Why Goldie Hawn Never Reprised Her Favourite Role
Goldie Hawn’s early Oscar win set her up for stardom, but despite the runaway success of First Wives Club, repeated efforts to make a sequel fell flat due to pay rows and script troubles.
If you’ve ever found yourself watching The Christmas Chronicles on Netflix and noticed the spark between Santa and Mrs Claus, there’s a good reason for it. The pair are played by real-life couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, who, despite being well into their seventies and eighties, still manage to bring a bit of cheeky energy to the screen. Their on-screen banter is just one more chapter in Hawn’s long and varied career, which kicked off nearly six decades ago with a bang.
Hawn’s first big break came after only a couple of years in the business. She started out as a dancer, then landed a spot on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, a sketch show that pre-dated Saturday Night Live. Her film debut came in 1969’s Cactus Flower, where she starred alongside Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman. The film, a comedy with a surprisingly dark opening, was well received and did solid business at the box office. Hawn’s performance stood out, earning her a Golden Globe nomination, a Bafta nod, and an Oscar nomination. She ended up taking home the Academy Award, beating out some tough competition in what many saw as a surprise win.
From Early Success to Hollywood Mainstay
Despite the Oscar, Hawn’s career didn’t immediately skyrocket. Over the next decade, she appeared in a string of modestly budgeted films, including Steven Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express and Warren Beatty’s Shampoo, the latter earning her another Golden Globe nomination. Her next major milestone came with Private Benjamin in 1980, which brought her a second Oscar nomination and kicked off a particularly successful run. For the next fifteen years, she was a regular fixture in Hollywood, working with Kurt Russell on Overboard, Mel Gibson on Bird on a Wire, and Bruce Willis on Death Becomes Her.
But it was in 1996 that Hawn starred in what would become one of her most beloved films. Teaming up with Bette Midler and Diane Keaton, she took on First Wives Club, a comedy about three women out for payback after being dumped for younger partners. The film was a smash, pulling in $180 million on a budget just over $20 million. It struck a chord with audiences and critics alike, and the trio graced the cover of Time magazine.
Sequel Hopes Dashed
Given the runaway success, a follow-up seemed inevitable. But as Hawn explained, things didn’t go as planned.
“First Wives Club. We were all women of a certain age, and everyone took a cut in salary to do it so the studio could make what it needed. We all took a smaller back end than usual and a much smaller front end. And we ended up doing incredibly well.”
She added,
“The movie was hugely successful. It made a lot of money. We were on the cover of Time magazine. But two years later, when the studio came back with a sequel, they wanted to offer us exactly the same deal. We went back to ground zero.”
Attempts to get a sequel off the ground fizzled out more than once. In 2004, negotiations stalled over pay for the three leads. A 2016 effort with Netflix was scrapped due to script issues. Another project in 2020, again with Midler and Keaton, was abandoned before it could get going, following Keaton’s untimely passing.