Bet you didn't know this: Joan Cusack backed out of The Stepford Wives remake (opening today) to spend time with her ailing father. Her role was recast with Bette Midler, who happily rose to the occasion. However, the 58-year-old legend had never seen the original 1975 cult classic about a suburban hamlet where disobedient wives are swapped for robots.
"When I got cast, I rented it," Midler recalls. "I was surprised at how sad it was. It was so tragic. All [the heroine] wanted to do was be a photographer. The poor girl. That was what was considered threatening in 1975? Imagine."
While she's pleased that women's lib has come far since the '70s, the Divine Miss M wonders if it's gone too far. "There are so many things happening in the media that are hard to absorb," she laments. "I never thought I would see the day when someone [like Paris Hilton] could make a pornographic film and survive it. I remember when, if you got arr
read more
Glenn Close says she's nothing like the impeccably clad housefrau she plays in The Stepford Wives (opening tomorrow). In fact, the 57-year-old star's biggest fear is glamming up and dressing to perfection for Hollywood events!
"It is the absolute burden of my existence," Close admits. "It is an absolute horror. When I have to go somewhere it is like, 'What am I going to wear — and who is going to criticize it?' I hate it.
"I'm very bad at shopping, and I don't like spending money on clothes," she adds with a sigh. "I'm very lucky to have designers that will lend me things [or] give a lovely discount, and that's nice. I was not raised [with] shopping as entertainment, so for me, it is absolute agony. I'm very lucky to have people to help me."
A single mother, Close doesn't blame fashion foibles for her lack of a boyfriend. Instead, she feels her strong career choices are the problem. "I realized the other day that I have been in this prof
read more
Starting Friday, Nicole Kidman can be seen in Frank Oz and Paul Rudnick's remake of the 1975 cult classic, The Stepford Wives. In this version, Joanna's a powerful TV-network president and Matthew Broderick is the insecure husband who plots not only to alter her hair color — from brunet to blond — but her whole personality! Will she end up a sexy, subservient robot? We won't tell. As for the ex-Mrs. Tom Cruise, she can't understand the desire for a "perfect" mate.
"I don't want perfect," insists the stunning 36-year-old Oscar winner. "Happiness is not found through perfection, or even trying to achieve it. The fun thing is discovering someone — the things that somebody else might think are appalling, you might think are really cute.
"I am nowhere near perfect, and I'm not ever trying to be," she adds. "The thing I find most attractive in people is their flaws. I like the mystery."
Lik
read more
