BADASS WOMEN
on the ground with everyone else. You’re just a person, and
you’ve got cancer. So start feeling your feelings.” I believe
that everything that comes at us presents an opportunity
to become a more refined version of ourselves. The cancer
was my opportunity to ask for help and basically become a
more well-rounded person. After two years of misdiag-
noses from eight doctors, by the grace of God, the cancer
was still Stage 1. I had surgery on June 21, 2000, which,
ironically, happens to be the longest day of the year. That
date was the dividing line between what I call B.C. and
A.C.: Before Cancer and After Cancer.
After Cancer became a whole
new life. Suddenly I was a person
who couldn’t have children. But
I gave birth to a book, Cancer
Schmancer, and launched a
movement with the goal of
transforming people from
patients into medical consum-
ers. The very word “patient”
implies passivity. Fuck that.
Take control of your body. Don’t
ignore something and hope it
goes away or drive yourself into
an early grave because you feel
like you have too much stuff to do
for everyone else. That is a pitfall
women often experience. I’m here
to say, “Stop that!”
I almost feel like I got famous,
I got cancer, and I lived to talk about it. So I’m talking.
During the George W. Bush administration I was ap-
pointed public diplomacy envoy for women’s health issues.
In 2005 I was instrumental in lobbying for the Gyneco-
logic Cancer and Education and Awareness Act, which
promotes the education of women with respect to
gynecologic cancer. The bill passed unanimously, which
means all 100 senators said, “Yes, Fran.” I was the
celebrity who, fresh off The Nanny, was spearheading and
galvanizing all this energy.
I also wanted to find a healthier way to perceive life experi-
ence, so I became a Buddhist. Yes, I’m now technically a
Bu-Jew. Buddhism complements any lifestyle or religious
affiliation and gives you a great vantage point on things. All I
really do every day is read a little quote from a great spiritual
thinker in a book of offerings. It’s mind-expanding and
inspiring. Don’t get me wrong—I’m still a flawed human, and
I fuck up. I get upset when I probably shouldn’t let something
bother me. But I believe that life keeps presenting you with
opportunities so you can see what you need to work on. It’s a
journey, and you’re not done till you’re done.
Every intimate relationship is a journey too. It’s not a
bad thing if something runs its course; in my case it was a
necessary experience that taught me a lot about myself.
I’ll try to put that relationship on a different shelf, which
is what I did with my ex-husband,
Peter [Marc Jacobson]. We met
when we were 15, and he saw “star”
written all over me. We’re a great
creative team, and The Nanny was
our baby. We divorced the year the
show ended. He discovered that he
was gay. It was interesting because
even though he was gay, he was the
one who was a little mad at me for
leaving him. Can you believe it? One of the silver linings
of the cancer was that we rekindled our friendship. He’s
still my soul mate.
Life unfolds, and you have to be fluid or you’ll get stuck.
You’ve got to try to make sense out of the senseless and
open yourself up to a path you never would’ve otherwise
taken. I never imagined that a) I would get cancer and
b) I would become a leader in a health space who helped
make a law in Washington. But that was where this has
brought me. It’s given me the ability to be a more well-
rounded and deeper person because now I’m able to be
vulnerable. I’m connected to my pain, and it makes me
empathetic and sympathetic to others. It also makes me a
better actress—and authenticity has always guided my
career. Now it’s led me to pursue my latest passion: stand-
up comedy. What I like about it is that I’m not dependent
on anyone. I can just write my act and show up any where.
It’s yet another outlet for me to be self-effacing and share
experiences in my life through humor that can, hopefully,
inspire people who may have gone through the same things
to open up. Sometimes the best gifts come in the ugliest
packages. —AS TOLD TO SAMANTHA SIMON
Drescher stars in the upcoming NBC show Indebted. For more
information on her foundation, visit cancerschmancer.org.
At a charity
event in 2007.
Right: On the set
of The Nanny in
the mid 1990s
64 InSTYLE AUGUST 2019
I almost feel like I got
famous, I got cancer,
and I lived to talk about it.
So I’m talking.”
