00:00Romano reveals how A Kiss won Patricia Heaton her role as Everybody Loves Raymond Marks' 30 Years.
00:06Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton look back at Lindbrook, Long Island as the Everybody Loves Raymond cast reunites to celebrate the sitcom's 30th anniversary.
00:16During the CBS special, Everybody Loves Raymond, 30th Anniversary Reunion, Romano, Heaton, creator Phil Rosenthal, Monica Horan, Brad Garrett, Madeline Sweetin, and Sullivan Sweetin shared memories from the show's nine-season run from
00:291996 to 2005. Rosenthal recalled seeing 200 actresses for the role of Debra Barone before landing on Heaton.
00:38I always said that Patty Heaton's the best wife on television, Rosenthal said, but Romano revealed there was more to the story.
00:46We're forgetting one little key element that really sold me on you during that first audition, he said.
00:52Heaton jumped in with a laugh. That's how desperate I was to get the job.
00:56Well, they don't know what you're talking about, Romano teased.
01:00I kissed him, Heaton admitted.
01:03Romano explained that the script called for Debra to kiss her husband.
01:07Every other actress just kind of mimed it. For some reason, she did it, he said.
01:12And when she walked out, I go, that's the one.
01:15The role earned Heaton two Emmy Awards, and, she said, reflected the everyday challenges she was already living.
01:21I didn't really have to do research, and I didn't really have to do acting, she joked.
01:27I had a three-year-old and a one-year-old. I was cutting out coupons for 50 cents off Ballpark Franks, so I needed the gig.
01:34She also recalled arriving for her audition stressed about babysitting, only to ask a man in the corner to fetch her water.
01:41It was Ray, she said.
01:43Romano addressed long-standing questions about a reboot and firmly shut the door.
01:47We're never going to do one, he said, noting the deaths of Peter Boyle, Doris Roberts, and Sawyer Sweeten.
01:54We would never try to do the show without them, Rosenthal agreed.
01:58It wouldn't be the same, and we have too much respect for the show itself, he said.
02:03The reunion also took a somber turn, as the cast remembered Sawyer Sweeten, who died by suicide in 2015 at age 19.
02:12Madeline Sweeten and her brother Sullivan opened up about honoring him.
02:15We're very passionate in our family about suicide prevention, Madeline said.
02:21It is the second leading cause of death between ages 18 to 25, but 90% of people who seek treatment are cured.
02:29Romano called Sawyer a wonderful and sweet kid, whose energy still lives in their memories of the show.
02:36Though a reboot isn't coming, the cast noted that Everybody Loves Raymond continues to air worldwide.
02:42As Rosenthal put it, if you want to visit your friends, we're here.
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