To celebrate the release of the brilliant Book Club on Digital Download today (September 24), and on Blu-ray and DVD October 8, 2018, we've got an exclusive new interview for you all to check out with the wonderful Candice Bergen! Here, she talks all about the film, taking on the role of Sharon, and more.
Candice Bergen in Book Club
What is Book Club about?
Book Club is about friendship between, in this case, four women who are, who reconnect and who maintain their friendship through meeting as a book club. And it's about the latest book that they've decided to read, some of them reluctantly, which is 50 Shades of Grey. And, they all go, "Oh, it's," and of course they all read it and they, their lives are transformed and upended and, and it sort of brings them back to life.
Now, you play the role of Sharon in the film. What was it about this particular character that appealed to you? Because I think of the four, you're the one I related to the most.
Really, I, I thought she, well, I was thrilled that they offered that character to me. I mean she's a federal judge. She's intelligent, she's sort of voice of authority, but she also has a sense of humor, and she's just a standup broad. And she's, and she's lived alone for hundreds of years. She left her husband and she divorced, and her husband is with a 12-year-old and, and so she suddenly thinks that maybe I should see men, maybe I shouldn't be living in this tiny desert of an apartment. And so, so the book club, the 50 Shades of Grey opens Sharon's life up with a big flash.
Why do you think Sharon opted to stay on her own post-divorce? Why didn't she move down that path and try to rekindle a new romance?
Well, she's a woman whose life is grounded in her work. She was married for a long time to a kind of a nebbishy guy and, I think she feels her life is complete. She has a cat and, she's gone to the top of her career. And I don't think she feels that her life is wanting until suddenly she realises that it is.
And she ventures into the world of online dating...
She ventures into the world of online dating and, and gets caught at it because she goes online in her office, in her chambers, and her assistant comes in and sees her screen and every, and she, it, and she gets very flustered. But she goes online and it, it doesn't go so well at first. But, but then Richard Dreyfus sort of washes up and he's fun and, and honest and has humor and intelligence and he's a tax attorney. So, she's more realistic this time around.
Have any of your friends gone into the world of this type of dating? It seems like such a strange way for smart cultivated people. Have you ever had that conversation with any of your friends?
I haven't because I cannot imagine such a thing. And I know that that's sort of the currency today, but it's, for me it's like really? But, and, and it's, and it's what people do in all walks of life, in all incomes and all backgrounds, so who am I?
Why do you think these bonds that we create with this very select group of people are so important to our lives?
Because I think otherwise we would float up and into the air and, and burst. I, I think that friendship is just the most, I think we all need anchors, and not anchors that weigh us down, but anchors that ground us. And I think having that kind of constant support, and, and truth telling is vital for people, especially as they get older which, God knows, most of us in this movie are. And, and I think, and I think you, you sort of see the friendship constantly renewed on screen.
And it's funny and it's touching and I think I would love to be a woman going to see this film with my pals for the first time because I think it, I just, oh, it's okay. It's so warm and honest and, yeah, I'm, I'm thrilled with the movie. Bill Holderman, who's our director, it was his first movie and he really pulled it off. And who knew? So good for him.
How do you all make each other better by the end of the film?
Well, in terms of Jane and her character, we practically shove her out the door. We do shove her out the door and to not lose the love of her life and, and to keep herself guarded and protected, which is what she has been doing for her entire life. And, and, and it's a, a lovely moment in the movie when she reconnects and she lets herself be undefended. And, and I think that the, the friendship between the four women gives all, gives, each gives the other the confidence to take a chance with, either whether it's sort of revitalising your marriage or starting a relationship.
I think that if they didn't have these friends, they wouldn't have stepped so boldly out.
Now, the dream team is here. It's like in the sports metaphor, you have that perfect group of players. We were watching the four of you and who could ask for a more formidable group of actors to be in this film.
I was thrilled like beyond words to work with everyone in the movie. And, Jane [Fonda] especially just was watching everyone and protective of everyone. It was, it was lovely.
What's it like to have that opportunity?
Well, I, I've known Diane [Keaton], and Jane I met when I was 17, and Diane I've known forever. But, well, I was never close with either of them. And, and Mary [Steenburgen]. I've known her work and respected her for a long time. And, and it's, you know, I think we would all go to the, the others and, and ask for something if we needed it, and we would be there for the others if, if there were an occasion for that. I, I think there, there was a friendship formed which was treat.
And what is it about working with actors of that comic skill?
It, it was smooth as silk. And Richard Dreyfus I had seen at an event honoring Diane Keaton at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, and, and I saw him outside the theater. And I though, hmm. I mean he's a fantastic actor and so, he has that kind of feral presence, well, he's just there. And, and I thought that he would be great as, and he, thank goodness, said yes. And, and we had a, a wonderful time working together because he's, he has insane confidence.
What do you think we stand to learn from these four women in Book Club because I think there's a lesson to be learned from each one of them in some way.
I think collectively as a group, that it, women should, the takeaway is it ain't over until it's over. I mean these are women who, who, I mean, Diane and who has the most romantic, sexiest scenes in this movie, fantastic. And, and they all find, they all find connections with, with men and, and I, and I think it's, and also the fact that through it all, the, the women are there for each other and that gets you through the night.
How will all ages, do you think, benefit from watching Book Club?
I think, first of all, I think it's, it's, it's a feel-good movie. It's, it's a funny movie, it's, it's a comforting movie and, and it's a sexy movie if you don't mind all those people. But I, I think it's, it's inspiring because these are women who have navigated their way through, through what most women have had to deal with in their lives, and they've, they've found a way through it and, and they've reinvented themselves and they've reinvented their marriage. And, and I, I think it's, it's sort of hopeful to know that it, it's not over. In a way, it's just beginning until you die which is very soon. But, yeah, I, I mean, I, I feel more present than I've ever felt, and I'm very old.