Betty White enjoyed the privilege of playing plenty of iconic characters during her time as a Hollywood star. However, none seemed as close to her own personality as Rose Nylund. “I didn’t realize there’s as much Rose in me as there really is,” said White during an interview with The Courier-Post. “I thought I was more Sue Ann for sure.”

Of course, White was referencing her iconic character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Sue Ann Nivens. Though Sue Ann had a much sharper and more competitive nature than Rose Nylund, if pressed as to who of the two ladies we’d rather spend the day with, we’d undoubtedly choose the latter.

“Sue Ann was always so fast with a smart answer,” said White. “But Rose is just a beat behind everybody; it’s an innocence I’ve never played before.”

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Despite Rose’s cluelessness, it was her heart that White truly identified with. She and her character had both lost their husbands too soon, and it was an absence that colored the rest of their lives. This sentimentality gave White common ground with Rose.

“But it’s easy for me to understand Rose and her devotion to Charlie (her late husband),” said the actor. “She talks to Charlie all the time: I talk to Allen all the time.”