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Goldie Hawn transcript

Michael Eisner talks with Goldie Hawn.
/ Source: CNBC

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.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Let's go back then a little bit. Because there's something interesting, and I read your book, you have a terrific-- memoir book.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Thank you.

MICHAEL EISNER:
That came out last-- last year. And when you did "Laugh In", you stumbled into a character that was like the ditzy blonde, because you're not that character in real life. You are-- very smart and all that. And for a lot of your career you have taken that character, and made that character into a machine of great success. Have you ever regretted that you went that route? Or have you ever thought how do I get out of that route? Or-- you—you have made movies not in that route.

GOLDIE HAWN:
No, in fact, we did one together. You know, because it was nice to be-- to be able to stretch and to do something. I-- I went through a period where-- you know, we-- we come as-- an in-- instruments. Ok, we're just human beings with energy and instruments.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And-- now you were just a giant star. At this moment you were--

GOLDIE HAWN:
I became-- a-- a star after I did "Laugh In".

MICHAEL EISNER:
And then, when you did "Cactus Flower", you became a star with unbelievable creditability, 'cause you won the Academy Award.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Right.

MICHAEL EISNER:
So now there was nothing you couldn't do. (LAUGHTER)

GOLDIE HAWN:
Well, I felt that when I won the Academy Award, I was so young. And I never thought that I would ever get another one. Because I felt that it was a bit of a jinx. I thought that I went out, I did lovely comedy. I was all that-- that one could be or do in that lovely role. But the fact that I was honored with it, which I-- I take to heart, and I-- I treasure it. But I-- I really, even at 25, when I won this award, I said, "You know what Goldie? It's gonna be a long time before you get another one."

MICHAEL EISNER:
So how did you, during all this period of-- deciding what to do, and being a working actress--

GOLDIE HAWN:
Yeah.

MICHAEL EISNER: --become such a great mother? 'Cause I know you are. I know you are from first hand--not from reading some People Magazine or--

GOLDIE HAWN:
No, we've been together. Yeah.

MICHAEL EISNER:
I know-- I know you are. And so how did-- a lot of people aren't able to commit that kind of time. How did-- how did you--

GOLDIE HAWN:
Ok.

MICHAEL EISNER:
--get that done?

GOLDIE HAWN:
You-- you said it. Commitment. Commit is the word. And I start with the intention of being a good mother. And I really can take a look at what I really valued in my life. And the one thing that I knew I could fail at was parenting. I couldn't fail at the business, because some of that's gonna fail anyway. You can't control certain things. You-- go out, you make a movie, you do the best you can. You believe in it, and an editor can take it and screw it up. So it's out of your hands. So you have to surrender to the fact that, in the movie industry, you're gonna win some and you're gonna lose some.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And that can't happen with children.

GOLDIE HAWN:
But you can't happen with children. Because--

MICHAEL EISNER:
Whether they get out of your control. They get into bad friends. They get into whatever.

GOLDIE HAWN:
If you're not paying attention, and you don't make that promise to yourself that you're going to be there, no matter what, for these children, and that's your intention, I daresay you're not gonna fail.

MICHAEL EISNER: And so how did you-- arrange to be there when a film career forces you to be elsewhere?

GOLDIE HAWN:
I didn't-- I didn't go away very much.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Take them with you?

GOLDIE HAWN:
I took them with me when I did-- when I went away. I was-- didn't leave them any more than two weeks at a time. And it-- that was rare. I tutored them myself while I was on the set. I made sure that they would look-- doing their studies. I towed the line.

MICHAEL EISNER:
But now you have-- a daughter. And to be-- a woman in Hollywood, and you are still doing great parts, but your daughter is like the host Goldie Hawn from a few years ago.

GOLDIE HAWN:
She's the hot Kate Hudson, yeah.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And she has done some films that-- at a very young age. But very-- much honored. Very-- like you were.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Absolutely. It was very weird.

MICHAEL EISNER:
But she does look frightening like you.

GOLDIE HAWN:
There's a-- there's an energy there. There's definitely--

MICHAEL EISNER:
Oh no, the eyes. They have-- trust me.

GOLDIE HAWN:
There's a joy, you know. I--

MICHAEL EISNER:
You see her--

GOLDIE HAWN:
--think she's a lot like my mom.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Well, that may be true.

GOLDIE HAWN:
She does. It's almost scary. My mother was at that age, you know. And-- but she's got the good smile. She's got the great heart. And she's got amazing talent.

MICHAEL EISNER:
I think it's great that you married the biggest Disney star ever.

GOLDIE HAWN:
How about that? Wait a minute, you want to talk about what's really crazy about all this?

MICHAEL EISNER:
What?

GOLDIE HAWN:
Get ready. I don't know if you know this story. So I am now dancing. I come to LA, I'm dancing. I got a job on "Good Morning World", but I was-- still considered myself a dancer. So I went out for an audition for a Disney movie called "The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band".

MICHAEL EISNER:
You’re kidding.

GOLDIE HAWN:
No. And I go out to this audition. And now I'm lost. And I've-- got my dance bag. And I'm-- really, walking around Dopey Drive, and I'm going, "Where is this audition? I don't know," so I stopped this lady. And I said, "Excuse me, I'm lost. I'm going to the audition, I'm a dancer for 'The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band'. Do you know where that is?" and she said, "Yes dear." She said, "It's right over there." So I go over there, I get the audition. And I get this part called the giggly girl. And I notice, on the set, in the movie, is a guy who's really short and really adorable, and he's playing the drums. He's one of the kids in the family band. It happens to be Kurt Russell. And I looked at him--

MICHAEL EISNER:
Well, you-- you-- of course you-- you must have known at this point that he was Walt Disney's favorite actor.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Of course not.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Didn't even know that.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Of course not. I didn't even know.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And he had done what? Ten movies for Disney?

GOLDIE HAWN:
Yes, but I didn't know. He was this guy and-- the drums.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And did you-- did you talk to Kurt Russell--

GOLDIE HAWN:
Oh no. I just looked at him, I thought he was awful cute. But he was too young. So, anyway, so you later, two husbands later, children later, everything, I am now-- looking at guys for "Swing Shift", which was a movie that I--

MICHAEL EISNER:
Great movie. Excellent movie.

GOLDIE HAWN:
And-- and I'm sitting there. And Kevin Costner left the room, because we read together as well, and in comes Kurt Russell. And he looked at me, and he said, "I got something to tell you. We made our first, you-- you made your first movie with me at Disney. And you know what?You went up to my mother and you asked her how to get to this-- it-- the-- the rehearsal hall."

MICHAEL EISNER:
That was his mother?

GOLDIE HAWN:
That was his mother. And she went home and she said, "I met a girl that's going to get the part. I can tell."

MICHAEL EISNER:
Really?

GOLDIE HAWN:
Yeah. So-- of course, she's like my mother-in-law I'm-- you know, even though we're not married. But 23 years I guess I could call her family.

MICHAEL EISNER:
That counts. That counts. (LAUGHTER) So--

GOLDIE HAWN:
Is that a great story?

MICHAEL EISNER:
It is a great story.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Did it take too long to tell?

MICHAEL EISNER:
Not at all. Not at all. We were on a plane once together, and we were talking about faith, and stuff like that. And then you gave me, can you believe this--

GOLDIE HAWN:
Oh now.

MICHAEL EISNER:
You-- I-- this. You gave me a-- a crystal.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Oh my God.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Which-- this is like 25 years ago.

GOLDIE HAWN:
I know.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Which put it in a jacket that my wife thinks is a very ugly jacket that I was wearing that night. (LAUGHTER) That I had bought in Iceland. And it had reindeer all over it-- (LAUGHTER) it’s-- it's also politically inappropriate.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Inappropriate. (LAUGHTER)

MICHAEL EISNER:
But I wear it like once a year. And once in a year I put my hand in the pocket, and there is this-- I lost everything else I own. (LAUGHTER) But I can't lose this crystal you gave me.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Oh.

MICHAEL EISNER:
So now-- but I'm not quite sure what it means, and why I have it.

GOLDIE HAWN:
No, but I'll tell you, but I have to touch this. This is actually a really nice piece. This is some--

MICHAEL EISNER:
You're not getting it back.

GOLDIE HAWN:
I know. This is tourmaline

MICHAEL EISNER:
What?

GOLDIE HAWN:
Tourmaline. This is a-- a green tourmaline I think. Yeah. And-- people use this because it absorbs negative energy. Now if you believe it, ok, you-- you-- you-- you need to believe. Because if you-- if you don't believe it, then the energy isn't gonna take you to a place where it's gonna matter anyway. But according to the-- this is a living--

MICHAEL EISNER:
I should have kept it in my-- I should have--

GOLDIE HAWN:
--energetic system right here. This has a vibration, just like every piece of your body.

MICHAEL EISNER:
It takes care of negativity?

GOLDIE HAWN:
It absorbs negativity.

MICHAEL EISNER:
I should have worn it to some of my meetings.

GOLDIE HAWN:
And it's good for healing. And I gave it to you for a reason. And I'm glad you never--never got rid of it.

MICHAEL EISNER:
I never did.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Yeah.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Anyway, this is fantastic. Well, you make all of us very happy.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Thanks honey.

MICHAEL EISNER:
And we love your movies, we love your work.

GOLDIE HAWN:
Thank you.

MICHAEL EISNER:
We love your children. (LAUGHTER)

GOLDIE HAWN:
I love you.

MICHAEL EISNER:
Thank you for coming. (LAUGHTER) Goodbye.