Twenty-Eight

Which was also a succinct summary of Pfeiffer's life at that point. All the disappointments and heartaches, the trade-offs of a Grease 2 for a Witches, the wrong men for seemingly the right men, were pertinent to her maturity. Something that she could call on other than curses when things got bad on Witches. Sarandon told how bad it got for her on the film:

"When something like that happens, either you leave, and everyone will make sure you don't work for a year, or you can find a way to be professional and do the best job you possibly can. It was fairly chaotic. It was a bit like being in a war zone, but there wasn't discord between any of the women and Jack. All of us were very supportive of each other. My gowns in the movie are Cher's, because they didn't have anything for me to wear. She would call Bob Mackie, and this stuff would arrive from the Sonny and Cher show. And Jack was beatific. He should be canonized for what he did in terms of his generosity and his guidance.

I took the film because I wanted to work with Jack Nicholson. And the part of Alex had the most difficult scenes with Jack. It was my first time back after having the baby. Intentionally, I hadn't worked in a year. So I was a little shaky. Acting is not like riding a bicycle. You get out of shape. I was working on my part very intensely. Four months later, right before we started rehearsal, I got a call.

'Look, we wouldn't think of asking you to do this, nor would Cher. But would you take a look at the part of Jane?' Jane? My alarm bells went off. Jane's part, which was the least evident in the script. Jane?! She had one scene, in which she went through classic on-screen metamorphosis and then disappeared. At the end of the movie she turned up again. No wonder they couldn't find anybody to play Jane. Cher wouldn't do that part because she couldn't handle the change. Would I switch and please let Cher be Alex? No! I'd had my costumes for four months now. I didn't want to switch this late in the game. I didn't like Jane. She had no philosophy, no family. She didn't belong anywhere."

But Sarandon thought better of any grand, temperamental gestures. She studied her situation quietly. She talked about it with Pfeiffer and Cher. All could see the sense of Sarandon making the best of the mess. And it is why today Pfeiffer's film decisions normally take a long time for her to make. And why a team of lawyers go over every phrase, every word. Things were not too specific in Sarandon's case as she explained:

"It didn't really matter who I wanted to play. I had signed a contract that didn't specify the part. Even though I had a telegram congratulating me on getting the part of Alex and even though I would have won in a court of law, it came down to spending a lot of money on six years of litigation or playing Jane. The producers would make sure I wouldn't work while they made the film. They came up with empty promises of new storylines.

So I never read the script and just showed up every day. I decided my character loved Jack Nicholson the most. He's the devil. Why shouldn't she want to go with him? And from that point on, I had darker hair and no make-up and wore my glasses and carried my shoes around in Baggies and talked whispery and did every kind of anal-retentive gimmick I could think of. After I slept with the devil, I put on a red, curly wig. They said, 'You can't have a red curly wig because Cher's wearing a black curly wig.' I said, 'Fuck you, I have no part. I'm wearing a red curly wig!' The luxury of having a nonexistent part is that you can do anything, and nobody can tell you you're doing something wrong."

"Sue had it the worst of all of us in Witches," says Cher, adding:

But she got through it because she's very focused. She lives in the real world. She really faced the challenge and decided to make the best of it. I think she's really good, she's very funny, and she's very smart. With those three things you don't need anything else. I've watched her in quite a few films. I just saw Compromising Positions and Atlantic City, and she has a sense of irony that comes out more than with any other actress I know.

When I was given the first week's shooting schedule, with all my hardest scenes one right after the other, I just looked at it and said 'Fuck you. I quit.' Susan overheard and came over. She handed me a beer and said, 'I think you're going to need this.' There's a lot of security in working with her. I'd work with her again in a minute."

With hindsight, Sarandon has mellowed about the making of The Witches of Eastwick. Something that all star-studded actresses have to do at some point in their careers. Pfeiffer must have noticed this and how Sarandon even laughs now about her bluestockinged Jane and her seduction by Nicholson's devil. And her scene swinging from a chandelier. And playing that damned cello:

"I've never played an instrument before. Meryl Streep learns Polish for her movies. I learned to shuck oysters for Atlantic City, but I'd never had to apply myself to something so physically excruciating. I developed callouses on my fingers – I learned it like dancing. It had nothing to do with reading music. And, in the end, it worked. I'm proud that none of us gave up on the film.

Jack Nicholson is the funniest man and the most generous actor I've ever worked with. And the witches – Cher and Michelle and I – got along just brilliantly. Make that supernaturally. Nicholson had fun with all the girls."