Debra Messing Recalls How Former NBC President Wanted Her to Have ‘Big Boobs’ on ‘Will & Grace'

Debra Messing's time on Will & Grace began with a pair of chicken cutlets.

During The Impact of Will & Grace: 25 Years Later event at The Paley Center for Media panel on Monday, the 54-year-old actress revealed that the then-NBC president wanted her to "have big boobs" while playing the high-strung interior designer Grace Adler.

"The very first fitting, they had the chicken cutlets to make me bigger," she said. "I just wasn't a fan of like the whole idea of it."

Messing had no fear of speaking up about the situation.

"I was like, 'You know what? I don't need that," she continued. "And they're like, 'Well, it's the president of the network [saying this].' And I said, 'If he wants it, then he needs to come here and tell me to my face.'"

Messing has since clarified her statement, explaining via Instagram that she wasn't referencing her "friend" Warren Littlefield "who was the person responsible for shepherding & green lighting what was, at the time, a very provocative concept."

"I shared a story at the Paley Center about a request made, when I first began W&G, from 'higher ups' at the network that I add some bulk to my bra, as Grace. Back then there were many titles-President, West Coast President, Chairman etc and I want to make it clear that Warren was not the person who made that request," she said. "He would never, ever do so; he is a man of integrity. If anyone misconstrued my reference, and assumed it was Warren, I want to disabuse you of that notion."

She added, "This week we have celebrated 25 years of the making of a ground breaking show, and I want to focus on the joy that it brought to viewers and to all of us who worked on it. I hope you’ll join me. ❤️"

The popular sitcom enjoyed an initial eight-season run on NBC from 1998 to 2006, then returned to primetime for three more seasons from 2017 to 2020, with Messing, Eric McCormack, Megan Mullally, and Sean Hayes at the helm.

Messing previously shared with PEOPLE that the revival of the series "was supposed to be only ten episodes, and then it turned into three seasons."

While she added that "it was a gift to all of us to reacquaint ourselves with all of these characters as middle-aged people [dealing] with middle-aged issues," she added that she is okay with leaving the show in her past.

"The only way that I could see another iteration is if it was like Golden Girls in Boca Raton," she quipped. "So I think we're going to have to wait another 30 years. So we can talk again in 30 years and see where we're at. Until then, just watch reruns."

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Will & Grace can be streamed on Prime Video and Hulu.

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