Craig T Nelson’s new movie, “Book Club,” on the surface seems like a female-driven comedy about older women (who are quite remarkable: Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen & Mary Steenburgen) who get together to read a racy novel and reflect on their stage of life. And while it is that, there are so many more layers at play dealing with identity, friendship, love and of course how we approach getting older.
Nelson has had such an interesting journey to where he sits now. We had a great conversation about identity. He shared, “All the things we are supposed to identify with we are told. None of it is experiential until we get to the point where we say, ‘Why wasn’t I told this?’” Going on to add, “Unfortunately, I think we get caught up in the result and not the discovery.”
The script is really interesting on this level because it creates the conversation to say, “Is it okay, if in our relationship, I don’t know who I am right now? Because I don’t. And I’m having a hard time finding him.”
Very honest and vulnerable and something both men and women can relate to, at any age, whether that is the transition to motherhood, a relationship, or a career. Nelson experienced this on a personal level in his thirties:
“I experienced this when I was 35, 36, there was a sense for me, moving to the mountains because I didn’t know who I was here [in Hollywood] in this environment. I had no idea how to connect to it. It was frightening. I was being judged on a whole range of things I didn’t understand, never been told… so I learned how to survive. Then came back to it, with at least one thing which was, “You can’t kill me.” [Laughter]
Watch our full interview and catch Book Club in theatres May 18.
