Peri Gilpin unpacks ‘bittersweet’ Frasier return as iconic Roz Doyle-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro

Peri Gilpin has shed light on her surprise return to Frasier as the iconic Roz Doyle.

The actress appeared in all 11 seasons of the original run, starring as the stuffy psychiatrist’s radio producer opposite Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves and the late John Mahoney.

Although Frasier has been joined by a new cast in the Paramount+ reboot, including Nicholas Lyndhurst and Jack Cutmore-Scott , it was recently announced that the 62-year-old would briefly reprise her role in the upcoming series finale.

A clip from the episode, which will be released on Thursday, shows the moment that Roz knocks on Frasier’s door to spend Christmas with his family, before promptly telling her host that he ‘looks like crap’.

In a new interview, Gilpin opened up about coming back to the Frasier universe after nearly two decades away, and how things were ‘bittersweet’ without her former castmates.

‘I just loved getting to do it,’ she told Entertainment Weekly. ‘It was a fantasy come true to play that part again and to go back into that world. And there’s bittersweet things because it makes me so sad when I think about John. I miss him. He was a great friend, but I feel like they dealt with that.

Peri Gilpin made a grand comeback as Roz Doyle (Picture: Paramount+)

We could feel this hug through our screens (Picture: Paramount+)

‘They go back to John every chance they can and they refer back. They refer back to Cheers. They refer back to our first Frasier and I feel like we’re kind of a part of it. It felt very comfortable there and wonderful and it was really funny. It’s like a comfort when you watch it.

‘You’re like, “Oh my gosh, I get to see this again. It’s new, it’s fresh, but I am getting the same feelings I got from watching it the first time.”’

Gilpin isn’t the only familiar face to pop up in the revival, as Bebe Neuwirth stole the show once again as Lilith Sternin in the seventh episode.

Despite only appearing in the upcoming finale, she revealed that she is definitely keen to step back into Roz’s shoes again down the line ‘if that’s a possibility, if that’s something that happens’.

We absolutely need to make this happen.

Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier was touched by the move (Picture: Paramount+)

When we last saw the character, she was promoted to the role of KACL station manager, remaining in Seattle with Martin, Niles and Daphne while her former colleague jetted out to Chicago.

Lifting the lid on where Roz has been since her final scenes, Gilpin added: ‘I think she’s been in radio and the thing I know about the world of radio through my dad’s work is that you kind of bounce around.

‘So I would imagine she was in Seattle a lot of the time at the station, but I imagine she probably did other things. She’s probably been producing and maybe she did a show of her own. That was one of her dreams.

At the end of the original Frasier, Roz got a dream job as KACL station manager (Picture: NBC)

‘I would imagine that Sirius, the world of that radio would be very attractive to her, but she was raising a daughter.

‘So once you sort of settle someplace, you kind of stay put for a while. I think she’s been dating. I think she’s been having a lot of fun, traveling, wearing gorgeous clothes, enjoying herself.’

That definitely sounds like the Roz Doyle we know.

Frasier is available to stream on Paramount+.

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