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Making It Count
RD: People think of you as someone who has explored so many interests in life. What more would you like to do?Bergen: I'd like to get more actively involved in public service. I'm concerned about the environment, the way it's been dealt with these last months. And living again in New York, I notice New Yorkers have such a high level of social activism. I'd like to do more of that kind of thing.
RD: How do you choose your film roles now?
Bergen: I choose things that can accommodate my life. I turned down a one-hour television show because it was going to be shot in Los Angeles. It's probably something that I'll question later, but either you have a life or you don't. And there's a reason why you have a life, and it's because you make certain priorities. My daughter only has two years left of high school.
RD: What about her career choices? Have you offered any guidance?
Bergen: When she was about seven, she said that when she grew up she wanted to be a flight attendant or a writer. I said, "Honey, here's a pad."
RD: Two years ago you married again. Did you expect that?
Bergen: No. I wasn't even dating. I thought, what was the point, to go out there again in your 50's? But I was incredibly lucky to be introduced to a man who is just shockingly kind and has a tremendous heart.
RD: How has he changed your life?
Bergen: I would say he's civilized me, emotionally. I was a little bit of a savage, not very good at that stuff.
RD: Do you feel lucky?
Bergen: Oh, always. I've always felt lucky.
RD: Tell us about your work on the Oxygen television network.
Bergen: Over the years I'd done different kinds of journalism -- magazine pieces, pieces for The Today Show. So when the opportunity came up to do a talk show, I thought, I can meet all of these interesting people and find out about them. And it was very low-key, which was good, because interviewing someone for an hour is not easy, and I don't have the gift of gab in social situations.
RD: Do you think you're actually a journalist at heart?
Bergen: That's what I really always loved doing. Had I not been born into the environment I was, I would have liked to have been a [full-time] journalist. I certainly wouldn't have lived as well. But I think it would have been an interesting life. I was offered 60 Minutes 25 years ago and idiotically turned it down. But then I wouldn't have gotten to play a journalist on television, and I wouldn't have given that up for anything.
RD: If you were interviewing yourself, what's one question you would ask that would reveal something people don't already know?
Bergen: How have your priorities changed over time? What was having a child to you? What are you afraid of?
RD: That's a good one.
Bergen: I think when we're younger, we're very fearful and camouflage that with all kinds of armor, whether it's sarcasm or anger. I always feel proud of friends because I see how hard they have worked to become better people, how they've managed to slay their demons. There's always that work to be done. You may think you can coast for the rest of your life. You can coast for periods, but then life sort of bites you in the ass.
RD: So, what are you still afraid of?
Bergen: Now I'm just afraid of not having enough time.
RD: In a day?
Bergen: What I think is very common in people in their 50's and over is that we all love life. I see how much we appreciate it, how much we love our kids, our friends, our summers. And I see everybody taking care of themselves because they're starting to feel a wind at the end of the tunnel. Everyone's wanting to make everything count.
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