding their team,” creator Abbi Jacobson previously told the publication. She added that “team” has a bunch of definitions in terms of baseball. But it takes on a different meaning as a lot of these characters find their community. “That joy of finding others that are like you is pretty special,” she added.
Created by Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson, A League of Their Own features Chanté Adams as Max, D’Arcy Carden as Greta, Roberta Colindrez as Lupe, Gbemisola Ikumelo as Clance, Kelly McCormack as Jess, and Priscilla Delgado as Esti González. Jacobson also stars as Carson Shaw, along with Nick Offerman as Casey “Dove” Porter, Rosie O’Donnell rounds out the cast as Vi. Episodes will run for one hour and the show is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on August 12th.
Jacobson and Graham both grew up loving the Rosie O’Donnell classic, and told Entertainment Weekly they wanted to honor the spirit of Penny Marshall’s original when crafting the show. But they also felt it was important to take a closer look at some of the challenges female baseball players faced during the era. To maintain the spirit of the original League of their Own, the creators met and consulted with Marshall before her death in 2018.
