Good night, angels.
In honor of Charlie’s Angels The 50th anniversary of the series – which began its five-season run in 1976 – stars Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd came together for a conversation at PaleyFest LA on Monday to take a look back at their groundbreaking series.
Jackson has been involved with the show – which followed three beautiful private investigators – from the beginning, with Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg helping put together the idea after her time on the job. Juniors. She was originally attached to play Jaclyn Smith as Kelly Garrett but later switched to playing the role of Sabrina Duncan. Smith recalled during the chat that her audition wasn’t her best work and she didn’t think she would get the role. She also joked that the producers originally wanted a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, which they “thought was inclusive” at the time.
“This show was different and special and unique,” Smith said when she was offered the role. “I thought, wow, three women chasing danger rather than saving them from danger.” “It gave women permission to be independent and to break out of the mold and not be defined by men.”
Farrah Fawcett, who died in 2009, was originally the third Angel alongside Jackson and Smith, but she departed after the first season, which the two admitted they were disappointed by. Ladd was brought in to play the younger sister of Fawcett’s character, Chris Monroe, after Spelling was rejected three times when asked to join the show.
“He said, ‘Just tell me, why don’t you want to do it?'” “I said, ‘Because everyone loves Farrah, I don’t know who would try to take that spot,'” Ladd recalled. “And he said, ‘Well, I have an idea. If you’re Farrah’s little sister, you’re part of the family.’ I said: “I am here.”
Ladd later appeared wearing a T-shirt that read “Farrah Fawcett Minor” while also revealing another moment of rebellion after Spelling repeatedly posed her character in bikinis. “I went out and bought the tiniest little bikini I’ve ever seen on TV, and we filmed and Aaron was not happy,” Ladd explained, later receiving a text from Spelling that said: “Tell the trouble girl she will never do this again.” I didn’t do that, but I made my point. When I was wearing a swimsuit, I felt comfortable in it.
During the conversation, Ladd also revealed a past battle with breast cancer, which Jackson and Smith similarly went through and brought the three women even closer.
Later in the conversation, the trio talked about some of the challenges that came with that Charlie’s Angelswhich included having to say no to other major projects due to their schedules and contracts. Smith noted that she was considered a Bond girl in the 1970s MoonrakerBut “I had a contract, and you know, [my] Raising Houston, you have to follow your contract. Aaron was the first one to invite me to the party, so I was honoring my contract.” She also revealed that she was ready for it Beetlejuice “But I didn’t understand it. My husband regrets it,” which was met with laughter from the audience.
Jackson was asked about turning down the role, which was later played by Meryl Streep in the film Kramer v. KramerShe replied, “You want the truth? They changed the schedule of the movie four times and every time they did, Aaron was looking at me.” Charlie’s Angels schedule and say, “Oh, we had to change our schedule.” Now it doesn’t work here, here and here. “I was not allowed to do that.”
The group — which has been open about the lack of money they saw from the series, despite launching several film franchises — also spoke about the uphill battle they faced, as Smith recalls, “The network didn’t believe in our pitch. They aired our pilot as a two-hour movie and it went through the roof. They thought, ‘This isn’t right, we have to do it again;’ “It can’t be this, this doesn’t have the staying power.” “They aired it on the second night with higher ratings,” but even then, “they didn’t even order a full season of episodes.”
As part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration, Jackson, Smith and Ladd will also be honored at the Paley Honors Spring Gala next month in New York.
