Facts of Lifers Reunited
Hey, Facts of Life fans! There's a reunion (of sorts) happening in tonight's season finale of The Division (8 pm/PT on Lifetime). Series regular Nancy McKeon's former Facts costar Kim Fields guest stars! What's Tootie doing on Jo's turf?
"I play a high-school principal facing a severe element of Columbine-ism, if you will," Fields, 35, tells TV Guide Online. "Some misfit students end up going to an extreme and becoming violent. There's shooting, car explosions and a hostage situation. So it's very intense."
Fields even finds herself in some juicy danger. "I am a hostage," she chuckles. "I'm connected to a bomb, actually — it's strapped around my neck! And anybody who knows me knows the front of my neck — around my throat — is very, very sensitive and ticklish. So the idea of wardrobe people strapping something in that area for a few days was so unappealing."
Still, it's fair to assume that The Division ain't gonna blow up Tootie. Lifetime loves their women-in-peril tales, but that would be going too far. Um, wouldn't it? "The principal doesn't die," Fields reassures us. "Other people do pass away, unfortunately, but the principal stays intact. In a way, all's well that ends well."
Fields and McKeon's reunion seems way overdue, especially since McKeon opted not to participate in 2001's Facts of Life Reunion TV-movie. But Fields says they "didn't even talk about" why McKeon didn't care to reprise her role as Jo.
Although Fields has played other roles since
Facts — like sassy Regine on the 1993-98 sitcom
Living Single — she'll probably always be associated with Tootie. Clearly, that's a sensitive subject. "There was a
lot of hesitation [about doing the reunion movie]," she admits, "but I'm not really up for talking about that project. There's nothing to really discuss. We certainly had a lot of great times and laughs, and we were a part of each others' lives during our special years of young womanhood. It's a part of me, but it's not the be all and end all of my career."
