Rosie O’Donnell enjoyed a wide-ranging conversation about her career on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast this week.
At one stage, the conversation turned to intimacy scenes. O’Donnell recalled filming a bedroom scene with Cynthia Nixon on season three of And Just Like That…
How about we take this to the next level?
Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
O’Donnell featured on the first episode of the season. She played Sister Mary, a nun who loses her virginity to Miranda Hobbes (played by Nixon).
O’Donnell and Nixon are longtime friends, which made the thought of filming the scene “horrifying” to O’Donnell.
As it was, the segment didn’t show them in the throes of passion. Instead, they’re pictured in bed together after doing the deed.
“I was so nervous,” O’Donnell said. “The kissing wasn’t hard, but the laying in bed and the wanting us to act like we had just done it. I was like, ‘Uhh.’ But I’m a little immature when it comes to that.”
Poehler responded, “I don’t even think that’s immature. I’ve talked to a lot of my friends who have to do intimate scenes, and it’s a skill.” O’Donnell agreed, saying, “It’s a skill. It really is.”
O’Donnell went on to say that when she agreed to appear in the episode, she did not know it would include a bedroom scene.
“[Cynthia] called me, and she’s like, ‘Ro, Michael Patrick [King] wrote you a scene, and it’s with me. Will you do it?’ I said, ‘Of course I’ll do it with you,’” she explained. “Then I read it, and I’m in bed with just the sheets. I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’”
Nip/Tuck
Besides that scene with Nixon, O’Donnell went on to say she’s only done one actual sex scene across her career.
That was in Nip/Tuck. O’Donnell appeared on four episodes of the plastic surgery show.
“I only did one sex scene in my life, and it was with Julian McMahon from Nip/Tuck,” O’Donnell told Poehler. “And he was such a gentleman.”
McMahon died in July 2025, aged 56, following a battle with cancer.
In the show, O’Donnell’s character has a one-night stand with Dr. Christian Troy, played by McMahon.
“I had a tube top on and little underpants. I’m supposed to be naked,” O’Donnell said. “And he’s got a little c-ck sock. And he’s leaning, his arms are shaking ‘cause he doesn’t wanna put his body on mine, you know?”
“Finally, after three takes, they said, ‘We keep seeing the tube top,’” she remembered. “And I looked at him, and he’s this gorgeous — God rest his soul — gorgeous Greek statue of a man. He’s a Kennedy in my mind. He was just so perfect.”
O’Donnell decided to adjust her tube top so the camera operators could more easily obtain the shot.
“I pulled down my tube top, and I said, ‘Julian, those are my boobs’. And he said, ‘Nice rack!’”
O’Donnell was surprised by the compliment.
“I said, ‘Really?’” she recalled. “He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Oh, okay!’”
Watch the whole conversation below. You can also catch O’Donnell guest host Jimmy Kimmel Live! next week while Kimmel takes his summer break.
Related
Rosie O’Donnell remembers warning Whitney Houston’s team about the singer’s problems
Rosie O’Donnell shared with Andy Cohen how Houston’s team reacted to her concerns.
Cynthia Nixon to officiate world’s largest all-women wedding and renewal ceremony
The mass wedding will take place in St Petersburg, Florida.
Sign up for the Queerty newsletter to stay on top of the hottest stories in LGBTQ+ entertainment, politics, and culture.
