Patti LuPone Says She Got Cast Opposite Mia Farrow on Broadway After Annette Bening Turned Role Down: 'I'm a 2nd Choice'

Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone made headlines in May when it was revealed the two actresses would be returning to Broadway in Jen Silverman's new one-act comedy, The Roommate.

It's the first time the longtime friends, who have known one another for 30 years, have ever worked together. But it turns out, that milestone almost didn't happen.

Speaking with Seth Doane for an interview with CBS Sunday Morning that aired on Sept. 1, the two actresses opened up about their journey to the play, with LuPone revealing that she wasn't the first choice of the show's producers.

"They went to Mia first, and I'm actually a second choice," LuPone said, noting "I could be a third choice, I don't know."

So who got the offer before LuPone? She insists it was two-time Tony Award nominee Annette Bening, who last appeared on Broadway in the 2019 revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons.

"I'm really glad it's Patti," Farrow said, noting that her involvement in the production was actually "dependent on Patti doing it."

Asked what it was like knowing she was a later thought, the three-time Tony winner, 75, told Doane "it's not comfortable."

"You accept the part, 'cause you need to," she said. "But we did call each other a lot because I thought it was be so exciting to work with Mia, who I adore. Just to listen to Mia talk about anything is such an event that I would rather do that then rehearse. I would rather do that than eat lunch. We all feel that way. It's an amazing experience just to listen to her."

"If I had a thousand hats, they'd all be off to Patti LuPone," said Farrow, 79.

Talking about their differences, LuPone joked that "I'm pepper, she's sugar. Or agave, or honey, and I'm paprika."

"I wouldn't have thought of the food element or the spice element, but that's not wrong," Farrow added. "I don't know, I see that below the pepper... is a human soul that is immense and that I am drawn to. I really value Patti as a friend."

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The Roommate is a comedy about "an unexpected, life-changing friendship," a release says, "between two different middle-aged women as they navigate the complexities of identity, morality and the dream of reinvention."

LuPone plays a lesbian New Yorker who moves into the Iowa home of Farrow's character. Directed by Jack O’Brien, the 90-minute one act is in previews now ahead of an opening night on Thursday, Sept. 12.

Starring in the two-person play means Farrow and LuPone have to carry all the lines, something they both joked to CBS Sunday Morning they were still struggling with during technical rehearsals.

"It is harder for roles for women our age," LuPone said. "And it's a pity because we come with a certain amount of wisdom, experience, that is still very sexy. We come with a power."

But Farrow said she saw doing the show as a chance to have one last hurrah.

"It was perhaps a feeling of maybe ‘Is this it, or might there be one last adventure?’ " Farrow said, saying that she's "very good at doing nothing" when she's not working. "It’s a gift," she joked. "I’m endlessly entertaining to myself. I have good friends. I have no complaints."

And they each confessed that longevity is the ultimate barometer for success.

"If you're still working, if you’re still vital, if they still want you to work, that’s success," LuPone said with Farrow adding, "The fact that we’re even working now, that to me is success."

Tickets for The Roommate are on sale now.