Tom Berenger and JoBeth Williams on How ‘The Big Chill’ Bookended a Generation | TCMFF 2023
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 26 апр 2023
- At the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival, ‘The Big Chill’ actors Tom Berenger and JoBeth Williams reunited for the film’s 40th anniversary, talked about their unprecedented rehearsal time to help find the characters and the relationships, the unforgettable soundtrack, how the film bookends a generation, and more.
Connect with Turner Classic Movies:
Visit TCM WEBSITE: myt.cm/TCMwebsite
Follow TCM on INSTAGRAM: myt.cm/TCMinstagram
Like TCM on FACEBOOK: myt.cm/TCMfacebook
Follow TCM on TWITTER: myt.cm/TCMtwitter
Subscribe now to watch more classic film content from TCM spr.ly/6017cTBT 
Кино
Tom Berenger was a Flight Attendant 50 yrs ago for Eastern Airlines. He was based in San Juan PR. We all loved him. He looked like a young Paul Newman. So nice and sweet. Then he was seem in a soap opera, then became a huge movie star. What a great guy.
It's interesting you mention him resembling Paul Newman, being that he played Butch Cassidy in the prequel Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (Newman played Butch in the 'sequel' Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid). Both films are excellent.
It's something that he can be so nice in person because he SCARED THE SH*T OUT OF ME in Platoon. When someone can completely inhabit a character very different from their normal self--that's acting...
Very horrific film but one of the best told war story movies ever made.
It isn't easy to pronounce Beringer correctly. So,is it, Beringer, like Ginger,
OR do you pronounce the "g" like the "j" ?
Hi, I'm 16 and my autistic brother is 13, when he hears Jobeth start to play ""You Can't Always Get What You Want "" on the church organ he just goes crazy, in a good way,,, we've watched at least 10 times,, those people are like a family to us,,, Thank you Jobeth and Tom ❤🌴🤗
Sweet story. Thank you for sharing.
How is it possible that it has been 40 years?....love this movie.....awesome!
Yes I saw it, great movie, very nostalgic.
I watch over just for the nostalgia.
It’s a greet film in every way.
Loved seeing Tom Berenger in this. I'm a GenXer but the Big Chill was a movie I loved in the 80s. It made me want to be a baby boomer so bad. But I guess I got my generation's Big Chill with Breakfast Club.
Loved the Big Chill
I have had a crush on Tom Berenger my whole life. It was nice to stumble upon this interview. Great movie.
I'm 65 and I've seen this movie about 7 or 8 times. I just watched it the other night. It definitely hits home when you attend a funeral of a friend, no matter what the cause. It makes you reflect on your life, and how you spend it. The sound tract was awesome because it was the music I grew up on.
Me too!!
Despite having seen it dozens of times and knowing most of the dialogue by heart, there are scenes that still make me laugh out loud. So well written & perfectly cast, it remains one of my all-time favorites.
I always loved Goldblume's "we took a vote. We are not going home." line.
This movie represents that time in our lives when we remember when we felt this way. When we felt we were with people we knew, who knew us at a time when you felt this high of love and friendship. Whether it be with family or friends, it feels like a feeling of wonderful kinship and freedom that you can revisit as a great memory. This movie was written beautifully, acted perfectly, and casted perfectly. This is one of my most favorite of all movies because of how relatable it is. I own a copy of this movie and I watch it every so often and I don’t own very many movies. It’s an all time great.
I feel the same. I actually lived in a big house with 5 other young women after college and we had guy friends who were all living in the same house. We hung out together and played guitars. Your words resonate with me "When we felt we were with people we knew, who knew us at a time when you felt this high of love and friendship." We all live around the country and rarely see each other but the few times I connect with one of them it just starts right back from where we left off.
In
The Big Chill is a huge favorite of mine 🤩
I remember winning passes to a sneak preview in '83. I was 18 and loved it then too!
@@chiefscheider I’m so glad to read this- my husband and I were 21 and 25 when we saw it and we loved it from the beginning. We had this neighbor couple who was about 8,9 years older than us who condescendingly told us that we wouldn’t like the movie because we were too young to appreciate it. That always irked us. We still love the movie to this day and it’s great to hear that you, too liked the movie when you were young also! Everybody can relate to true friendship…
I'm now 75 and this was the story of my life set to "my" music!
I'm 16 and I love your music!🥰
@@destineydevereux4722 That makes me happy!!!
Exactly, the characters were all around 35 in the movie, so this would be your exact generation. I was just starting college and it meant a lot to me too just to see what questions I'd have in the next 15-20 years.
Loved this movie. The Big Chill was my college days and American Graffiti was my high school days. So Blessed.
William Hurt was among my favorite actors.
He did some amazing movies especially in the 80s and 90s.
He could play anything from a mad scientist to a not very bright lawyer to an obsessed general. I read where he was a pretty weird guy in his private life (he suffered from bi polar and it definitely shows in Altered States!)
Jobeth Williams has gotten rather creaky/shaky in her old age. It's ironic how she often played mothers when in reality she never had kids (she adopted two boys)
SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME has 3 fantastic performances: Lorraine Bracco, Tom Berenger & Mimi Rogers
One of my favorite movies ever. A true Timeless classic ❤❤❤
40 year's ago 🤨 seems like yesterday in another lifetime.
I'm remember being annoyed when my elders would say they don't make music or movie's like that anymore. Our generation did have the best music 🎶🎶🎶
William Hurt ❤️ Totally scrumptious. Safe travels Bill. 😘
What a treat with these two in this interview. Love, love, love this movie.
The Big Chill feels like a combination of a Howard Hawks hang out comedy and a tense Tennessee Williams Play. That takes a great Cast and Director to blend them perfectly. Lawrence Kasdan made a bonified classic. I only hope one day we can finally see the cut scenes of Kevin Costner, who apparently was channeling James Dean in his performance.
Thanks for the interview, Ben Mankiewicz and TCM!
Great comment. I'd love to see Costners performance too.
wasn't costner the dead guy ?
@@direwolf6234 Alex. Yes, I would love to see the flashbacks of Alex. The whole movie was about how the characters remebered Alex.
@@barbararussell9757 Respectfully, I disagree that the whole movie was about how they remembered Alex, it was what brought them physically back together.
@@lisagonzalez8957 Yes, you are right about that. My comment was hasty.
Hi.still rewatch " The Big Chill " That movie sent me back to the time of the group of friends I had. It was the best of times. And still be friends many years later.The actors all my favorites, seemed like it was all natural as if it was a real life they were living.The best of the best were the perfect choices for all parts.❤👍
PS: I bought the DVD years ago. And play it.well I lost track how many times I have and will continue to watch...👍
This was my generation and I absolutely loved the movie. It really speaks to people of my age. I have watched it over and over again through the years and it still holds up.
That’s lovely. I love that you live this film.
Fantastic discussion! TCM film festival is amazing.
I have been to that house . . . also used in "Great Santini." Very special location.
Well been 40 years! Still one of my favourite movies. First saw in Brisbane Australia early 1984. Awesome soundtrack, still got on vinyl. Going to watch again . Cheers
Loved Jo Beth from the moment I saw her in "The Big Chill". Then came "Poltergeist" and I was in love ! 💙
I remember seeing Poltergeist in the summer of 82 around the same time I saw ET. Two great moms in those movies, Jobeth and Dee Wallace 😍
I'm so glad I came acoss this! I Loved Tom Berenger right from the get-go and so many yrs ago. And yet, it still feels like Yesterday.. And I've Always enjoyed watching Mary Jo too! So very Gd to see them and Ty So much for this.. ❤
I must've seen The Big Chill 50 times because it was evoking MY ERA. When the movie debuted I had a group of friends that I thought I'd have forever. We all started out so hopeful about the future but the movie prophetically mirrored the fact that my era and those friends were moving on. The world in which we live now is very different and a lot less hopeful.
Excellent definition by Tom Berenguer. Bookends of a generation!
Would have loved to see something like this with the entire cast.
Sadly with no William Hurt. His passing still hurts
I loved Altered States and the second Hulk film (far superior to the first Hulk film), two other great William Hurt films.
@@nicholasjanke3476 Altered States is one of my favorite films. What a feature film debut by Hurt.
@@chiefscheider Most definitely. 😢 (Edit: that applies to both of your comments)
Gorki Park and The Incredible Hulk were two rare action films for William Hurt. Usually he did introspective, art house type films.
This was the very first VHS 📼 movie I bought. I loved it when it was in the theaters and to this day it is in my top ten movies of all time. Forty years hard to believe, still a great movie. Greetings from Canada 🇨🇦
Both American Graffitti and The Big Chill used period soundtracks to brilliantly evoke a time and place. Unfortunately that also gave us films like 'The Wedding Singer.'
Let's have a sequel where Mary Kay Place's child (now 39) finds out the truth about their parentage. 😀
LOL, The Wedding Singer was great but that movie was basically a full blown comedy unlike the other 2.
Tom Berenger is a legend.
Oh, I'm so glad I stumbled on this interview. I was a kid in high school when this movie came out, and my parents told me often they went to high school with Jo Beth Williams.
I remember Tom Beranger in Looking for Mr. Goodbar he was the nut who kills Diane Keatons character. Way back in the day
That ending still bothers me. Very disturbing.
@@chiefscheider I know it still bothers me also. Everytime I see Tom Beranger that's what I think about, and that was forty years ago. Thank you for your commitment.
Commitment? You're very welcome 😉
Hey, Spoiler alert for any movie that isn't a least 80 years old. Just joking, great movie and one of the all time awesome/shocking endings.
OMG!!!!!! Looking for Mr. Goodbar? Set me up for life. I have NEVER EVER left a drink anywhere
I was privileged to know JoBeth Williams while attending Jesse H. Jones Senior High School in Houston, Texas where she and I were in Drama class together. She was a Sophomore when I was a Senior and we used to talk about how we loved the movie "Lawrence of Arabia" and Peter O'Toole. She signed my yearbook with "dear Larry" (my nickname then because I read every book about the character and even the one he wrote "7 Pillars of Wisdom.") Had the good luck to be a minor cast member in a one act play, JoBeth had the lead role, a competition between our Drama teacher's classes. She played the witch who created a fake man named "Feathertop." It was great fun playing a maid who had no lines but was required to pantomime a performance and she was a GREAT witch. I knew then that she'd go far in the acting profession and she has. "The Big Chill" is one of my favorite films but she is also memorable in "Kramer vs Kramer."
Loved Jo Beth Williams in Poltergeist.
This is one of my favorite movies that I will watch every time I find it on tv.
Me too!
It was the music of my generation and I identified with everyone in The Big Chill because I had friends who were like each character... one of the top 10 movies of my lifetime.
I Remember when it came out like it was yesterday. It was definitely the coolest flick to see that year..
83 was a great year for movies. I saw this, Risky Business, The King of Comedy, Local Hero, and a bunch of others...the only one I regret not seeing on the big screen was The Right Stuff.
I was in one of the people in charge of test screenings at Columbia Pictures for The Big Chill. We had many, many test screenings for the film and we worked hard on the picture's release. Two things became obvious from those test screenings: 1) one pretty much had to be a baby boomer to understand and love the film (so that's where the advertising was aimed) and 2) Larry Kasdan had written a final sceen that was a flashback to the characters' college time. The test audiences hated it (and personally I hated it as it was a let down from all that had been built up in the film and, also, it was ridiculous - especially Jeff Goldbloom in a silly long haired wig - bad, very bad). Kasden finally allowed that scene to be cut so that the last shot is Glenn Close gazing out of the kitchen window remembering. So much better. Oh, and by the way, Larry Kasdan was kind enough to make sure that many of us at Columbia got those tapes of that great music. I took mine to Russia in 1987 on the American-Soviet Peace Walk where it was stolen. Even back then, some Russians were very adept at appropriating what belonged to other people.
Interesting life, you’ve lead!
Very cool, stephanie. I would have loved a job like that in the early 80s!
Tom Berenger is a Great Actor.
Was in my junior year of college when the film came out. As a late baby boomer, or generation jones as some call it, I would consider the characters portrayed in this film to be an older generation. Good movie however, same house used in the Great Santini a few years before and know Bufort very well. The only negative aspect of the movie was the music - afterwards with all the radio stations doing the Motown format to death. I feel that this film has aged well and regardless of the style of clothing and appearances has changed considerably since, still works.
I saw Jo Beth in Los Angeles in the 1980's at an event and she was really such a stunning beautiful woman.
My favorite channel. How fortunate we are to see movies from the past in all their glory. And The Big Chill. What a cast. Everyone was on top of their game and you felt you were there. And when you thought it couldn’t possibly get better the music took you to a place of comfort and peace. You can’t always get what you want…..
I just turned 40, I've watched it 2 times over the years, my first time was when I was like 18, my other time was last summer, and I always thought it was great. It holds up great, it's weird to think that I was like over 15 years younger than the characters when I watched it my first time but probably 5 years older when I watched it last summer. It's a really well-done movie that will stand the test of time and you don't have to be the same age as the characters or a baby boomer to connect with it.
It's one of my all time favorites,this one is no exception,it aged very well,Thank you Jobeth and Tom.
Just watching a re play and Tom Berenger was really goodooking!!!
Wow! Tom Berenger can "watch over me" anytime!
Ah Now that is a movie, lol Thanks for the reminder,
Three friends and I decided to move to Hawaii in the early 80’s. We moved on February 6th but planned the move 5 months in advance. To stay bonded and not back out of the adventure we would go to the only one of us who had an apartment and we watched this movie every single night (sometimes twice) all the way until February 5th. We all memorized every line of the film. What a great time in life it was 😊
❤big chill .... great memories the sound track
Always a favorite film. I'm so thankful to have been a young woman at this time in our history. You relate to it all just like when watching Forrest Gump. ✌️❤️
I was 16 that year, saw the movie and bought the album. Both were great.
The Big Chill is a wonderful movie, easily one of my top ten. I remember seeing it for the first time. I went out and bought another ticket, and watched it a second time. Bought the soundtrack too. Every time I see it on tv, I watch it and enjoy it just as much as the first time. Excellent cast, wonderful use of music, witty, funny script. I wish I could see the footage including Kevin Costner, which wound up being cut during the editing process (does everyone know the only time Costner appears on screen in the finished film is as a corpse, being prepared for funeral?). Anyway, I enjoyed this interview with Tom Berenger and JoBeth Williams, thank you.
Tom plays the best Soldier ever in the movie 🎥 Platoon 👏
68….ALMOST 69(YEAH) PLATOON was an incredible movie in it’s honesty. Brother in VN . Never forget.
Brings back so great memories! Best movie
One of my top five movies of all time. Simply brilliant in every way with a great score of unforgettable songs.
It's one of my favorite films, I have seen it 100 times and it's always so good. ❤ And Tom is so handsome then and now!
I went to see The Big Chill every day for a week at the cinema on Oxford Street, London, in early 1984. Dragged a few friends along, too.
The SAME generation of us watching The Big Chill were also watching Platoon with Tom Berenger and he was excellent in both. Diametrically opposite characters for sure. The movies were deeply moving and created life long fans. Both films seemed to deal with overlapping subject matter. (i'll let you decide which themes overlap)
Just watched it again a few weeks ago…….one of the best………..Donna in Toronto
Great movie and incredibly there was chemistry for all of them.
one of my all time favorite movies. i was young when i saw it, too. but i loved it. i watched it many times. jobeth is such a talent. i love her performance in Poltergeist. And she was fabulous in this, the Big Chill. the BC was perfectly cast, written and directed. I am a stage actor and no wonder I love this. It is inherent when you rehearse. So important to do to get into the groove of the character and your co-actors. The whole thing and everyone in it is a perfect orchestration.
Absolutely!!!
I love this movie, have seen it easily dozens of times. I would have loved to be part of this group, both the actors and their characters.
One of the first films to use the soundtrack music to set a moment in time. Classic 😊
I remember reading the gossip column in the Chicago Tribune in 1984, and it mentioned that a movie was currently being shot in an abandoned suburban high school's library, and it said (this is quote from memory), "Word is that it's going to be THE BIG CHILL for high school kids." Yes, that's the movie that the column was talking about.
This was awesome! Great movie, awesome cast! Tom Berenger was one of my favorite stars! He still looks marvelous!
He must live in the sun.
great cast, so well done, wish they had made a sequel
I was a teenager when this movie came out, but it became a fast favourite of mine, and I have watched it every couple of years since 1983. In fact, I watched it again just last weekend in honour of 40 great years.
I went to University of Michigan around the same time as the movie's characters did. Captured so much for me and my friends, many of whom mirrored the characters in The Big Chill. Great movie, soundtrack and actors; so many who went on to great careers. Have watched it many times over the years and can't resist at least a few minutes every time I come across it. Thanks to all involved and to TCM.
Great movie. Epic, incredible sound track.
ABSOLUTELY ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES…..LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THE SOUNDTRACK….HAVE TO WATCH IT EVERY YEAR🤗💗
The Big Chill is one of the few movies that I enjoy watching over and over for the past 40 years.
I haven't seen this film since '85 on vhs, time for a reunion I think! Thank you JoBeth & Tom for sharing your talents with us then and taking a moment and talking about your experiences with us now!
Great film, great actors.
Both extremely fine actors.
My all-time favorite movie!!!!!
One of my favorite movies of all time. ❤
JoBeth Williams, had a huge crush after seeing that movie
Thanks for this. How could I forget this movie? On my way to buy it and watch this wonderful movie.
I hope you got the Criterion blu-ray 😉
Set back and enjoy TCM invitation always 👐 open
Damn! I haven't seen a tan like that since George Hamilton.
That movie, in my mind, created the Classic Rock genre for radio, bringing back so many familiar tunes we thought we'd forgotten.
One of my all-time favorites. LOVE love love this.
Such a wonderful movie. I didn't understand it at all at first blush. But, yes, this movie holds up under many viewings. Yes!
We've taken a vote, and we're never leaving.
Just one of so many quotables.
A favorite movie of mine, loved it.
One of my all time favorite movies!
As I recall, absolutely nothing blew up. Good times.
One of my all time favorites.
I saw this movie when I was 19,so badly wanted a beat up porsche like William Hurt.
I still do!
Great stuff, thanks! Good film.
Great movie. I remember seeing it when it came out, and then seeing it again about 10 years later. When watching it in the early 90s, my reaction was so different than 10 years prior. What struck me at the time was the many of the later 80's vices were all present. Five years later watching it at the same age as the characters were, gave a whole different view as well.
Love this movie.
Great movie, great soundtrack!!
It's become a little dated now, sort of, but still one of my favorite movies and quote a LOT of it still.
Same here 😅
Dated? Never. It is a beacon for a generation.
@@carmencollor1224 absolutely!
I was born the same year that this movie came out and I actually don't find it dated at all. Everything in the movie is very relatable for anyone over 30.
@@BishopWalters12, I am glad to hear it!!
Tom's looking great
Incredible Movie, should have won the oscar.
This was the only movie Johnny Carson’s production company ever made.
Desert Bloom from 1986 was also a Carson Production distributed by Columbia Pictures.
Odličan film.
Just talking about this recently with a great friend
Interesting of that photo early in this video of all 8 of them sitting in a gazebo with the lake as the background, and Kevin Kline (far right) is wearing bowling shoes.
Still my favorite soundtrack!
Love it
Terrific film, with a cast to die for.
Not being a Costner fan I didn't miss him at all.
Interesting to note that his part was completely cut from the finished production, which doubtless caused him considerable angst.
At the post production screening of ' Robin Hood, Prince of thieves ', he insisted that Alan Rickman's Sherriff of Nottingham role be severely cut. The audience were booing Robin, and cheering Rickman, and that was yet more angst for him. Rickman still stole the film, however.
😄
top 10 movie soundstrack of all time from start to finish? its in mine.