Debra Messing: Former NBC President Wanted Me to ‘Have Big Boobs’ on Will & Grace

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Debra Messing: Former NBC President Wanted Me to ‘Have Big Boobs’ on Will & Grace

Debra Messing‘s award-winning role on Will & Grace began with the actress being asked to fake having bigger breasts, according to the star.

Debra Messing wasn’t willing to change anything for her Will & Grace role

At The Magic of Will & Grace at The Paley Center for Media panel this week (via People Magazine), Messing recalled on her time on the show. Prior to the show, Messing revealed, then-president of NBC Warren Littlefield allegedly wanted the star to “have big boobs” while playing the character of Grace Adler.

“The very first fitting, they had the chicken cutlets to make me bigger,” said Messing. “I just wasn’t a fan of, like… the whole idea of it.”

When pressed on the issue, Messing said the president would have to come down and tell her to her face.

“I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t need that,” Messing said. “And they’re like, ‘Well, it’s the president of the network [saying this].’ And I said, ‘If he wants it, then he needs to come here and tell me to my face.'”

Of course, Messing ended up not having to fake anything; her role in Will & Grace went on to be beloved by millions. The series would go on to run for eight seasons at NBC, and has been praised since its release for helping and improving the public opinion of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2014, the Smithsonian Institution added an LGBTQ+ history collection to its museum that included Will & Grace items.

For her role as Grace Adler in the series, Messing won a Primetime Emmy in 2003. She was also nominated for the award six times, as well as being nominated for a Golden Globe Award six times.