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You can thank Candice Bergen for “Book Club” going full Italiano.
Bergen started planning the next exotic chapter of the 2018 comedy − about four longtime friends whose lives are changed forever after reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” − from an airplane in Las Vegas while promoting the movie even before the release.
“We were saying, ‘I think this movie’s going to do OK − maybe we should do a sequel,’ ” Bergen recalls. “And I said, ‘Yeah, and we should shoot the sequel in Italy.’ It turns out, we did.”
This second movie was sealed after “Book Club” rolled with an impressive $104 million at the box office worldwide. “Book Club: The Next Chapter” (in theaters) reunites Bergen with co-stars Jane Fonda, 85, Mary Steenburgen, 70, and Diane Keaton, 77, as the friends head for a long-delayed bachelorette party trip throughout Italy.
Bergen talks to USA TODAY about the “heavenly” two-month Italian shoot and being forced to wear her character Sharon’s functional passport belt.
‘Book Club’:Here’s why it’s a love story for women of all ages
Question: You had the juice calling for an Italian sequel for a movie that went on to make $104 million at the box office. Did that surprise you?
Answer: Yeah − who wants to see old women onscreen? Well, it turns out, other old women. And there are a lot of us.
Q: “The Next Chapter” looks so great in Italy. Was it as much fun to travel with your co-stars?
A: Well, Diane usually went ahead of the group, because she’s quirky. But we became very close friends and loved shooting in Italy. It was heavenly. We took the train to Florence together, spent two days there going to great restaurants and staying in a fantastic hotel. We shot in Venice for the last 10 days and it doesn’t get any better for a location. It never felt like work, ever. It was always relaxed and gorgeous.
Q: In “The Next Chapter,” Jane Fonda’s character is about to be married to Don Johnson, Mary Steenburgen has a longtime husband (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane Keaton has a serious beau (Andy Garcia). Do you enjoy that Sharon is the single one in both movies?
A: I like being the only one who didn’t have a guy. And I liked being a Superior Court judge in the sequel. The fact is that would have been very isolating. So I sort of leaned into that.
Q: Sharon does have a canal boat romp with the dashing Ousmane (Hugh Quarshie). What do you call that hairstyle, seen in the trailer, when she gets busted by the canal cops?
A: I was going for that post-makeout hairstyle. I just wanted it all messy and in my face. And I got it. I was really going for a laugh.
Q: Sharon also proudly shows off her not-hidden waist passport protector. Do you rock that sensibility when traveling?
A: Never. I would rather die. I just had to divorce myself. This is the character, I cannot identify with that.
Q: Sharon is a cat person with the doomed Ginsburg in “Next Chapter,” but in actuality, you’re a dog person with an Instagram star pooch named Bruce.
A: I’m primarily a dog person. It’s Bruce and his brother Lloyd, who belongs to my daughter, Chloe. Lloyd is the more dominant dog. Bruce is kind of, well, a dumbass. But I love him. And he goes everywhere with me, except for this movie shoot. He couldn’t come. It would have cost a fortune.
But quarantining nourished a lot of extracurricular activities, like Instagram. With Instagram, I believe in just being who you are. And if they don’t like it, they don’t have to look.
Q: The 2018 “Murphy Brown” revival was canceled after 13 episodes and many Trump jokes. Can we blame the then-president for the cancellation?
A: I’d like to blame it on Trump, but I don’t think I can in all fairness. The ratings were comparable to shows that stayed on the air. So we were very disappointed because we were having such a good time and working together again. But, well, there you are.
Q: Where’s the third “Book Club” movie going to be?
A: If we were to do a third movie, we should do it at Burning Man. That would be hysterical. I’ve never been (to the festival), and it must be hell. Four old women at Burning Man all covered in dust in our costumes. Everybody would be spitting at me because it was the worst idea. Now here we are because of you.
Burning Man or Hong Kong. Hong Kong just because.
Janet Fonda opens up:Actress discusses her experience with body dysmorphia in her younger years
Previously:Candice Bergen has changed her mind about her pal, ousted CBS chief Leslie Moonves
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