Video: Audra McDonald Reflects on ‘Legend’ Status and GYPSY Role in CBS Interview

"Every single night I wonder if I'm going to be able to pull it off," said Audra McDonald of her performance as Gypsy's Mama Rose during a new CBS interview. Ahead of the Tony Awards this Sunday, for which McDonald is honored with her eleventh nomination, she sat down with Gayle King to shed light on the production and her take on the famed Broadway role.

"George [C. Wolfe's] talks a lot about Rose's obsession with the kids becoming stars is because being a star protects you in some way. She, as a single woman at this time...is trying to protect these babies," she explained. "So once I started to look at it through those eyes, she began to reveal herself to me [and] to how Audra would play her."

She also shared her thoughts on the lofty word "legend," specifically when it is applied to her as a performer. "If it can mean something to some little Black girl somewhere who says, 'She did it. She looks like me, so I can do it." Great. If it means that I have continued to try and be in the theater all these years because it's what I love and it's what fills me, then great. But I can't really comprehend what that means to me." Watch the full segment now.

McDonald has broken records as the performer with the most Tony wins, receiving 6 since her first honor in 1994 for Carousel. For her performance as Mama Rose, she has been nominated in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.

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