How Ed O’Neill Helped Christina Applegate Snag Her Role In Married… With Children
Jason Merritt/term/Getty Images By Sophie McEvoy/Aug. 14, 2022 7:16 am EST
Like many sitcoms of the time, “Married… With Children” took a while to find the perfect actors to play the Bundy family. According to Vulture, comedians Sam Kinison and Roseanne Barr were initially considered for the roles of Al and Peggy. However, despite not having to audition, both turned the opportunity down. Kinison would go on to guest star in the series in 1989 as Al’s guardian angel (via YouTube), while Barr fronted her own successful sitcom with John Goodman on ABC.
The creators of “Married… With Children” eventually found their Al and Peggy through Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal. O’Neill only had to walk through the door for them to realize they’d found their patriarch (via YouTube), while Sagal already had Peggy’s iconic look in mind while reading the script, so she attended the audition “all dolled up,” as she told ABC News. As for the Bundy kids, it’s hard to think of them not being portrayed by Christina Applegate and David Faustino. But it wasn’t until O’Neill intervened in the show’s early days that they landed their parts.
How Ed O’Neill Helped Christina Applegate Snag Her Role In Married… With Children
Jason Merritt/term/Getty Images
By Sophie McEvoy/Aug. 14, 2022 7:16 am EST
Like many sitcoms of the time, “Married… With Children” took a while to find the perfect actors to play the Bundy family. According to Vulture, comedians Sam Kinison and Roseanne Barr were initially considered for the roles of Al and Peggy. However, despite not having to audition, both turned the opportunity down. Kinison would go on to guest star in the series in 1989 as Al’s guardian angel (via YouTube), while Barr fronted her own successful sitcom with John Goodman on ABC.
The creators of “Married… With Children” eventually found their Al and Peggy through Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal. O’Neill only had to walk through the door for them to realize they’d found their patriarch (via YouTube), while Sagal already had Peggy’s iconic look in mind while reading the script, so she attended the audition “all dolled up,” as she told ABC News. As for the Bundy kids, it’s hard to think of them not being portrayed by Christina Applegate and David Faustino. But it wasn’t until O’Neill intervened in the show’s early days that they landed their parts.
The creators of “Married… With Children” eventually found their Al and Peggy through Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal. O’Neill only had to walk through the door for them to realize they’d found their patriarch (via YouTube), while Sagal already had Peggy’s iconic look in mind while reading the script, so she attended the audition “all dolled up,” as she told ABC News.
As for the Bundy kids, it’s hard to think of them not being portrayed by Christina Applegate and David Faustino. But it wasn’t until O’Neill intervened in the show’s early days that they landed their parts.
Tina Caspary and Hunter Carson were originally cast as Kelly and Bud Bundy
YouTube
Like the unaired “Full House” pilot with John Posey, there’s also an unaired pilot of Caspary and Carson as the Bundy kids (via YouTube). For those familiar with the actual pilot of “Married… With Children,” the initial one plays out exactly the same – Bud sneaking up behind Kelly and pretending to kill her (via YouTube). Comparing the two side by side, you can really see a difference in chemistry – not only between Kelly and Bud but with Peggy, too.
Christina Applegate still adores her Married… with Children family
Columbia Tristar/Getty Images
As for revisiting the Bundy family, Applegate is all for it. “I would love to hang out with my family – that’s my original family,” the actress told the Daily Beast. “Whenever we’re together we pick up where we left off, and it’s a really special bond that I don’t have with anyone else.”
