Fran Drescher talks to Richelle Carey
Richelle Carey: You survived what had to have been one of the worst experiences that any woman could go through. You have told the story about you and your best friend being in your apartment, two brothers breaking into your apartment. They rape both of you as your husband at the time, Peter, witnessed this. Those two men are in prison now. What you said in an interview with Larry King was "With the rape, I mean, I became a deeper, more compassionate person. I became a better actor." How so?
Fran Drescher: I'm fortunate that I'm a creative person. I can take my pain and funnel those feelings into my work. I was able to use it in my acting and also to turn my pain into purpose and become someone that uses my life experience as well as my celebrity for the greater good.
You probably already know this number, but out of every 100 rapes, only about 40 are reported. And only about three rapists ever serve a day in jail. But you did get justice. Can you talk about what the process was like for you to actually get justice, whatever that may mean, for you?
I happened to be watching a morning talk show the week before. And one of the guests was a detective that was talking about how witnesses or victims make the worst witnesses. Because they're usually so frightened that they don't pick up on the details that would help the police apprehend the assailant. I remembered that interview that very night when we were held hostage at gunpoint. So I managed to really memorize the features of the man that was actually the rapist and in the room with us.
And so afterwards when it was time to speak to the police artist, I was the one that did it because I happen to have a photographic memory. When it was done, it looked like he had posed for it. And there had been so many things going on in my area that the police department for that community got funding to have a three-night stakeout. And if he hadn't re-entered the neighborhood in those three nights, they might not have ever caught him. But he actually took my car. The car was found in a neighborhood in Los Angeles.
