'The Conners' cast speak of disbelief, confusion in wake of Roseanne Barr's racist tweet

Cast members of "The Conners," ABC's upcoming spinoff of "Roseanne" minus controversial star Roseanne Barr, have recalled their disbelief and confusion upon learning "Roseanne" had been canceled and Barr fired over a racist tweet.

John Goodman, 66, who played blue-collar Midwesterner Dan Conner in the original 1988-1997 run of the sitcom and reprises the role in the 2018 revival, was "in my kitchen and maybe my daughter or my wife told me," the actor tells People magazine in its new issue. "It just didn't seem true. Then it got true. I was consciously trying to accept it."

Metcalf, 63, was starring in Broadway's "Three Tall Women," for which she won the second of her two Tony Awards, when she heard about the cancellation "on the news, actually." The actress, who plays Roseanne's sister Jackie, told the magazine, "I thought, 'Oh, I wonder if we still have a show.' Because of how heavy everything became."

"I don't remember too much," says Gilbert, 43, who in addition to playing the Conners' second child, daughter Darlene, is one of the show's executive producers. "It was more just, 'OK, what are we dealing with today?' I was just kind of taking things one step at a time as they came."

When the notion of a spinoff without the title star was broached, "There was a lot of risk involved," says Metcalf. "But we all decided as a group to take the risk, knowing that we could be judged by deciding to come back."

Barr has said her character will have died from an opioid overdose. Neither ABC nor the show's production company, Carsey-Werner Television, has commented. After being fired within hours of posting a racist tweet in May, Barr relinquished creative and financial ties to the series, allowing the spinoff to move forward.

"That was a very big deal," Goodman tells People. "To give us a chance." He added, "We're leaning on each other when we do this show. And supporting each other -- that's a very strong feeling among us. It's different, but we can create something new from it. Let us finish the story on our own terms."

"The Conners" premieres Oct. 16 at 8 p.m.