Rosie O’Donnell Is Still in Touch with the Child Actor fromA League of Their OwnAfter Befriending His Family on Set(Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Justin Scheller, Tom Hanks and Rosie O’Donnell in ‘A League of Their Own’ in 1992.Photo:Everett

Everett

Madonnaisn’t the onlyA League of Their Owncostar with whomRosie O’Donnellremained close.As the actress tellsBusy Philippson the upcoming Wednesday, Nov. 20, episode of her QVC+ and HSN+ chat show,Busy This Week, she’s also stayed in touch with Justin Scheller, the former child actor who played Stilwell, the bratty 5-year-old son of one of the film’s other Rockford Peaches.“I was good friends with him and his mother on the set,” O’Donnell, 62, told Philipps.O’Donnell’s rapport with the young actor was so strong, she explained, thatA League of Their OwndirectorPenny Marshalleven had to turn to her for help with Scheller’s performance. One memorable scene, in whichTom Hanks’s ornery coach Jimmy Dugan throws a baseball mitt at a sneering Stilwell, proved particularly difficult.Justin Scheller and Madonna in ‘A League of Their Own’ in 1992.Everett“Penny, who didn’t have the best way with kids, would go, ‘Rosie, c’mere. We’re tryin’ to throw the mitt at him, but he keeps actin’ like the mitt’s comin’, so do somethin’,’ ” O’Donnell recalled, mimicking Marshall’s distinctive New York accent. “So I go over to him and I go, ‘Listen, Justin, here’s the deal: I’m gonna do what you do, okay?’ ”O’Donnell explained she told Scheller they weren’t going to throw the baseball mitt at him this time and she coached the young actor through the scene to distract him.But, she said, “We threw the mitt at him, and he was so surprised … and then I fell down and then he fell down, and it was perfect!”“He runs over to me afterwards and he goes, ‘Rosie, can you believe they didn’t tell us they were gonna throw the mitt at me?’ ” O’Donnell recalled. “I’m like, ‘They werehorribleto not tell you!’ ”“I was the one who did it, you know?” she added. “But I’ve stayed in touch with him.”A League of Their Ownis Scheller’s only acting credit. According toTMZ, he went on to live a quiet life in the Midwest. But as recently as 2021, he participated in aprivate signing of memorabiliafrom the film.Rosie O’Donnell in Prime Video’s ‘A League of Their Own’.AmazonO’Donnell, meanwhile, returned to the world ofA League of Their Ownin 2022. The actress, who came out publicly in 2002, played the owner of an underground lesbian bar inPrime Video’s 1940s set series based on the film.“I did a scene that was actually very, very upsetting,” O’Donnell told Philipps, “because I played the bartender who had a wife, and then the police come in, and they pretend, you know, to rough me up. But it was the only time in my life that anything like that happened, and they were screaming bad things at us, and it was so hard to take that, even though my brain knew it was fake, it was still very traumatic, and it’s a scene that’s very riveting to watch.”

Madonnaisn’t the onlyA League of Their Owncostar with whomRosie O’Donnellremained close.

As the actress tellsBusy Philippson the upcoming Wednesday, Nov. 20, episode of her QVC+ and HSN+ chat show,Busy This Week, she’s also stayed in touch with Justin Scheller, the former child actor who played Stilwell, the bratty 5-year-old son of one of the film’s other Rockford Peaches.

“I was good friends with him and his mother on the set,” O’Donnell, 62, told Philipps.

O’Donnell’s rapport with the young actor was so strong, she explained, thatA League of Their OwndirectorPenny Marshalleven had to turn to her for help with Scheller’s performance. One memorable scene, in whichTom Hanks’s ornery coach Jimmy Dugan throws a baseball mitt at a sneering Stilwell, proved particularly difficult.

Justin Scheller and Madonna in ‘A League of Their Own’ in 1992.Everett

“Penny, who didn’t have the best way with kids, would go, ‘Rosie, c’mere. We’re tryin’ to throw the mitt at him, but he keeps actin’ like the mitt’s comin’, so do somethin’,’ ” O’Donnell recalled, mimicking Marshall’s distinctive New York accent. “So I go over to him and I go, ‘Listen, Justin, here’s the deal: I’m gonna do what you do, okay?’ ”

O’Donnell explained she told Scheller they weren’t going to throw the baseball mitt at him this time and she coached the young actor through the scene to distract him.

But, she said, “We threw the mitt at him, and he was so surprised … and then I fell down and then he fell down, and it was perfect!”

“He runs over to me afterwards and he goes, ‘Rosie, can you believe they didn’t tell us they were gonna throw the mitt at me?’ ” O’Donnell recalled. “I’m like, ‘They werehorribleto not tell you!’ ”

“I was the one who did it, you know?” she added. “But I’ve stayed in touch with him.”

A League of Their Ownis Scheller’s only acting credit. According toTMZ, he went on to live a quiet life in the Midwest. But as recently as 2021, he participated in aprivate signing of memorabiliafrom the film.

Rosie O’Donnell in Prime Video’s ‘A League of Their Own’.Amazon

Amazon

O’Donnell, meanwhile, returned to the world ofA League of Their Ownin 2022. The actress, who came out publicly in 2002, played the owner of an underground lesbian bar inPrime Video’s 1940s set series based on the film.

“I did a scene that was actually very, very upsetting,” O’Donnell told Philipps, “because I played the bartender who had a wife, and then the police come in, and they pretend, you know, to rough me up. But it was the only time in my life that anything like that happened, and they were screaming bad things at us, and it was so hard to take that, even though my brain knew it was fake, it was still very traumatic, and it’s a scene that’s very riveting to watch.”

source: people.com