Candice Bergen says new comedy 'Book Club' is 'elegant geezers having sex'

Even before it hits movie theaters, the saucy senior comedy "Book Club" is spreading happiness. People are glad there's a movie that represents women who are...

"Old," interrupts Candice Bergen, 72, before an interviewer can say of a certain age. 

The veteran film and TV star, who's also has the "Murphy Brown" reboot at CBS on her plate, doesn't use euphemisms when facts will do.

She knows how unlikely it is at her age to land two high-profile lead roles. And four actresses 65 and older sharing top billing in a summer release like "Book Club"? That's unicorn-level rare.

"To me, it's a miracle that this movie exists," Bergen says by phone on a day crowded with press interviews. "And, of course, the studio wanted to cast it much, much younger. The director, Bill Holderman, said, 'You can't. The whole point of the movie is that it's women facing challenges (of aging).'"

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Bergen has more to say on this topic. A lot more. "This population is just not only underserved, it isn't served at all. Women over the age of 40, really, don't work in Hollywood. So we'll see. Maybe the success of the movie, if there is a success, will change that."

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"Book Club" revolves around Bergen; Jane Fonda, 80; Diane Keaton, 72; and Mary Steenburgen, 65, as four longtime friends who agree to read the racy mega-seller "Fifty Shades of Grey" in a bid to spice up their love lives.

It opens this weekend opposite "Deadpool 2" as the non-action alternative to the sure-to-be blockbuster Marvel sequel.

Like "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!," which arrives July 20, "Book Club" is banking on the fact that older film-goers have economic clout that the movie industry continues to ignore at its own peril.

As Deadline's Peter Bart wrote earlier this year, "The sector of the film audience age 50 or older — we’re talking 25% of filmgoers — is actually buying more tickets than it did a decade ago." 

"Book Club" doubles down on its senior gamble by focusing on older women, a demographic often invisible to directors and producers.

Erin Simms, who co-wrote the screenplay with Holderman, told the Los Angeles Times that "Book Club" may be viewed as a niche movie, but its potential audience wields a strong pocketbook.

"You think back to 'The Golden Girls,' which was a massive hit, or 'Steel Magnolias' and 'Terms of Endearment.' ... You feel like because studios keep forgetting that demographic, they don't matter anymore, but they do — and they're powerful and still have a lot of life to live."

In "Book Club," Bergen, Fonda, Keaton and Steenburgen are accomplished, affluent women who have hit a rough patch in the romance department. Fueled by the steamy E L James book and their frequent, wine-filled get-togethers, they decide to explore options that could lead to having more sex, or in the case of the fling-favoring Fonda, more meaningful booty calls. 

Bergen's character, Sharon, is a divorced federal judge whose former spouse (Ed Begley Jr.) is engaged to a woman roughly a third his age. Sharon has given up on dating until, inspired by "Fifty Shades," she tries a matchmaking web site called Bumble.

Her online hookups, portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss and Wallace Shawn, take a back seat in the story line as supporting characters, as do the love interests for the other women – Don Johnson (a past ex of Fonda's), Andy Garcia (a pilot who meets cute with Keaton) and Craig T. Nelson (husband to Steenburgen).

Vanity Fair described "Book Club" as a "lusty mom rom com," a phrase that prompts a huge laugh from Bergen, who proceeds to improve upon it.

"That's great! That's just what it is. It's elegant geezers having sex," she says.

But she's quick to add that the movie is also about female friendships and how critical those bonds are. Conversations between the four pals take up much of the script. Off-camera, the four actresses spent the same amount of time in gab sessions.

Says Bergen, "We would hang out in the garage of this house which worked as our set. It was our green room. We would just yak and yak during the setup changes and during our breaks. We would talk about politics. We would talk about the business. We would talk about our lives. It was just girls getting together talking."

Bergen will soon be immersed in the return of her classic 1988-1998 CBS sitcom, "Murphy Brown." The network has ordered 13 episodes that are scheduled to air Thursdays this fall. She'll be reuniting her with castmates Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto and Grant Shaud and feature new members like Tyne Daly, who'll play the sister of bar owner Phil (who was played by the late Pat Corley).

Bergen sounds tickled when it's suggested that Murphy Brown was to female fans what Keegan-Michael Key's Luther character was to President Barack Obama – an anger translator for the era before the Time's Up and #metoo movements.

Bossy, abrasive, feisty and thoroughly unafraid of being disliked, Murphy Brown broke the prime-time mold. "She managed somehow to skip all the sand traps of womanhood. Obviously, she's highly flawed, which is the fun of playing her. I'm not really sure why women (related) to Murphy so much," says Bergen modestly.

"I think it's because, first of all, they respected a woman who had achieved the equivalent of a man in a profession that, at the time, didn't have many women in it, which was television journalist. Her best quality is that she was take-no-prisoners."

Bergen, who describes equality for women as "a long struggle," is proud of the fact that the Murphy of 1988 seems as relevant today as ever.

"To me, the script that (series creator) Diane English wrote for the first episode, it feels very current and very fresh. It's something I think people miss. I think that's why these reboots are doing so well. People are comforted by them. It's sort of a moment when people need comforting."

But will "Murphy Brown," which is being rebooted by English, still afflict those in power in 2018?  "Yes, yes!" she assures.

Bergen backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and worked for Democratic candidate George McGovern's campaign in 1972. These days, her political activism has a very sardonic Murphy flavor. She appeared on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" wearing a “Free Melania” T-shirt, and she has shared anecdotes about going on an unmemorable date in college with President Donald Trump.

To deal with life in 2018, she suggests a little light book club reading herself.

"I think we're all on worry overload.There's very little at this point that we can do until an election comes around," says Bergen.

"In fact, I was at the bookstore yesterday and they said, 'Oh, this novel has gotten a lot of great comments. People find it very moving.' And I said, 'I don't want to be moved. I don't want to care about anybody. I just want to be entertained and interested and engaged.' "

"Book Club," she promises, will do just that.

"You just come in and you sit down and you laugh and maybe you cry and you come out and feel better about your life," she says. "You've been very pleasantly distracted for two hours."

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.

'Book Club'

Rated PG-13; for sensuality/nudity and some language

Opens with some Thursday evening screenings, opens wide Friday