When it comes to girls’ trips, “Book Club: The Next Chapter” embraces taking them later in life and so did its stars: Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen didn’t get to enjoy any in real life.
“I married quite young and started having children in my 20s. It’s just something I never got to do,” Steenburgen, 70, laughed during a joint interview with Fonda and Bergen. “This kind of felt like a delayed girls’ trip.”
“Shooting it felt like part of the trip,” added Bergen, while Fonda quipped, “Except for the heat. I want everybody to appreciate that we were doing all this in 104 degree heat and I had a wool suit on.”
“Book Club: The Next Chapter” follows four best friends (played by Fonda, Bergen, Steenburgen and Diane Keaton) as they take their book club to Italy for their first girls’ trip.
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The legendary actors had never worked together in their decades-long careers but finally had a chance with 2018’s “Book Club” and that onscreen friendship translated off-screen as well.
“We are friends, we care for each other and we tell each other the truth, most of the time,” said Fonda, 85. “The scenes seemed very real. It was like the movie didn’t end and then there’s real life that blended together while we were there.”
The importance of friendship at this stage of their lives is not lost on any of the actors — “especially as you grow old, you need that support system,” noted Bergen, 77.
“We don’t have parents anymore. We have children that are busy. But it’s your friends that have your back — if you’re lucky enough to have great friends — and these women have become such important parts of my life and it’s very nurturing,” said Steenburgen.
Fonda believes that women’s friendships are different from men’s and are perhaps the reason women live longer. “Women aren’t afraid of asking for help and crying in each other’s arms, hugging each other and giving each other comfort and advice. Men never ask for help.”
“Book Club: The Next Chapter” centres the story on another book: Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist,” with its themes of self-discovery and taking destiny into your own hands.
Fonda said she has discovered that she’s brave. “I’ve also discovered that it’s important to live intentionally and I wish that I’d started much younger but, you know, you don’t really understand that when you’re younger sometimes. And so I can say that I feel happier at 85.5 than I ever have. Isn’t that weird?
“When I turned 60, I realized this is going to be the last chunk of my life, first 30 years, second 30 years, final 30 years,” she continued. “And I want to be sure that when I get to the end that there are people who love me, there are people who’ve outlived me that will be there. I don’t want to have too many regrets.”
“I try to be deliberate because I know that time is passing,” added Bergen. “I have grandkids that I just value above everything so I base a lot around their schedules and seeing them.”
Said Steenburgen: “I think it’s just eventually how you choose to spend your days and how you choose to spend your life, and you face a moment like COVID, which was pretty scary for everybody, especially at the beginning.”
She said she recently experienced the death of a friend.
“I showed up every day for two and a half months. I learned a lot from that about courage and I also learned not to sweat the small stuff … it’s made me also realize I’m in an intense marriage and I realized how much I do value my female friends because they provide a whole other thing than he does in my life. And I rely on them and I need them.”
Fonda called Steenburgen’s husband, actor Ted Danson, “exceptional,” noting he was with them in Italy.
Fonda also said she likes playing older women who still have a lot of pizzazz because it makes younger people less frightened of getting old.
“I think that it helps younger people and middle-aged people to say, ‘Oh, God, they’re having fun. Maybe it’s not so scary.’ Old age is very scary when you’re outside looking at it. But when you’re inside it, it’s not scary at all. Unless you’re sick. That changes everything. You can be way, way older at 50 because you’re sick than you are at 80 because you’re not sick.”
“Jane’s the bravest person I know,” said Steenburgen. “There are lots of things that could take down a normal person and they don’t take her down. She’s brave and she is intentional. And I appreciate that. I’ve learned so much from you.”
“I agree with Mary about Jane,” added Bergen. “I have bottomless wells of respect for Jane and I love her. She lives her life with such fullness and such commitment.” Fonda got emotional as they added that “she’s actually very easy to make cry.”
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