The O'Reilly Factor

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the second Personal Story segment tonight, actress Patricia Heaton. She has hit it big in the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and now has a new book out called Motherhood & Hollywood: How To Get a Job Like Mine.

You've got to buy that dress first.

Ms. Heaton is the mother of four boys -- ages 9, 7, 5, and 3.

PATRICIA HEATON, ACTRESS: Yes.

O'REILLY: Whoa! And here she is.

HEATON: Yes. And very happy to be here.

O'REILLY: Yes, right. You've got the four boys at home, and then you've got four boys in the sitcom.

HEATON: Yes, that's right.

O'REILLY: Romano and Boyle and those guys.

(CROSSTALK)

HEATON: ... Garrett and Boyle. That's right.

O'REILLY: I mean, they're worse than the little kids, aren't they?

HEATON: They are. That's right.

O'REILLY: All right. A couple of interesting things in your book, and we -- put it this way, ladies and gentlemen. If we have somebody on here, the book's not going to be a dog. If the book's bad, we're not going to have them on here.

So you are pro-life in a town...

HEATON: That's right.

O'REILLY: ... that is almost 100 percent pro-choice. How does that impact on you?

HEATON: Well, you know, I'm a chairman of Feminists for Life, and so I think that, because of that, we have an interesting stand that most people don't -- haven't heard before, which is being pro-life can be a feminist issue.

The early feminists were pro-life. And really abortion is a huge disservice to women, and it hasn't been presented that way. So -- so it's a -- there's a sort of an in for me because of that take on it.

O'REILLY: Do you take any heat from your peers out there?

HEATON: I did. I mean, I did originally. I vote Republican because of my pro-life stance, and, of course, that was a real hot-button issue when Bill Clinton was first elected.

I mean, people really -- I wore a Quayle-Bush button, and literally people would stop and look at the button the and look at me and give me dirty looks and, you know, say nasty things to me.

I think, since 9/11, a lot of that has calmed down a little bit.

O'REILLY: But, still, I mean, if Susan Sarandon or Barbra Streisand were here, I mean, they wouldn't talk to you. They would turn their back on you.

HEATON: You know what? It's not that polarized. I mean, people know me first as an actress and friend.

O'REILLY: But if they knew. If they knew, they...

HEATON: Some people have had that reaction, but I wouldn't say all of them.

O'REILLY: The reason I'm saying it is it's a very emotional issue, as you know.

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: Tremendously emotionally charged.

HEATON: Yes, yes.

O'REILLY: And I believe it's been exploited by politicians. I think it's a human-rights issue.

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: Would you ban abortion?

HEATON: As -- Feminists for Life -- what we're trying to do is support women, and so what we want to do is for -- reach women on campus -- college campuses so that, when they get pregnant, they can find housing. They can find money they need to stay in school.

O'REILLY: So you're giving -- you're putting an alternative track out there.

HEATON: Yes. I think pro-choice is a ridiculous -- you know...

O'REILLY: But it all comes down to...

HEATON: ... name.

O'REILLY: ... would you ban it if you were a Supreme Court justice? Would you vote to ban it?

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: You would?

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: OK. Now that, obviously, takes guts in Hollywood because, in Hollywood, there's a subtext that, if you don't play the game, you know, you could lose jobs.

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: Did you ever think of it?

HEATON: Yes, I've thought about it. On a personal level, as a Christian, it will not be Barbra Streisand I'm standing in front of when I have to make an accounting of my life.

O'REILLY: Yes. You're not going to put your resume up to...

HEATON: Yes, You know, so she...

O'REILLY: That's a good point.

HEATON: She will not be in charge of, you know, whether I get my wings or not. So, ultimately, if I had to, I could pack all this up and do something else. There's three chapters in my book about all the survival jobs I've worked. I'm very happy to go back to that if I...

O'REILLY: So you -- all right. So you're putting your moral -- your moral beliefs...

HEATON: Life is very short.

O'REILLY: ... in front of your career.

HEATON: Life is short. My mother died when I was 12. There's no guarantee that we're going to be here tomorrow.

O'REILLY: Right. But by putting your moral beliefs in front of your career, you've got to move out of Hollywood, I mean, you know, because you're the only one who does it.

All right. Now let's get on to the juicy stuff here. Surgery? Tummy tuck?

HEATON: Yes. Well, this is my other mission. I just -- I feel that, again, for women, there's a big disservice out there, that a lot of people are out there trying to look perfect and be perfect and not really saying what goes on and what goes into this.

There's women actresses lying about, you know, not having work, and, you know, you don't...

O'REILLY: Nicole -- What's her name? -- didn't have a breast job. Did you know that?

HEATON: Well...

O'REILLY: That's what she said. She said, "After I got pregnant, this happened."

HEATON: Oh -- and we're...

O'REILLY: You know what I mean? I mean, they look like Buick headlights out there, and all of the doctors are looking around. But -- go ahead.

HEATON: Yes. So -- and I've had four boys in quick succession, and I have to do a lot of award shows and things like that, and so I had a tummy tuck and I had breasts lifted.

O'REILLY: So, when you have a tummy tuck, that's the lipo deal? They vacuum it out?

HEATON: No, no. They -- you get cut and pulled and stitched and...

O'REILLY: Did it hurt?

HEATON: Well, I had four C-sections, so, to me, it was a walk in the park.

O'REILLY: It was like...

HEATON: It was a walk in the park.

O'REILLY: So you got your tummy tucked.

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: And you got -- what else?

HEATON: I had my breasts lifted because I...

O'REILLY: Lifted.

HEATON: Lifted.

O'REILLY: Yes.

HEATON: Now, listen, I nursed four boys.

O'REILLY: But -- I have five -- I have five or six...

HEATON: They were heavy drinkers. They're Irish, you know, so...

O'REILLY: I have five or six good lines for that, but, of course, in the interest of the family, I am not going to say anything about this evening's breast lift or anyone who participated in it.

Now you're very nice -- nice. You're very unusual in the sense that you're so candid about yourself.

I'm going to ask you another question now. Who takes care of your boys when you're on the set working at "Raymond"?

HEATON: Well, my husband. And I...

O'REILLY: Does he -- does he have another job?

HEATON: He's an actor and producer, so there's -- he's often available to take care of the kids.

O'REILLY: OK. Right.

HEATON: And I have a nanny that lives with us Monday through Friday.

O'REILLY: OK. So you have a full-time nanny living in the house?

HEATON: Yes, yes.

O'REILLY: All right. Now do you believe that those kids, because you're not around, particularly the little kids, suffer because of it?

HEATON: A little bit.

O'REILLY: In what way?

HEATON: Well, you know, this is the thing. When I was -- had my mother, she didn't participate in my life basically. No parents were really expected to do all these extracurricular activities and all that kind of stuff.

O'REILLY: Right. Me, too.

HEATON: OK. She was there. She was cooking, cleaning, washing, whatever.

O'REILLY: But she was there.

HEATON: But she was there. This is true.

O'REILLY: Right.

HEATON: And so, in that sense, I think I'm not there as much, but -- again, we only work four days a week.

O'REILLY: Do you feel guilty about it?

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: You do?

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: OK.

HEATON: Yes, I think

O'REILLY: Because you're...

HEATON: The preferable thing is to have the mother there all the time.

O'REILLY: Yes. When you're a little kid. I mean, when you're a little kid.

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: Now do you do anything to compensate for the guilt that you feel? Are you like too easy on them, or do you indulge them when you're around?

HEATON: No. I'm pretty strict, but I have volunteered this year to be den mother, and that is a huge sacrifice, let me tell you.

O'REILLY: Den mother to whom?

HEATON: To my -- to my 7-year-old's Cub Scout troop.

O'REILLY: All right. So you have to go there and watch these little savages make stuff?

HEATON: I have to think up the stuff for them to make.

O'REILLY: Oh, you have to actually...

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: ... think up the stuff that they make?

HEATON: Yes, yes, yes. We're were doing macaroni pencil holders this week.

O'REILLY: Let me give you a tip on that. Do you know -- do you know what's really good for den mothers?

HEATON: What?

O'REILLY: Cross-country. Do you know the game cross-country? No, this is good. All right. You say, "Now we're going to play cross-country. You run 10 miles," and get all of those kids -- and, by the time they get back, they're like this.

HEATON: I know.

O'REILLY: "Would you like some lemonade after that 10-mile run?" Cross-country always worked for me as a teacher.

HEATON: And the parents will love me because the kids will come home and collapse.

O'REILLY: Yes! Exhausted.

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: All right. That's the best den mother deal. And these stupid kids are dumb, they go, "Oh, yes. Cross-country. Let's do that. Let's run 10 miles." They don't know.

HEATON: Yes. Yes.

O'REILLY: So that's free from THE FACTOR.

HEATON: OK. Very good.

O'REILLY: Good book.

HEATON: Thank you.

O'REILLY: And, look, we respect you, you know, because most of these Hollywood weasels -- I men, they're lying like crazy to us, and we don't -- we don't -- we're not saying you're right, you're wrong, but we're saying that, if you do believe something, put your morals ahead of your career.

HEATON: Yes. I mean, the thing I found in Hollywood was that the Democrats were supposed to be all inclusive, but they weren't inclusive of my opinion.

O'REILLY: Yes, it's like Club Med. They're all inclusive, but, if you want a drink, it's extra.

HEATON: Yes.

O'REILLY: Thanks, Ms. Heaton. Nice to see you.

HEATON: Good to be here. Thank you.

O'REILLY: All right. Say hello to everybody for me out there.

HEATON: OK.