‘Roseanne’ Star Lecy Goranson Says Becky Conner Still Hasn’t Dealt With The Pain Of Her Husband’s Death

Roseanne fans are still getting reacquainted with the characters from the classic ABC sitcom, but there is still a lot more to know about Becky’s backstory as the revival series heads into its new episodes. In a new interview with Vulture, Lecy Goranson, the actress who debuted the role of the oldest Conner daughter, Becky, revealed that her character has been through a lot in the 21 years since we last saw her.

Sadly, Roseanne viewers know that Becky is now a widow. Glenn Quinn, the actor who played Becky’s husband Mark Healy, died of an accidental drug overdose in 2002. Roseanne writers incorporated Quinn’s real-life death into the reboot of the show, opting not to recast his character for the revival. But viewers have been given very little information about the death of Mark. In the first episode of the reboot, titled “Twenty Years to Life,” Roseanne’s sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) simply acknowledged that Becky has had a hard time since the death of her husband, but it has not been revealed exactly when Mark died or how he passed away.

Now, Goranson says her character is a “really tough” woman and she teased the possibility that Becky may come to terms with Mark’s death before the nine-episode Roseanne season ends. The Roseanne star told Vulture the following.

“I think of [Becky] as a very strong woman and I feel like she’s gone through a lot. She’s lost her husband and, as America will see in upcoming weeks, that really took a toll on her. Part of how that has manifested is that she hasn’t really dealt with the pain of it. As a result, she’s a little bit of arrested almost to the time where Mark passed away.”

Goranson added that facing pain is a very hard thing to do and that “sometimes the only way we can move forward in life is if we really face some of that sad stuff.”

Lecy also revealed that she has always thought of Becky Conner as an interesting and complex character, even back in her “nerdy” days drying the show’s late 1980s reign. It remains to be seen how the 42-year-old Becky will come to grips with her late husband’s death. For the Roseanne reboot, the character works as a waitress has been hired as a surrogate for a wealthy woman named Andrea (played by fellow Roseanne veteran Sarah Chalke), so that is sure to stir up some emotions.

Roseanne executive producer Bruce Helford previously told PopSugar that Mark Healy’s death will be mentioned throughout the first season of the ABC revival series.

“He comes up a couple times,” Helford said. “It isn’t just [the premiere episode]. He comes up a couple times in the course of the nine episodes.”

Glenn Quinn’s photo can also be seen in on a table behind the Conner couch in the Roseanne reboot.

You can see a classic Roseanne scene with Lecy Goranson and Glenn Quinn below.

Roseanne airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.