For nine years, actress Mindy Cohn played Natalie Green on "The Facts of Life." Though the '80s sitcom was a hit, Cohn tells "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" that it also kept her from landing a covetable role in the movie that spawned the Brat Pack.
"I had an amazing opportunity to audition for a movie called 'St. Elmo's Fire' -- an audition for Joel Schumacher, the director," Cohn says.
That opportunity came before actors like Michael J. Fox began making the transition from popular television shows to blockbuster movies. "So God bless Michael J. Fox for a number of reasons … but ooh, I wish it had come a year earlier!" Cohn says. "Because 'Facts of Life' would not let me out of my contract to go do it."
Instead, the role went to Mare Winningham, who Cohn says she adores. "So it went to the right person," she says. "I have always felt that the answer is always in the envelope for the parts I'm supposed to get, that there is nothing I can do to make it happen if it's not meant to be."
"But I do feel very frustrated that in those nine years we were not given the opportunity to sort of do other things," Cohn admits. "High class problem, really."
"Oprah: Where Are They Now?" airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on OWN.
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