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Rosie O'Donnell on having gray hair for 'SMILF' and becoming a grandmother

The actress and comedian welcomed her first grandchild in December.
/ Source: TODAY

Rosie O'Donnell is embracing her gray hair.

The 56-year-old funny lady, swung by TODAY Wednesday where she opened up to Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager about what it's been like going gray for her role on Showtime's dark comedy "SMILF."

Joining O'Donnell during the segment was Frankie Shaw, 32, the show's creator and star.

"Frankie said, 'Can you grow your gray out? And, I thought, 'How hard could it be?'" asked O'Donnell, who plays Tutu, the mother of Shaw's character, Bridgette.

Rosie O'Donnell gray hair
Rosie O'Donnell said it took years to grow out her gray hair.Nathan Congleton / TODAY

Turns out, "It takes years!" O'Donnell revealed to laughter all around.

During filming of the show's pilot, the actress and comedian was forced to to dye her hair gray because her natural gray hadn't finished fully growing out.

Now that O'Donnell's gotten used to sporting trendy silver locks, will she keep them?

"Well, I don't know. I have five kids and three of them are voting (to) go back. Three of them say, 'You look way too old,'" she shared.

The most vocal no vote? That would be O'Donnell's 6-year-old daughter, Dakota (with late ex Michelle Rounds), who informed her mom that her schoolmates now think she's Dakota's grandmother.

"Make your hair black again!" Dakota begged.

Actually, O'Donnell did recently become a grandmother for the first time. In December, her 21-year-old daughter, Chelsea, and boyfriend Jacob Bourassa welcomed their first child, a daughter named Skylar Rose.

The experience has been sweetly emotional for the "A League of Their Own" star.

"It was really trippy, I have to say," O'Donnell said of holding the baby for the first time.

Seeing her daughter "so happy" with her own child also made O'Donnell's heart sing.

"It was really a very beautiful thing," she gushed.