- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: GOLDIE HAWN SPEAKS ABOUT HER NEW FILM 'THE FIRST WIVES CLUB'
- Date: 7th November 1996
- Summary: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 7, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) ( SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) GOLDIE HAWN SAYING IT (THE FILM) HIT A NERVE, PEOPLE WERE SAYING OH MY GOD THIS IS MY LIFE. PEOPLE WERE CREATING PARTIES BEFORE THE FILM WAS ACTUALLY OUT, THEY GOT A SMELL, A WHIFF OF WHAT IT WAS THIS MOVIE DEALT WITH, IT WAS FUNNY
- Embargoed: 22nd November 1996 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM/ FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVAPK0YJ659SY9HYUUSMHXXP1HR
- Story Text: London's 40th film festival kicked off with a show-stopping appearance from Hollywood's Goldie Hawn, who is in England to promote her new film "The First Wives Club", a bitter-sweet story of three women who take revenge on their cheating husbands.
Hawn joins Diane Keaton and Bette Midler to play women who have all been callously dumped by their husbands in favour of younger, sexier "trophy wives." The three join forces and concoct a plan to exact the perfect vengeance.
"It (the film) hit a nerve," Goldie told Reuters at the London premiere. "They were saying 'Oh my God, this is my life.'...they got a whiff of what it was this movie dealt with, it was funny." In the film, Hawn plays Elise, an aging actress who is addicted to plastic surgery in order to keep herself looking young. Keaton plays Annie, a housewife living in denial of her husband's infidelities while Midler is Brenda, the ex-wife of an electronics magnate.
For Hawn, one of her greatest challenges was playing a drunk.
She also had to suffer saline injections to swell her lips in keeping with her part of a plastic-surgery addicted actress.
"She's very much a cliched character," Hawn explained. "I was most concerned with how to keep her real...rather than a cardboard cut-out." As for the on-set antics -- the film ends with a show-stopping rendition of the 60's doo-wop hit "You Don't Own Me".
Hawn laughed off Bette Midler's self-professed nerves at acting alongside her. Their professional association grew into friendship during filming, she added.
"We had a total blast together. We're all good friends now and will probably stay that way," Hawn said.
A strong supporting cast backs up the film -- Maggie Smith plays a high-society Manhattan socialite, Bronson Pinchot a flamboyant interior decorator and Stockard Channing a college friend of the women. Sarah Jessica Parker, Elizabeth Berkley, and Marcia Gay Harden play the younger "trophy wives".
The film was author Olivia Goldsmith's first novel and an instant success. It became a national bestseller and drew rave reviews from the critics. Director Hugh Wilson's credits include the original "Police Academy" and "Guarding Tess." "The First Wives Club" is very much a New York City story and it was filmed almost entirely in the Big Apple. Locations included well-known spots like Cafe Des Artistes, Christie's Fine Arts Auctioneers, Barney's, The Bowery Bar, The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis Hotel.
The film is another success in the long careers of all three lead actresses.
Hawn has been seen in such hits as "Foul Play", "Private Benjamin" and the 1975 hit "Shampoo". In 1969, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing opposite Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman in "Cactus Flower." Diane Keaton is best-known for her long professional and personal association with filmmaker Woody Allen. Their films together include "Sleeper", "Manhattan", "Radio Days" and "Manhattan Murder Mystery".
Bette Midler began her career as a musician but soon branched into movies. She has received two Academy Award nominations, (for "The Rose" and "For the Boys,") and a string of industry awards.
Her other films include "Beaches," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," "Ruthless People," and "Big Business." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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