Staci Keanan and Devon Odessa Say Their Chance to Play Pals on 1987'sMy Two DadsWas 'Sabotaged' by a 'Big-Time Stage Mom'

Mar. 15, 2025

Devon Odessa and Staci Keanan.Photo:Brandon Williams/Getty;Jesse Grant/Getty

Brandon Williams/Getty;Jesse Grant/Getty

“So, onMy Two Dads, right from the beginning, there was a best friend character,” Keanan, 49, said.

The sitcom’s producers, Keanan and Odessa explained, were well aware that the two young actresses were close.

Staci Keanan in ‘My Two Dads’ in 1988 and Devon Odessa in ‘Small Wonder’ in the 1980s.Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank

Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank

“I auditioned for, like, guest spots on the show. And so they knew me,” Odessa, 51, said.

“And they named the best friend character ‘Devon,’ ” Keanan added.

Both actresses suggested that at the time it seemed Odessa was a shoo-in for the role. That is until Odessa’s mother let the fact slip to the mom of another young actress with whom Odessa often competed for roles in the late ’80s.

According to Odessa and Keanan, this “big-time stage mom,” who they declined to name, wrote an anonymous letter toMy Two Dadscreator Michael Jacobs accusing the then-13-year-old Odessa of being a “very bad influence.”

Paul Reiser, Greg Evigan and Staci Keanan in ‘My Two Dads’ in 1988.Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank

“She came up with all this stuff. ‘They were on a bus and she was, like, showing her bra,’ ” Odessa recalled.

“It was something about you being in cars with boys and doing stuff with boys and all this stuff,” Keanan said. “It was sabotage. And the letter also complained that it was unfair that Devon was getting — you know, ‘The character was already named Devon, and they’re best friends, and you producers know this and it’s not fair that Devon should get, you know, a bonus shot at this part.’ ”

Keanan and Odessa said the woman later came clean and apologized for her interference in another letter after Odessa’s mother told her the show’s producers were going to get the FBI to investigate the initial anonymous letter.

“But the damage had been done,” Odessa said. “You know, I never auditioned for that show again. It was actually really awkward too. Like, I remember coming [to visit Keanan on set] and just feeling awkward and I would just not come to the set anymore.”

Devon Odessa and Staci Keanan in 2001.J. Vespa/WireImage

J. Vespa/WireImage

“It was so hurtful,” she added.

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“You were supposed to be on the show and then we would have had a show together,” she told Odessa. “Playing best friends, being on the show, working together. And for years, we talked about how that was taken away from us.”

source: people.com