Things were different when Marsha Warfield first played Roz on “Night Court” in the 1980s. Starring on the classic NBC sitcom as the no-nonsense bailiff, Warfield exuded a tough energy and mysterious outer shell, but not much was known about Roz’s interior life. It was the same, in a way, for Warfield herself, at least publicly. Though her friends and family knew she was gay, Warfield kept her full identity under wraps. 

“Nobody was out then,” says Warfield, who came out as gay to the public in 2017. Her tenure on the show began in 1986 and continued through 1992, five years before Ellen DeGeneres broke down barriers by coming out and a decade before Rosie O’Donnell made her truth public, too. “I lived a kind of double life. Many people were walking around [Hollywood] saying, ‘This is my assistant’ or, ‘This my brother.’  [Change] seems to have happened overnight, but it was a long road to get there.” 

That long road has come full circle for Warfield as of late; on Tuesday, March 26, she returned to NBC’s “Night Court” revival series for the season 2 finale, only this time, we know way more about Roz than we did in the past: she’s getting married to her girlfriend. The storyline marks the second guest appearance from Warfield, who appeared as a surprise in the Season 1 finale, yet now under dramatically different circumstances than fans had known. Now age 70, Warfield tells BET she’s thrilled to be able to play Roz in a truly authentic way––something unthinkable when the show was first on the air nearly 40 years ago. “I'm excited about it,” she says. “I'm committed to trying to do everything I can to normalize people being people,” she says. 

Off-screen, Warfield saw many fellow famous LGBTQ friends suffering because they couldn’t be fully transparent about who they were, or in some cases, even going to lengths to hide their sexual orientation. “That was a real tragedy,” she says. “Some spent their lives helping other people find love. They’re singing love songs and all kinds of great things to make [straight] people feel good about their love lives while they're miserable, because they can't express who they are. I would hope that if there's anything I can do to make sure that the next person doesn't have to suffer that kind of thing, I’m all for that.” 

Roz’s marriage is significant for Warfield because it’s a same-sex union and because of Roz’s age. Women, in general, tend to be pigeonholed in TV and film, but especially so as they get older; actresses over 40 have often spoken about how, for too long, most roles make them moms or grandmas with few other options and not people with sexual desires just as younger women have. 

That’s changing, though, and “Night Court” presenting Roz as someone who still wants and deserves romantic attention and physical affection as a vibrant senior helps cultivate the understanding that folks don’t give up those things simply because they got older. “People my age often don't think that they can find love,” says Warfield, who, as it happens, recently married her real-life partner. “We're somehow supposed to just live vicariously through our children, grandchildren, and other people and just sit around waiting to die. No, come on, let's let's kick down those doors.” 

Roz’s wedding wasn’t something she pitched to the show’s writers; they devised it independently. Likewise, her return to the show wasn’t her idea, as much as she’d have liked for it to happen when she learned the revival series was happening. “I was like, ‘They're doing their own thing. That has nothing to do with me, but I wish him well.” She says fans got the ball rolling through queries and social media posts, wondering if she’d return alongside her co-star from the original cast, John Larroquette––the only star from the first version who’s still living. Thanks to what Warfield called “magic and fate from God,” she got a phone call inviting her to return. Now, she can play Roz out of the shadows and in the full light. “I'm grateful that the writers see me, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to embody this progress.” 

She wants to keep the momentum going and thinks it’s time for a Roz spinoff. In her mind, we’d see an older, out-and-proud Black gay woman thriving, enjoying the best years of her life. “I think the idea of a seasoned woman––maybe she’s not married but single and looking, trying to meet someone and find love, all that––it’s time.” If Hollywood does want to be more forward-thinking with that idea, finally making amends for a wrong that took some four decades to make right, Warfield has something she wants the decision-makers, producers, and casting people to hear. “I’m ready. Don’t hire nobody else. I’m the one.” 

“Night Court’s” season 2 finale airs on March 26 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and streams on Peacock.