It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Almost Had An Entirely Different Dee
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has had the longest run of any live-action comedy series, all while keeping the same cast from the very first episode (with the exceptional addition of Danny Devito early on). Kaitlin Olson has played the gang's only girl, Dee Reynolds, for all sixteen seasons and counting, and it's impossible to imagine anyone else filling her comedically large shoes. But believe it or not, Olson almost turned the part down — and another comedy legend nearly snagged the role instead.
Dee was always a part of the gang, even when the series creators and stars shot the microbudget pilot episode to pitch to networks. But it wasn't until Olson was cast that the character really found her voice. In the unaired pilot that was later reshot, Dee was played instead by little-known actress Jordan Reid. Reid was left out of the network deal shortly after she broke up with series creator Rob McElhenney, per her 2016 blog post. Ironically, McElhenney would go on to marry her replacement.
The earliest iteration of Dee was a voice of reason for her reckless male counterparts, a genuine bleeding heart. Her nickname "Sweet Dee," now a source of recurring irony, was once a nod to the kindness that so blatantly contrasted the men in her life. In one way, it might be considered a feminist angle for the only woman to be the smartest person in a room. In another way, it denies this character's ability to be as complex, flawed, and funny as men are — which is why Olson almost turned the role down. When she eventually agreed to join the show, Olson had one request — Dee had to be just as funny as the guys.
Olson almost turned Dee down
Olson was skeptical about Dee's comedic potential as a character at first, and she wasn't wrong to be concerned. "In the beginning, before Season 1, I almost didn't take [the role], because I was reading the scripts, and Dee was the voice of reason, and they all were really funny," the actress admitted to Yahoo News. "I said, 'With all due respect, I just don't want to play that character. I don't want to be the voice of reason.' It just wasn't what I was interested in doing[.]"
McElhenney and his co-producers-slash-co-stars Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton were unsure about how to approach a female character because — well — they weren't women. But as Olson quickly explained to them, they were approaching the writing all wrong.
"They said to me, 'Look, we just haven't really written for women that much, but we'll figure it out,'" she continued. "My first thought was, 'Well, don't write for a woman. Just write another funny character.' I'll make it female just by not doing anything. I just am a woman. Don't think about it as male or female."
That's not to say the character isn't gendered at all. "Of course, you have to have some female touches, and they've written in some hurt-feelings stuff that's more feminine, I guess. Some of my favorite Dee moments are very 'masculine' things, though. They're very traditionally masculine things. I don't know. I find that funny."
Had Olson turned the part down, it might have gone to another notable comedienne that surely would have made the part her own. In fact, the actress that almost got the role has a pretty similar comedic style to Olson's — a style that was not written into the character early on.
The part almost went to Kristen Wiig
The role of Sweet Dee reportedly almost went to "Bridesmaids" star Kristen Wiig, Howerton told Buzzfeed News. This was just before she scored her breakout role as a series regular on "Saturday Night Live," which may have never happened if she had been tied up filming "Sunny." Wiig and Olson both have a notably physical comedy style — for reference, see pretty much any scene in "Bridesmaids," particularly the bridal shower. Oddly enough, Dee's incredible clumsiness was not written into the role — that was something Olson brought herself.
"Our idea of Dee was not as physical as Kaitlin is," McElhenney added. "It's something we sort of found with the way she carries herself."
"I'm very long," Olson chimed in. "I'm very unaware of how long my limbs are and I bash into things a lot [...] I'll do something and Rob [McElhenney] will tell me to do it again and I didn't even know it was funny."
Their goofy physicality isn't the only sensibility that Wiig and Olson share. They are also both completely unafraid of gross-out humor and love a good fake vomit. "I've never heard somebody do a gag so funny," Howerton said of his co-star. "You know, suppressing puke, it's just a weird gift she has."
Both actresses do a great drunken act, especially on a plane — for reference, see the unforgettable plane scene from "Bridesmaids" and the Wade Boggs episode of "Sunny." It's hard to picture Dee being played by anyone else but Olson, but if it was gonna be anyone else, Wiig might have been able to get the job done.
Did the series creators make the right choice?
Over the years, Dee has transformed from a sensible nag into someone that's just as selfish, crass, and despicable as any of the men in her life. After all these years, she is still the only woman in the gang, but Olson doesn't mind it that way.
"I just think of myself more as a piece of the puzzle," she explained to Yahoo News. "I'm not sure if I feel too gender-specific about it. [...] I'm definitely proud of the female character that we've created together. I think it's a really strong one. But I would say that I love being part of this team. I don't really think about it in terms of being the only woman that much."
The actress is hugely responsible for her character's evolution — well, devolution — something her costars would happily admit. "We were blown away by how funny she was," Day told Buzzfeed News. "I can't think of an overall impression other than our general excitement that we found someone who was really right for this part."
The only series creator who hesitated to offer Olson the part was — believe it or not — her future husband. "I left the room and Rob was like, How did she leave out the funniest line that was in there? and he didn't want to cast me," the actress remarked. "Rob, who I've now married, had to be talked into hiring me."
Thankfully, McElhenney listened to his co-stars, and the gang as we know it was born. The sitcom definitely wouldn't be the same without Olson, and neither would McElhenney himself. There's no two ways about it — the gang chose the right Sweet Dee.