"Had to reshoot": When It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Brittany Daniel revealed that she was not originally supposed to play Carmen

Brittany Daniel, who plays Carmen in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in 2014, enagaed with the fans on Reddit via an "ask me anything" thread and highlighted how most of the shows comes with often problematic humour that is transphobic but Carmen was portrayed with a surprising respect and dignity as a trans woman.

In a show where every supporting character is usually worse off after crossing paths with the gang, Carmen stands out. In the thread, she revealed how the role was exciting for her, but she wasn't the original choice of the makers for Carmen.

"They had to reshoot the part of Carmen because that actress was not available," she explained.

Read on to know what else she revealed about the character from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Here is what It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia actress Brittany Daniel revealed in her Reddit AMA

Introduced in Season 1 as Mac’s love interest, Britanny's character Carmen is of a transwoman. As the show progresses, Mac realises Carmen's sexual identity and his reaction reflects his own internalised homophobia and confusion, which has been a recurring theme in his arc. By the end of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Carmen remains the only one who thrives. She gets married, with a baby along, to someone who loves and accepts her fully. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia treats her character with relative dignity, which comes as a surprise to the tone and marks a small progressiveness within the chaos.

In an old thread on Reddit.com where Brittany interacted with fans, she responded to whether Carmen would be back in the show, expressing how she got the character in the first place. Brittany admitted that she is friends with Glen Howerton, one of the makers of the show, who showed her a cut long ago. She later told her that they are picking up the shoot and are shooting Carmen's parts entirely as the actress isn't available.

"Then, a while later, FX decided to buy it, but they wanted to reshoot and they were going to base it in Philly, and they had to reshoot the part of Carmen because that actress was not available. So I said I want to play a transgender character! So I called my agent and I said PLEASE, I have to play the hot transgender woman."

She further expressed her excitement about the unique character she got to play and admitted that she knew nothing about the character's return.

"You hardly ever get to see parts like that, and I love comedy. I called Glenn and asked if I could play her. I don't know if they will bring Carmen back; it would be a surprise, you never know. I was shocked at how many people recognised me from that show."

It's worth noting that while Daniel isn’t a trans actress herself — and casting would likely be approached differently today — her enthusiasm and care for the role likely contributed to Carmen being one of the most grounded, humanised characters in the show's universe.

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In It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Carmen’s impact is all the more remarkable given how brief her screen time actually was. Carmen last appeared in season 6 episode 1 and 12, while the show is premiering its season 17 currently. Season 6 showed her happily married to Nick and expecting a baby via Dee as a surrogate. Her appearance is unlikely but can only be anticipated in the upcoming episodes.

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