Goldie Hawn transcript

MICHAEL EISNER:
So, Goldie thank you for coming.

GOLDIE HAWN:
It's a pleasure. I'm loving being here.

MICHAEL EISNER:
I appreciate it. And I want to start right off in the most difficult part.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Yeah.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Is me and "Private Benjamin."

GOLDIE HAWN:
Right.

MICHAEL EISNER:
So this was the-- really, probably the biggest film you'd made right? It was certainly a big turning point.

GOLDIE HAWN:
It was a-- turning point. I'd made-- big-- big films, and I've made money, but that was a huge turning point.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And I had the stupidity of not making the movie. (LAUGHTER)

GOLDIE HAWN:
Well, I-- that's the only stupid thing you've ever done, you're like already winning.

MICHAEL EISNER:
I read the script. We met.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Yeah.

MICHAEL EISNER:
I told you it didn't have a third act.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Right.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And you looked at me and said, "What?" And I tried to convince you that there was no third act.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Right.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And you looked at me and said, "Who is this idiot?"

GOLDIE HAWN:
Right. Not-- not totally--

MICHAEL EISNER:
And-- and then you went and made it for another studio.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Right.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And I went to the movie theatre convinced that I was right…that there was not going to be a third act.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Yeah.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And when Albert Brooks drops dead in the first scene, I turn to my wife and I said, "I'm getting the feeling I made this giant mistake." (LAUGHTER) And every scene in the movie got better. And then it was like the biggest movie of the year.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Yeah, but let me tell you something, that was a problem even at Warner Brothers.Because-- you know, there were a lot of people that kind of liked the movie, that they wanted to change things, and that there was Tri-Star, and this thing. And they-- would say, "Gee, you don't look Jewish. Maybe you should be from Dallas, you know."So everybody had something right? And Warner Brothers came in, and that was--Shapiro at the time. And he said, "I love this movie. If we don't get to make this movie-- "

MICHAEL EISNER:
So I want the movie too.

GOLDIE HAWN:
But wait, but wait, I mean--

MICHAEL EISNER:
But I didn't like the third act.

GOLDIE HAWN:
No, but hold on…

MICHAEL EISNER:
And he fixed it.

GOLDIE HAWN:
No, but hold-- hold on, because you're instincts were right.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Right, that-- that--

GOLDIE HAWN:
I was dealing with, ok, I'm-- I'm giving them your story.

MICHAEL EISNER:
That helps.

GOLDIE HAWN:
I-- I was dealing with the end of this movie, which was the third act. And they said, "You know, we have a problem here, because you can't take-- this movie and shift it to Paris in the third act. I mean you just can't do that." And I-- went in and I fought this battle.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And you were right?

GOLDIE HAWN:
I said because when you are with a character, and you love this character, and you're an audience, and you're just-- you know, it's great, you're-- she can take her to the moon.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Obviously, you were right.

GOLDIE HAWN:
You know, it-- it didn't matter and--

MICHAEL EISNER:
But I didn't make the mistake in Foul Play. Even though I came close right?

GOLDIE HAWN:
You did come close, yeah.

MICHAEL EISNER:
This was embarrassing. (LAUGHTER) I-- I-- I'm sure we've discussed this before, but you-- I didn't really remember that you'd had a baby. And you were--

GOLDIE HAWN:
Well, what did you remember?

MICHAEL EISNER:
I just remembered-- seeing you in some pictures.

GOLDIE HAWN:
And I looked--

MICHAEL EISNER:
A still picture. And you looked great. Wait a second. Wait a second.

MICHAEL EISNER:
So my mistake is I called your agent-- who says, "Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, fantastic." And I said, "Isn't Goldie a little heavy?" And had this very-- interesting conversation with Stan Kamen, your agent, and it was very confidential between the two of us. And-- you-- we had to set up a meeting. And the meeting was only for me to see you. 'Cause he told me you looked great. I was really embarrassed. And you came in. and-- and turned to me and said, "So you think I'm fat." (LAUGHTER) And that's when I learned that agents aren't to be trusted.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Exactly. (LAUGHTER) And some people who are actors are actually honest.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Well, that movie, (LAUGHTER) which was a fantastic movie, was really the beginning of a-- career change for me. And it made the first summer that I was at Paramount a smash. Because-- between that and-- and "Grease", we had a--

GOLDIE HAWN:
Right.

MICHAEL EISNER:
--we had a pretty good summer.

GOLDIE HAWN:
That's right. and it actually was a turning point for me, because when I did-- before I did your film, "Foul Play", I had decided to have a baby and become a mother. And it wasn't so much anxious about will I ever work again? Or is this gonna work. And suddenly, I guess, after Oliver was almost two, and I hadn't worked for three years. I thought you know what? Maybe I'm done. Maybe it's over. You know, I did "Laugh In", I did "Cactus Flower", I have an Academy Award, you know, maybe this is God's way of saying, "Hey, you lucky thing." But figure out something else to do. And I started getting concerned. And that's when I got called about "Foul Play". And I thought, well, oh that they wanted somebody else. And I said, "Well, at least-- well, he thinks you're a little heavy. I think you should just go in and meet him." So I put on a straight skirt.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Well, at least he said heavy, and not something worse.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Well, he didn't, he said fat. But, at any rate. So I went-- put on the straight skirt. But the point is, is that movie shifted my career. So each time you do a shift in your life, right, or you do a change in your life, then sometimes it feels like it's not gonna happen. And your career is not gonna do well. And the next thing you know is that these choices that you make actually catapult you to the next level.

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