The comedian-director chatted with ET at the premiere of her new movie, 'The Female Brain,' in Hollywood on Thursday.
Looks like we'll have to wait a little while longer to get juicy spoilers from the Roseanne reboot!
Whitney Cummings -- a co-showrunner on the revival as well as an executive producer alongside Sara Gilbert (Darlene Conner) and the original series EPs, Roseanne Barr (Roseanne Conner), Tom Werner and Bruce Helbert -- chatted with ET's Keltie Knight at the premiere of her new movie, The Female Brain, in Hollywood on Thursday night, and she revealed that she couldn't reveal a whole lot about Roseanne.
"Oh, God, I don't know if I'm allowed to share any secrets! I think a sniper will actually shoot me in the neck and I just dissipate into thin air," she joked. "The NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] are so crazy, but I guess to me, I am proud of the fact that you're going to get all of the elements that are so nostalgic and so familiar but [also] a lot of fun, fresh stuff that I don't think you would ever expect to be on network television."
Roseanne never shied away from brutal honesty, showing how real families interacted in ways that were especially groundbreaking during its first run on ABC, which lasted from 1988 to 1997. Now, the Conner family is 20 years older than when we saw them last, and they're dealing with topics many American families will find familiar, including opioid addiction, aging and healthcare.
It will all be treated with the straight-talking humor the sitcom was known and loved for, which we imagine is much of what Cummings is able to refer to. In fact, when the reunited cast and producers discussed the show at the ABC Television Critics Association press tour last month, they even noted that differing politics, which included incorporating Barr's real-life support of President Donald Trump, would be discussed on the show, which will premiere at the end of March.
There was one project Cummings could publicly discuss, and that was The Female Brain, which she wrote, produced, directed and starred in. The 35-year-old comedian looked amazing at the premiere in a white-hot off-the-shoulder dress and pointy black pumps, and she was joined by two Roseanne stars, Sarah Chalke, who played the second Becky in the original series and will return in a slightly different role, and Emma Kenney, who is joining the cast as Harris, the daughter of Darlene Conner (Gilbert) and David Healy (Johnny Galecki).
While on the red carpet, Cummings happily explained why she wanted to bring the book of the same name to the big screen.
"I read the book, The Female Brain, and I was so blown away by the fact that it framed all of these sort of stereotypical qualities that women have not as weaknesses but as strengths," she said. "Being sensitive, being emotional -- I feel like we get shamed for that so often, and this book sort of explained how they're superpowers, and I really thought that was worth sharing with the world and trying to get out there," she said.
"I don't think everyone wants to read a science book or a neurology book, [so] I tried to figure out a way to make it entertaining and funny, and James Marsden is not wearing a shirt and Sofia Vergara is in it," Cummings added of the ensemble comedy. "I was, like, tricking people into basically watching a TED Talk for two hours."
In the flick, Marsden goes out of his way to change for a lover, and Cummings admitted to ET that she's done some crazy stuff in the past to try to please significant others.
"I used to put on spray tan, like, three times a day, and it just looked like there was a terrible accident in my bed at all times... it looked like a crime scene," she admitted. "So, I was really big into self-tanner for a while. I was putting on false lashes for a while -- I got pink eye. I've done a lot of things to try and shapeshift for a guy, and I think, ultimately, you realize the one to be with is the one you can be the most authentic with."
Well said!
The Female Brain hits theaters Feb. 9.
For more on the Roseanne revival, watch the video below.
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