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Joanna Cassidy plays Rose Lindsay, a tough boss with a wealth of life experience to share, in the film «"Don't tell Mom that the nanny died.".
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The 1991 film also stars Christina Applegate, Keith Coogan, Josh Charles, Concetta Tomei and others.
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Cassidy spoke to PEOPLE about her memories of filming the comedy and shared her surprise that she was the one who delivered the film's most memorable line.
Joanna Cassidy will never forget the special time she spent on the set of the film «"Don't tell Mom that the nanny died."» .
Cassidy, 81, recently spoke with PEOPLE magazine to mark the film's 35th anniversary, reminiscing about her time playing the cool and confident Rose Lindsay in the 1991 classic comedy.
The film takes place during the summer, when a mother goes on a European trip, leaving an elderly nanny to look after her five children. After the nanny's death, the children are faced with a choice: call their mother and ruin her trip and, potentially, her entire summer, or try to cope on their own.
They choose the second option: recent high school graduate Sue Ellen (Christina Applegate) decides to improve her first resume and get her dream job, which is challenging but pays well if she pulls it off.
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Joanna Cassidy as Rose Lindsay in "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead." Photo: Warner Bros./Courtesy of the Everett Collection.
Fans remember the character's golden rule: Sue Ellen would respond to any request with, "I'll do it right now, Rose." Cassidy told PEOPLE she never imagined how popular this gimmick would become in the film.
«"I had no idea that phrase, 'I'm right on top of this, Rose,' I had no idea where it would lead. It's incredibly popular. People tell me about it all the time. It seems like it just won't go away," she laughs.
«"Twenty years ago, I was in the Turks and Caicos Islands, before they were all built up. People would run across the road, down a little dirt path, and ask, 'Are you Joanna Cassidy? I'm right here, Rose!' And it kept going. It's incredible. This place has a life of its own.".
Cassidy says she feels "lucky and grateful" that people liked the film so much.
«"Sometimes people in a film are almost like a chemical equation, where all the energy is there. I remember our makeup artist was artist . "She was literally an artist, and then she also did makeup in her spare time. So all the artistic skills were there. The producers were fun and down-to-earth. It was a charming film," she says.
«"Everyone was in the perfect position in their lives to make this film. All the elements came together, and that doesn't always happen. It's a rare occurrence," Cassidy continues.
«"My heart skips a beat when people say that phrase, and it touches me so much that this film evokes special memories for people; so many people are happy. But that's not always the case.".
Read the original article on People.