Valerie Bertinelli Reveals the Role She Thought Would 'Change My Life' When She Was Just 15 Years Old

Mar. 15, 2025

Valerie Bertinelli in 1979 and in 2024.Photo:CBS via Getty; Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

CBS via Getty; Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

Years before she won her first Golden Globe for her role onOne Day at a Time,Valerie Bertinellialready knew that the show would change her life.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the beloved sitcom’s December 1975 premiere, the actress shared memories of her earliest days on the set of theNorman Lear-produced series.

“I remember being 15, standing at the apartment door, and really thinking, at 15 years old, ‘This is gonna change my life,’ ” Bertinelli, 64, toldEntertainment Weekly.

Bertinelli herself marveled at just how vivid her recollections were.

Valerie Bertinelli in ‘One Day at a Time’ in the 1970s.CBS via Getty

CBS via Getty

“Wow, I can still smell the smells. I can still see the audience,” she said. “It’s like there’s certain moments — I mean, 15 is a long time ago from 50 years — so it’s hard to remember a lot of stuff that’s not that recent, but there’s certain memories fromOne Day at a Timethat I still take with me. And that’s one of them.”

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Bertinelli said that she knew from the start that the series, which centered on divorced mom Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin) and her two daughters (Bertinelli andMackenzie Phillips), “was going to be special.”

“I don’t know how I knew that then, but I could feel it,” she said. “I wish I’d feel those feelings more.”

Mary Louise Wilson, Pat Harrington Jr., Mackenzie Phillips, Bonnie Franklin and Valerie Bertinelli in ‘One Day at a Time’ in the 1970s.CBS via Getty

Bertinelli clarified that these days she does get that same special feeling in her role as a regular lifestyle expert onThe Drew Barrymore Show. “I love the way the audience is growing here,” she explained. “I love the way that Drew is finding the audience that resonates with her and that they look forward to having Drew in their living room for the afternoons, because it takes so long for a talk show to find its legs.”

Since her daytime talk show debuted in September 2020, Barrymore has staged multiple on-air reunions with her past costars, including with the cast ofCharlie’s Angels(2000),Scream(1996) andBad Girls(1994). As a member of Drew’s crew, Bertinelli said she’d definitely be up for a reunion of her own withOne Day at a Timecostar Phillips onThe Drew Barrymore Show.

“God, I’d love to see Mac on the show,” she said. “I talk to her, I text her, but because I’m so old, it’s kind of hard to do a reunion with people because Bonnie and Pat [Harrington Jr.] are gone, you know?”

Valerie Bertinelli in 2024.Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

Harrington, who won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his role as building superintendent Dwayne Schneider onOne Day at a Time,died in 2016at the age of 86.Franklin diedthree years prior in 2013 at the age of 69.

“Which always kind of breaks your heart,” she said. “I mean, I would love to have had Norman [Lear] on the show, but he’s been gone now for over a year.”

source: people.com