Sara Gilbert has been up to quite a bit since her glory days of hanging out with Leonardo DiCaprio and the gang. But seriously, what's the deal with everyone thinking she's related to Patrick Mahomes?
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00:00Sarah Gilbert has been up to quite a bit since her glory days of hanging out with Leonardo
00:05DiCaprio and the gang.
00:06But seriously, what's the deal with everyone thinking she's related to Patrick Mahomes?
00:11Sarah Gilbert helped bring Roseanne back to television after more than a decade off the
00:16air.
00:17She felt like the sitcom's story of a working-class family would resonate with audiences again,
00:22telling Entertainment Weekly,
00:23That's a voice that's not been spoken for enough in this country, and we feel hopefully
00:27that we can be a uniting force in that way."
00:30It was a hit.
00:31According to Nielsen Ratings, the revival of Roseanne pulled in 20 million viewers,
00:36numbers that most shows don't even come close to anymore.
00:38"...their roles resonated with middle America, with some of the highest numbers of viewers
00:43in cities like Tulsa, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh."
00:46But then the show was abruptly canceled after star Roseanne Barr tweeted racist remarks
00:51targeting Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to President Obama.
00:55Gilbert had previously defended Barr's character's political beliefs, telling a Watch What Happens
01:00Live caller,
01:01"...the show is not about politics, it's really about what happens to a family when there's
01:06a political divide."
01:08But while Gilbert defended the character's fictional action, there was no defending Barr's
01:12actual actions.
01:13Gilbert issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying,
01:17Roseanne's recent comments about Valerie Jarrett, and so much more, are abhorrent and do not
01:22reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew, or anyone associated with our show.
01:27Barr publicly complained to Fox News about Gilbert's perceived lack of support, but Gilbert
01:32told Gold Derby that the controversy took a toll on the entire Roseanne cast.
01:36"...it was a hard time because we were making something that we loved and no one thought
01:41that it was going to go that way.
01:43We didn't expect that turn of events, so it was hard to go through on a lot of levels."
01:47Instead of saying goodbye, though, Gilbert got to work behind the scenes, producing a
01:51spinoff called The Conners that wrote Barr out and gave Darlene a bigger role.
01:56Still, she told Deadline that the change wasn't as big as it might have seemed.
02:00"...I saw the show as an ensemble from the beginning of this reboot, and I continue to
02:04see it as an ensemble."
02:06Sarah Gilbert is a veteran of the small screen, but she's never been one to take her career
02:10for granted.
02:11In 2020, she told Entertainment Weekly,
02:13"...I would love to take credit for being able to make a TV show successful, but so
02:18often there are elements outside of your control.
02:20You do your best, and then stars align, or they don't."
02:24In addition to reprising her role as Darlene on both Roseanne and The Conners, Gilbert
02:28has put in a number of guest appearances on other shows since she returned to television
02:33acting, following a long hiatus while working on the talk show, The Talk.
02:37She's also appeared as herself on several shows, including Supergirl.
02:41She told Deadline that when it comes to acting, she intentionally tries to find roles that
02:45allow her to explore a certain tone.
02:47"...I think I'm really drawn to projects that are a blend of comedy and drama, projects
02:51that, if it's a comedy, are still very emotional and poignant, and if it's a drama, it's still
02:56extremely funny.
02:57I like that world in between, because I think that's what life is like."
03:02Sarah Gilbert was one of the co-creators of The Talk, the CBS alternative to The View.
03:06The chat show featured Gilbert and co-stars like Sharon Osbourne, each of the women giving
03:11their opinions about the news of the day.
03:13But in 2019, after nine years at the table, Gilbert decided it was time to leave The Talk.
03:18In an emotional on-air speech, she revealed that she'd been struggling to balance her
03:23acting, her family life, her time on The Talk, and her growing career as a producer.
03:28On her final episode a few months later, Gilbert addressed the audience, saying,
03:32"...The show has always been about community and connection, and I want to thank you for
03:35letting me belong."
03:37It didn't take long for Gilbert to miss the show that had been her home for nearly a decade.
03:41Speaking with Variety in 2020, she reflected on what her life had been like since she left
03:45The Talk.
03:46In particular, she shouted out everybody at The Talk, who made it such a great place to
03:50work for so long.
03:52"...It was just such a great environment, such a friendly place to go every day.
03:56So I do miss that."
03:58In December 2019, TMZ broke the news that Sarah Gilbert had filed for divorce from her
04:03wife, four-non-blondes frontwoman Linda Perry.
04:07Intriguingly, the date of their separation was listed as that August, the same month
04:11that Perry stopped in on The Talk to help celebrate her wife's last day on the show.
04:16Gilbert and Perry first got together after Gilbert split from her longtime partner, Allie
04:20Adler, in 2011, with whom she shares two children.
04:24After paparazzi photos of Gilbert and Perry made the rounds and got tongue-swagging, Gilbert
04:28confirmed the relationship on a 2011 episode of The Talk.
04:32The two got engaged in 2013, tied the knot in 2014, and welcomed a child in 2015.
04:39A source who spoke with Closer Weekly confirmed that Gilbert and Perry's split was relatively
04:44amicable, and they were still on good enough terms to make a co-parenting situation work
04:48out just fine, as they were given joint custody of their son, Rhodes.
04:52The source said,
04:53"...Unfortunately, the marriage didn't work out, but they still have to co-parent Rhodes
04:57and there are no plans to avoid each other."
05:00One of the reasons why Sara Gilbert left The Talk was to focus on her production work.
05:05To that end, in 2019, she formed a production company with Tom Werner.
05:09The veteran producer has worked on everything from Roseanne to Third Rock from the Sun.
05:14Gilbert told Variety that their production company, Sara Plus Tom, was born out of that
05:19decades-long relationship, ever since Gilbert was a child star on Roseanne in the 80s.
05:24"...When I was a kid, he was the guy behind the scenes making it all happen.
05:27It's truly a dream to call him my partner, and I look forward to making impactful, funny,
05:32and moving content together."
05:33Gilbert detailed their plans in another interview with Variety.
05:37She said they first started having discussions about it when Roseanne was retooled into The
05:41Conners, and they realized their partnership simply made sense.
05:44"...It's almost like the choice was made for us.
05:47We work so well together and have such great chemistry, so it just felt like a natural
05:51extension of what we were already doing."
05:54In a 2021 chat with the Yale Alumni Association, Gilbert shared that her company is most interested
06:00in scripted projects for TV.
06:02We would do a film, but so many films are now on streamers, so it all has kind of blended
06:07into the same space.
06:09Back in the 1990s, when they were both starting out in the industry, Sara Gilbert was once
06:14a member of Leonardo DiCaprio's infamous posse.
06:17Yes, she was part of the young Hollywood crew that also included stars like Tobey Maguire,
06:22Lucas Haas, Q-Tip, and others.
06:25DiCaprio and Gilbert were regularly seen hanging out back in the day, going to events together
06:29and finding themselves photographed by paparazzi at trendy nightlife spots.
06:33As an unnamed source quipped in a New York Magazine feature back in 1998,
06:37"...if they're a new Rat Pack, Gilbert is the Shirley MacLaine figure."
06:42Decades later, Gilbert's friendship with DiCaprio seems to still be going strong.
06:47In 2023, they both attended the U.S. Open, and video of her evidently getting frustrated
06:52with her friend went viral on social media.
06:55Former The View host Michelle Collins tweeted a video of Gilbert looking back in consternation
07:00as DiCaprio prattled on, writing,
07:02"...I for one will cherish this footage of Sara Gilbert getting pissed at Leonardo DiCaprio
07:07for talking at the U.S. Open."
07:09According to BuzzFeed, Gilbert also attended her friend's 49th birthday party that same
07:14year.
07:15Some guests weren't a surprise, like frequent DiCaprio co-star Tobey Maguire, but Gilbert
07:19also partied alongside stars like Kim Kardashian and Salma Hayek.
07:23Hollywood, what a world.
07:26Sara Gilbert is primarily known for her work on television, from her star-making role in
07:30the original Roseanne up through her runs on ER, The Big Bang Theory, and beyond.
07:35In 2023, however, she returned to the big screen for the first time since 2004, when
07:41she appeared in 80 for Brady, a football movie starring Hollywood legends like Jane Fonda,
07:46Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin.
07:49In a behind-the-scenes interview from the set of the film, Gilbert said she signed on
07:53because of how impressive the rest of the cast was.
07:56She said just one of those actors would have excited her, so she was even more hyped to
08:01be able to act with the whole cast.
08:03I mean, you can't think of anyone better to be in a movie with."
08:06In particular, Gilbert was excited that she played the daughter of Hollywood legend Lily
08:10Tomlin.
08:11She'd looked up to the actor since she was a kid, and this felt like a full-circle moment.
08:16After saying that it felt like she had a special bond with her, even though she didn't really
08:20know her, she said,
08:21"...to play her daughter was just the ultimate, the ultimate childhood fantasy."
08:26In early 2024, Gilbert went viral online for a very odd reason.
08:31Over the past few years, fans on social media noticed something about football star Patrick
08:35Mahomes.
08:36He kind of looks like he could be related to Gilbert.
08:39Other fans took it a step further and joked that they might even be the same person.
08:44One fan tweeted in 2020,
08:45"...I'm just saying we've never seen Sarah Gilbert and Patrick Mahomes in the same room
08:49together."
08:50And in 2023, after a particularly heated Mahomes moment lit up the internet, one fan wondered,
08:56"...anybody know if Sarah Gilbert does cameo?
08:59I would love to see her recite Patrick Mahomes' post-game hissy fit word for word."
09:03By all accounts, the Roseanne alum sure seems to get a kick out of the meme.
09:08The veteran actor addressed the comparisons on an episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show,
09:13admitting that she now follows Mahomes' career just because of the resemblance.
09:17Furthermore, she said,
09:18"...her Kansas City Chiefs fandom has absolutely nothing to do with Taylor Swift's relationship
09:23with Travis Kelce, and everything to do with Mahomes.
09:26Joking."
09:27Gilbert acknowledged that her interest in the NFL feels a bit out of character, at least
09:34according to her loved ones.
09:36She concluded,
09:37"...it's sort of a strange turn of events that has happened."
09:40At first, Sarah Gilbert wasn't sure that rebooting the rebooted Roseanne as the Conners was the
09:45way to go.
09:46It took some convincing.
09:47As she explained to Variety,
09:49"...we were all scared.
09:50We didn't know how it was going to go.
09:53We didn't know how the reviews were going to go."
09:55"...we felt like we had so many more stories to tell that I felt like it would be a shame
09:59to not be able to give that to people."
10:02But the reviews were good, and in 2024, the sitcom celebrated a landmark 100th episode.
10:08Gilbert appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show, and counted down her favorite storylines that
10:12the show has explored, noting that she loved one episode where Darlene tries to be sexy
10:17for her husband.
10:18"...so I had to do this dance and all this kind of stuff.
10:21So it was sort of wildly uncomfortable, but we laughed so hard."
10:25She also offered a theory about why the show has resonated with people for so long, saying
10:30she thought the working-class view of the world struck a chord with many viewers.
10:34The characters were interesting from the start, and there was the luck of the chemistry.
10:38It's real for a lot of people, and I think a lot of people relate to it.
10:42Speaking with ABC7's On the Red Carpet, Gilbert offered further reflections on the success
10:47of the spinoff.
10:48Putting it simply, she said,
10:50"...it just seemed impossible.
10:52And then another season and another season, and here we are."