Maggie Wheeler ain't holding any grudges about getting fired from Ellen DeGeneres' sitcom after one season back in the '90s -- so much so, she’s totally on board with another shot in Hollywood for the talk show host!
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00:00You did an interview that you got fired from the Ellen show back in the day.
00:06Why did you get fired?
00:08You have one of the greatest TV characters in history.
00:10Well, thank you very, very much.
00:12I think if you follow the history and the story of what happened on Ellen, there were
00:16so many moving parts.
00:18There was a lot of stuff that people were worried about and unsatisfied about, and it
00:21was a bit of a domino effect, and I was just the first to go.
00:25I wasn't the last to go.
00:27I have the honored position of having been the first.
00:30Before I bought a new house or a new car or anything like that, so I think it was good.
00:33How do you feel about it now?
00:35Lisa Kudrow said she was fired from Fraser, and it was one of the best things that ever
00:38happened to her, and it led her to Friends.
00:40Do you feel similar?
00:41I do.
00:42In fact, it led me to Friends as well.
00:43Oh, wow!
00:44I think it liberated me in a lot of ways, because nobody wants to be fired.
00:48It's scary, and it feels hideous, really.
00:51So after I wiped my tears and I licked my wounds, the Friends audition came through,
00:57and I felt very free, and that's why I think I was able to go in and give the audition
01:01that I did.
01:02Have you spoken to Ellen at all since the firing?
01:05Do you still have contact with her?
01:07I did in the period of time after that, but I haven't seen her in a long time.
01:11Have you watched the new special?
01:12Yeah.
01:13I saw it on a plane on my way back from New York.
01:16What did you think?
01:17I haven't seen it yet.
01:18I really thought it was incredibly interesting.
01:19I thought it sort of peeled away a lot of what was happening on the show at that time,
01:23and then, of course, it really leans into a lot of the incredibly courageous things
01:28that she did over the years in terms of moving forward the agenda of people being able to
01:33stand in their truth and be out, and it changed television, and it changed culture, and, yeah,
01:41she did a lot for the movement.
01:42Do you hope she comes back?
01:43Are you hoping she comes back?
01:45Do you feel like she deserves a second chance in Hollywood?
01:47I think, you know, Hollywood is famous for a second, third, and fourth chances, and Ellen
01:52is a brilliant comedian, and, yeah, we'll see what she decides to do.
01:57Yeah.
01:58Any message for her now?
01:59Uh-huh.
02:00Just sending love her way.