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Sara Gilbert reveals she sought Johnny Galecki's advice when picking out a name for their son on 'Roseanne'

Th actress says she felt it was important for her to reach out to Johnny because it was their kid on the show

Roseanne fans have a little surprise waiting for them as Johnny Galecki will be appearing on the show to delight them with his character, David Healy. Even though the actor will be making only one appearance on the show, he did play a crucial role in naming one of the characters in the comedy.

Appearing on 'The Talk', Sara Gilbert explained how she asked Johnny for help when she had to pick a name for her character Darlene’s son on the show. The character is played by Ames McNamara. She felt that it was important for her to reach out to Johnny because it was their kid on the show. “I thought I had to reach out to Johnny Galecki ’cause this is our kid together,” she said. 

“So I texted him, what do you think we should name our baby boy? And then I said, ‘Oh, maybe Mark,’ because Mark was played by Glenn Quinn who was [Galecki’s] brother on the show who passed away.” Earlier this year, Sara also explained why she decided to have Mark dress up like a girl. 

While talking to EW, Sara made it clear that it would be wrong to assume the 9-year-old character is transitioning or is gay.  Taking inspiration from her life, Sara wanted to bring that idea on to the screen. "He’s not a transgender character," she said. 

"He’s a little boy. He’s based on a few kids in my life that are boys who dress in more traditionally feminine clothing. He’s too young to be gay and he doesn’t identify as transgender, but he just likes wearing that kind of clothing and that’s where he is at this point in his life." There was even an episode that aired which focused on his desire to wear girl’s clothing and Sara confessed that there was a lot of research put into it because they wanted to make sure that the message was clear for the people who watched the show. 

Sara wanted to create the character as a way to create the world which is on the screen. "This is a show that’s always been able to represent the world and talk about it without being so issue-heavy. We can do it through the dynamics of the family," she said. "I know kids like that and it seemed like a great character. One kid in particular that I know is so sweet, funny, charming, and great. In a way the character— that’s one element of the character that he dresses that way, but he’s also based on this kid I know in a lot of other ways."