Remember First Wives Club? That 1996 flick starring Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler and Diane Keaton; the tale of three divorced women, seeking revenge on their ex-husbands for abandoning them for younger women; the comedy which brought us that unforgettable rendition of You Don't Own Me; the movie that proved to be a surprise box office hit...?
How could we not remember? Didn't it also feature Sarah Jessica Parker pre-SATC? (It did.)
Anyway, it was a huge success. And it lent itself perfectly to a sequel. And yet, no sequel was ever made. Why?
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times Magazine Goldie Hawn has revealed it was because the three stars – Goldie, Bette and Diane – were not willing to accept the same small pay cheque they had agreed to on the first film.
'I couldn't believe it,' Goldie said, when asked if she and her co-stars were insulted that, in spite of the first film's success (it grossed $181,490,000 worldwide at a time when sci-fi and blockbusters were what usually drew the crowds), they would not be getting any sort of noteworthy pay rise for a second film.
Did she think it would have been a similar situation if the film had involved three men? 'Not at all,' she replied.
'But I can tell you that I never kept my mouth shut,' she revealed. 'I can tell you I did frustrate a lot of people. I was not happy about the way First Wives Club was handled. The other girls were saying, ‘You talk, you talk.’ I’m more confronting. Bette hadn’t done a movie in a long time, and Diane is smart as a whip, but she’s just not confrontational. I had the mouth, so I could articulate what was wrong.'
When asked whether she could have jeopardised her career by doing so, Goldie replied: 'That’s a different story. You could be absolutely blacklisted. I could have been, but I can look at that movie and feel extremely proud that I used my voice.'
And quite right she should have done. The fact no Second Wives Club was ever made, was a crying shame, but we wouldn't have wanted one anyway under those outrageous circumstances...
On a more upbeat note, in the interview Goldie also discussed her 34-year romance with Kurt Russell. Theirs is one of Hollywood's longest romantic relationships, a feat the pair put down to not getting married.
'We looked at each other and we were like, ‘Marriage – no way.’ What’s yours is yours, what’s mine is mine. We’re going to do this thing separately and we’re going to be together. We’re going to enjoy each other.'
She continued, 'You know when we fell in love? When I realised I loved the way he looked at my children. Frankly, that was it. That’s what made me fall in love with him.'
CUTE!
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