Candice Bergen is looking forward to seeingBook Club 2: The Next Chapterwith actual humans.
Shes seen it, yes, but by herself.
It was not fun, she says over Zoom.
Having just finished watching it before our chat, I see her point.
I dont know, it was maybe my first modeling experience, she tells me.
Quayle mentioned the showa work of fictionin a speech about family values while campaigning for George H.W.
Bergen, far right, with herBook Club: The Next Chaptercostars in Italy
Bergen, with costar William Shatner, in 2006 comedyMiss Congeniality.
I never met Dan Quail, Bergen pointedly says when I ask about the culture war the speech incited.
Glamour:Congrats onBook Club: The Book the Next Chapter.
Bergen, with costar William Shatner, in 2006 comedyMiss Congeniality.
Candice Bergen:I was so glad the movie did tackle it, because nobody has.
And it was such an extraordinary time.
What was life like for you during the height of COVID?
Bergen with herMurphy Browncast
I kept my life very small.
I stayed very low-key, very low profile.
Id have dinner with people, but I kept [my] distance.
Bergen as single-mother Brown
And I saw my grandkids but I was very careful to test myself first before I went.
We had test kits all over our house.
It was such a weird time.
When you and your costars eventually reunite, you go to Italy.
I think its what you get when you get four older actressestheir receptors are different.
Theyre more in tune with whats happening.
And they tend to go less into the hysterical zone.
Four random American travelers would not have been so chill, I can tell you that.
And less seasoned foursomes probably wouldnt have portrayed it that way.
I think there wouldve been more hysteria.
I dont like to watch people hysterical on screen.
I find it exhausting.
So I think probably all of us were feeling that.
Once you all arrived in Italy, I was impressed with the commitment to prosecco and wine consumption.
So I thought maybe thats why they were so relaxed.
Certainly that didnt hurt.
How long were you shooting in Italy for?
We were there for two and a half months, finishing up with 10 days in Venice.
It was the most perfect shoot.
Not a second of it felt like work to me.
It was all relaxed.
It was all so easy.
And then you’d go off on tiny trips on the weekend and go to Florence for two days.
It was just heaven.
Did you base your character, Enid, on anyone?
Have you ever rewatched any episodesyours or others?
Ive never watched one.
But you havent ever seen it!
Im just out of it.
Switching gears toMurphy Brown.
I watched a lot of it in real time.
Although I didnt always understand what I saw on TV, I remember its cultural impact vividly.
Is it true that after your fifth Emmy win, you declined future nominations for the role?
I could feel it in the house when I won for the fifth time.
I could feel the audience going….
I sort of felt them pulling back and I thought, This is enough.
I read after the show wrapped that CBS offered you an actual job as a journalist?
So I did a sort of test piece, which was tragic.
But I was intrigued.
I said, Could I still do movies too?
And he said, No, you cant do that.
You have to commit to one thing.
And I said, Well, I dont think I can do that.
What an odd conflation of art and life.
I wouldve been savaged.
So I saved myself from that.
Apparently the connection wasnt on board with these choices?
They werent on board withmebeing the character.
They wanted Heather Locklear.
Murphy was a complicated character, and she behaved badly often.
But she was funny and smart and tough and very good at her job.
Oh, there was no process.
They were roles that were offered to me.
I wanted to work and I earned a living.
If they looked appealing in any way, I said yes.
I liked working with Reese [Witherspoon].
Also, Sandra Bullock.
Throughout the course of your career, was there ever a role you really wanted and didnt get?
Love to have been involved in that.
But she was great.
Youre active on social media, andyour artis very charming.
Do you wake up and feel the need to post?
Or is it something that you do in your own time?
No, I dont feel the need at all.
I know some people are sort of wedded to doing it.
I mean, Instagram wastes bags of my time.
Its just not good.
But I find it so interesting.
I learn about pets.
I learn about horribly treated pets.
I learn about people.
Its a wide swath.
Have you always been interested in painting?
My daughter got me into that as she does most things.
She got a duffel bag and asked me to decorate it, and I said sure.
So I painted little things, little cartoony things, on her bag.
And then her friends saw it, and they said, Well, we would like that too.
And it sort of started.
You mentioned your grandkids earlier.
Im curious how you approach that special relationship.
Its very different, I hear, from being a parent.
Well, the last gift I gave my grandson was a stick-on mustache.
And I heard his father go, Ha, ha, ha.
My grandson wasnt sure about the mustache, but he sort of went with it reluctantly.
He looked about 50.
He looked so old with his mustache and his hat, but it was so cute.
I think of Jane [Fonda] and shes 85.
Well, Jane is no 85 that anyones ever seen.
She has more gumption, more grit than anyone Ive ever seen.
I have such endless respect for her.
So if Janes up for it, I think we are.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
