Sabrina Carpenter Was Turned Down for a Role onThe Conners,Whitney Cummings Says: ‘Thank God We Said No' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Whitney Cummings and Sabrina Carpenter.Photo:Jesse Grant/Getty; TheStewartofNY/FilmMagic

Jesse Grant/Getty; TheStewartofNY/FilmMagic

Sabrina Carpentercould’ve had a very different career path, according toWhitney Cummings.

Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE atELLE’sWomen in Hollywood Celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, Calif., the comedian, 42, opened up about the biggest lessons she’s learned over the course of her career.

“This business is mostly rejection,” Cummings said, detailing that she’s had to work on getting “super comfortable with rejection.”

TheTwo Broke Girlscreator also explained that she’s learned that rejection can ultimately be a blessing, because it means there is then availability for an even better opportunity to come around.

Using Carpenter, 25, as an example, Cummings said she was once turned down for a role on the ABC sitcomThe Conners, on which Cummings briefly served as showrunner.

Mike Coppola/Getty

“Sabrina Carpenter auditioned … and it wasn’t the right fit. She got a rejection that day when we were casting the daughter," she said of the role that ultimately went toShamelessactressEmma Kenney.

Carpenter got her start on the Disney Channel showGirl Meets Worldand has since shot to fame as a singer with massive recent hits like “Espresso,” “Please Please Please,” and “Taste.” She is currently on her internationalShort n' SweetTour.

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Continuing to speak about rejection, and relating it back to Carpenter, Cummings said, “I think that we’re still trained in our society to want to win and get a yes. Sometimes a yes is the worst thing you can get, because then you’re stuck on the wrong show for 7 years. You’re in the wrong thing.”

She also shared with PEOPLE that some of the best advice she’s ever received from another woman in the industry was: “Get your personal life in order, [save] the drama for your work — you know, have a boring life.”

Cummings said that she realized that was true as soon as things started “popping off” for her professionally.

Whitney Cummings at the 2024 ELLE Women In Hollywood Celebration in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Nov. 19.Maya Dehlin Spach/FilmMagic

Maya Dehlin Spach/FilmMagic

“I’m with a man that I think I need to rescue. I’m dating drug addicts. I’m not able to set boundaries,” she recalled of that time in her life, adding, “The idea is, like, to not drain yourself, you know? … Make sure you focus on your personal life enough too, when all this [professional success] happens.”

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Cummings — who welcomed her first child in December 2023 — currently hosts theGood for You Podcast, in which she interviews “guests (friends, comics, celebs, experts, weirdos)” every week.

Good For Youis available to stream wherever podcasts are available.

source: people.com