SANDRA BERNHARD CARRIES THE ROOM

From Film to TV to Music to Theater, Sandy's Done It All -- But Don’t Call It a Renaissance!

From VALŪS Issue No.2 Winter 2025 / 2026 print edition - pre-order your copies today!

Written by Jo Rosenthal

This essay is the result of a lengthy conversation between Bernhard and Rosenthal. 

Sandra Bernhard is one of the few living legends of Hollywood, a force still moving and shifting the world around her. Bernhard’s internal rhythm is a powerful stride that neither rushes nor waits. She commands every room she enters and makes it hard not to be a fan. Her intimacy arrives in sharp flashes, with her affection tucked inside like a punchline. When she laughs, we laugh alongside her. When she speaks, we listen. 

That’s because Bernhard’s words carry weight, as someone who has always thought a little deeper than the room required. If the world were a stage, she would be standing in the spotlight, alone, delivering truths wrapped in irony with her presence and poise unmistakable. The glamour is there, but it mixes with a modern edge, all polish and provocation. She tells a story with her expressions, as if she knows the world better than it knows itself. It is no small thing that our planet still holds space for someone so vast, so sure, and so entirely herself.

Bernhard has not waited for permission to speak, let alone perform. Growing up in Flint, Michigan, where the winters were long and the sky often gray, she learned to color outside the lines early. Her parents, curious-minded and unorthodox, left the door open to the world. She walked through that door with eyes wide open and questions already on her lips. It was never about fame. It was about freedom, truth, and beauty hidden beneath the noise. 

Bernhard does not treat roles like a checklist. Each is a chance to live out a truth that isn’t hers, until suddenly it is. In Martin Scorcese’s early hit The King of Comedy, she was only 28, but one would be hard pressed to prove it. She crackled on screen with a feverish confidence that made you afraid, and also forget who she was acting alongside… the even-then legendary Robert De Niro. On Roseanne, she was given the space to rewrite what a woman could be on a network television show. Funny, sexual, strange, and unbothered, it was a revelation. From Will & Grace to Pose, her presence has always arrived with a wink, a warning, and a fabulous outfit.

And in this month's Marty Supreme, directed by cult favorite Josh Safdie, Bernhard steps into the ring once again, this time alongside stars Timothée Chalamet, Gwenyth Paltrow, designer Isaac Mizrahi, Tyler, the Creator, Fran Drescher, Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, and more. Bernhard, with that familiar mix of humor and hunger, creates sharp edges and soul that makes you want to befriend her with caution. She does not melt into a character, she cuts it open, climbs inside, and leaves it changed. 

Bernhard is also a commanding presence on late-night television, meeting every host and every question with calm authority and a gaze unwavering. She does not flinch, and she does not perform for approval. There is a duality to her that audiences recognize without needing to name. She has the charm of a guest who lights up the room, and the focus of a host who knows exactly when to call it a night. While others reach for escape, Bernhard reaches for clarity. For her, brilliance is not a passing state. It is a practiced discipline. 

Bernhard moves forward without apology and without pause, merging fashion with philosophy, and wit with an even sharper silhouette. Her presence is both performance and protest. In an industry that has spent years asking women to shrink, to soften, to be polite, Bernhard has chosen to expand. She takes up space and insists on being seen. She wears boldness like a second skin, every stitch deliberate, every word chosen to speak louder than the applause that inevitably follows. 

Throughout her life, Bernhard has been surrounded by the kind of women whose names alone light up a room. Tina Turner. Carol Burnett. Diana Ross. Laura Nyro. Carol Channing. They were more than mere idols from a distance. They smiled at her from the wings, danced through her memories, and reflected a kind of strength she already carried. These were women who did not wait to be invited in. Neither did she. For Bernhard, culture only matters when it remembers its own story. Style must have soul. And history is not something to rewrite, but something to carry, sometimes proudly, sometimes painfully. 

Bernhard's work lives in that beautiful contradiction between ease and intention. It laughs, but it listens, and she never forces it. Instead, she lets it breathe, lets it bend, lets it surprise her. Maybe that is the secret. She has not had to choose between being serious and free, always knowing how to be both at once. 

Bernhard has spent a lifetime speaking up for the voices the world tries to push aside. Her circle has always been dazzling and defiant. Names like André Leon Talley, Jane Curtin, and Marc Jacobs pass through her orbit not just as collaborators or companions but as fellow architects of a world where glamour and intellect walk hand in hand. She lives and breathes fabulousness, not as decoration but as declaration. Whether through comedy, commentary, or simply the way she enters a room, she makes it clear that style can speak. She believes in joy as much as justice, in wit as a form of resistance, and in art as something that moves culture forward. Not one to stand at the edge of a revolution, hoping to be noticed, Bernhard steps inside it, shapes it, paints it in her colors, and carries it forward with a remarkable outfit and an unshakable sense of purpose. 

But what's next? Her annual string of New Year's cabaret shows at the famed Joe's Pub in Manhattan starting December 26; this year's iteration is entitled SANDRA BERNHARD: CAUGHT OFF GUARD. "These are crazy, how-low-can-we-go-times and Sandy doesn’t like that vibe!" reads its descriptor. "But she’s rising to the occasion, even when she’s Caught Off Guard, which is on a daily basis. If you like staying high, getting carried away on perfumed breezes… Or if your setting is continental, a little sentimental, then Sandy is your girl. She’s there to guide you through these treacherous times with a groove, beat and style you’ve become accustomed to."

And what does the future hold for the multi-hyphenate creative force, beyond more accolades, more roles, more cameos, and more tours? She points to quality family time and more extended conversations, with Lana Del Rey humming softly in the background. The goal is not to document every moment; it has always been about reflection, about living for the feeling, not for the photo. She has never cared much for social media, and often misses the days when relevance was measured in presence, not posts. In her eyes, what the world needs now is a return to something real, a life of walking outside, speaking honestly, and refusing to sit back while life rushes past. 

After five decades in the public eye, there is still joy to be had and laughter waiting in the wings. With upcoming film roles, her long-running radio show, Sandyland, and her ever-evolving one-woman revue, she continues to prove that brilliance does not dim. It adapts, it deepens, and it dares, as she does. It’s safe to say, Bernhard’s name will echo in theaters and hum through living rooms for centuries to come. ☆

CREDITS

PHOTOGRAPHER | Oliver Halfin

CREATIVE DIRECTOR | Alex Blynn

WARDROBE STYLIST | Andrew Gelwicks

MAKEUP ARTIST | Romero Jennings

HAIR STYLIST | Brent Lawler

MANICURIST | Dan Renée

LIGHTING TECHNICIAN | Joshua Eichenbaum

1st CAMERA ASSISTANT | Vincent Caruso

2nd CAMERA ASSISTANT | Alexander Evans

WARDROBE ASSISTANT | Kyle Gleason

VIDEOGRAPHER | Jo Kami

FLORAL DIRECTOR | Joe Caster

GRAPHIC DESIGNER | Abel Teclemariam

RETOUCHER | Emilie Nguyen