The Fatal Attraction Actress Who Plays A Promiscuous Ex In It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has had some wild guest stars over the years, from Guillermo del Toro to P. Diddy. Usually, the celebrities only appear for a single episode, but one Oscar nominee actually had a recurring role in season 2.
That actor is Anne Archer, whose performance as Beth Gallagher in the 1987 mega-hit "Fatal Attraction" earned her a Golden Globe nomination as well as an Academy Award nomination. Archer's time on "Sunny" was short-lived but unforgettable. The actor plays Barbara Reynolds, mother to Dee and Dennis and ex-wife of Frank. Barbara resurfaces in her family's lives in the season 2 episode "The Gang Goes Jihad" to regain control of her possessions after being divorced by Frank and robbed by her children.
Series co-creator and star Glenn Howerton has described Archer's performance in her debut episode as "very funny" and "amazing" (via the "Always Sunny" Podcast). The actor was not afraid to go the extra mile — she even got a real slap in while shooting a contentious scene with Howerton's co-star and co-creator Charlie Day. Sadly, the real slap did not make the episode's final cut, but Day's cheek still stings today.
In "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom," Barbara has sex with Mac to make Frank jealous. This was a memorable early episode in the show and also the first episode with Mac's mom, who became one of the staples of the series. Sadly, Archer did not become a longstanding recurring character — her final appearance was in the show's second season.
Archer's last time on "Sunny" was in "Dee and Dennis Get a New Dad," when she breaks the news that Frank is not her children's biological father. The actor delivers a standout performance in an excellent episode, and yet her character was killed off in the following season. So, why did her character meet her end so soon?
Anne Archer is Dennis and Dee's mom
After three appearances in "Sunny," Barbara Reynolds was killed off-screen in the third season from a "botched neck-lift," never to return to the show again. "Dennis and Dee's Mom is Dead" was a great episode, but was it worth losing Barbara? Maybe not. Years later, the series creators expressed regret about getting rid of her character so soon.
"Every time I watch an episode with Anne in it, I'm like, man, what a great character, why did we — what happened?'" Rob McElhenney asked his co-creators on the "Always Sunny" Podcast.
Although the deviation of her will and the jokes about her "turkey neck" made for a great episode, Barbara's death had major consequences — a great character was lost to the show forever. "It was a good storyline, it was an interesting storyline, but I think we really shot ourselves in the foot by killing that character because she was so great," Howerton added.
So, what reason could the "Sunny" creators possibly have had for killing off a character they loved so much so early in the show's run, you may ask? The answer is simple — they weren't thinking that far ahead.
"We're not projecting that far into the future so we're just like, 'Oh my God, what are we gonna do? This is a fun story, let's kill a character,'" McElhenney elaborated. "And we don't realize the repercussions that we're gonna cost production."
The show has now aired for 16 seasons at counting, making it the longest-running live-action sitcom of all time. But when it first aired on FX, "Sunny" had only a modest audience without much hope of longevity. However, the show's viewership grew year by year, and just a few years after killing off Barbara, it became inescapable.
The series creators regret killing her off so soon
As much as the "Sunny" creators regret losing a character as funny and biting as Barbara, the death of Dennis and Dee's mother taught viewers a lot about who they are. Their relationship with her was brought out in her will and their grief (or lack thereof), and their relationship with Frank evolved after she was gone. Day views it as a painful but organic part of the gang's growth.
"I think the show, as much as we try to not change it so much, it has to change, it has to move forward," he explained. "I watch every episode being like goddamn it, I love that. Why aren't we doing that? And it's 'cause you can't just do that. You can't just repeat the same thing over and over and over again. So, yes, we could have hung on to Anne Archer for longer, but we didn't."
Even though Archer didn't return to "Sunny" after season 2, many new exciting guest stars came onto the series in recurring or single-episode roles. For instance, Mary Lynn Rajskub — best known for starring in the crime thriller series "24" — recurs as Dennis and Dee's garbage-pail cousin Gail the Snail, making her first appearance in season 5.
Archer might not be on "Sunny" anymore, but she is still working in television today. Most recently, she had a significant supporting role in the Emmy Award-winning biopic series "The Dropout," released in 2022. She is also slated to star alongside Denise Reynolds, Robert Davi, Kelsey Grammar, and the best actor ever, Wesley Snipes, in the forthcoming crime drama "Paper Empire." The show is not currently available to stream as of January 2024.
The gang wasn't thinking that far ahead
Killing off Barbara Reynolds many seasons too soon was not the only mistake the "Sunny" creators made early on in the series run that had major consequences for the rest of the show. Day and his fellow co-creators thought the show would run for "four years tops," Howerton explained, and weren't thinking about how the choices they made about their characters would affect them in the future.
"None of us were [thinking] when we wrote in the 'badnew' tattoo that you were going to have to wear that for 12, 15 years of your life," McElhenney said, speaking to Day of the tattoo his character acquires in season 2. Due to episode cuts, the joke about Charlie getting the tattoo didn't make it in — but the tattoo itself stayed. Apparently, Charlie attempted to write "bad news" on his arm but stopped when he realized it was supposed to be two words.
Despite how irritating it is for the makeup department to remember to write "badnew" on his arm every day — and even though the tattoo was never explained to begin with — Day still doesn't regret it. In fact, he's thought about making it permanent, if for no other reason than to save himself the trouble of continuity concerns.
"It's a good tattoo," the actor went on. "I've thought about getting it in real life many times and I always have a little last-minute decision of like, eh, f*** it."
Perhaps Charlie will one day get the tattoo lasered off or reveal that he's been writing it on himself every day. Or perhaps one of these days Barbara Reynolds will miraculously return from the grave and reveal that she'd simply faked her death all along.