Teri Hatcher recalls hiding Robert Downey Jr’s gum in her hand on Soapdish set

12 August 2024, 14:40 | Updated: 12 August 2024, 16:00

The actress told Radio X’s Toby Tarrant about the surreal moment she offered to hold the actor’s gum after he’d been chewing it on the set of the film.

Teri Hatcher has recalled the out of body experience she felt when she helped Robert Downey Jr. get rid of his chewing gum on set.

The Coraline star visited Radio X HQ and spoke to Toby Tarrant, who was admiring her long and varied career, and when asked if she’d ever freaked out when doing a scene with a megastar like Whoopi Goldberg, she replied: “I think with big stars like that, there is some element of that, for sure.”

Speaking of the 1991 comedy film Soapdish in which she starred alongside Goldberg and Robert Downey Jr, Hatcher recalled: “There was a scene where, because it was all on the set of a soap opera, it was like a two-minute take, or the camera was winding its way through the whole set, and certain actors would have some dialogue, and then the camera would move on, and the other characters would pick up the dialogue and Robert Downey Jr and I were at the very end of this take.”

The Desperate Housewives star went on: “So, you’re standing there waiting, you know, for the camera and right before the camera came on us, he realised that he was chewing gum, and he and there was this like look in his eyes, like, ‘Where do I put the gum? Where do I put the gum?’ And I just stuck my hand out, and he just put the gum right my hand, and I put it behind my back and held it behind my back, and then the camera came on us and we did our scene, or whatever.

“But I mean, that kind of says to me what you’re talking about. Like, ‘I have Robert Downey Jr’s gum in my hand right now.'”

The 59-year-old actress also admitted that she’s had so many roles over the years, she often forgets what she’s been in.

Asked whether she watches the television and wonders if she’s going to pop up, the actress replied: “Because I don’t watch a tonne of stuff, so I mean, that probably wouldn’t happen. But what does happen is I go, ‘Was I in that?’ It really is a blur. Some of it is a blur. But mostly, I’m kind of like, can you believe it?”

The Tomorrow Never Dies star added: “It’s a very long career. It’s sort of, when you think about it like that, you don’t really realise that that much time has gone by.”

Speaking of Soapdish, she added: “When I think back, I think I had six lines in that whole movie, or 11 lines, but I was around all the time in the background, and just getting to be on set and watch Whoopi Goldberg and Sally Field, and Kevin Kline do their thing – Robert Downey Jr – you know, do their thing.

“I’ve had a lot of experiences like that, and it’s pretty amazing, actually, to be sitting in hindsight looking at it going, ‘Wow, I did that.’”