The Real Reason Sally Field Said No to First Wives Club — And Why She’d Do It Again
In a rare interview, Sally Field opens up about passing on Annie Paradis in 1996’s First Wives Club—and why Mrs. Doubtfire still hits home for families more than 30 years later.
Sally Field did one of my favorite things stars rarely do: she told the truth about why she said no to a big movie, then explained why one she did make still sticks to families like glue. In a new Parade interview ( published April 25 and 26), Field unpacked passing on 1996's 'The First Wives Club', doubled down on what keeps 'Mrs. Doubtfire' relevant, and teased her next project. There is also a stray, flat-out wrong detail floating around that I will swat down when we get there.
Why Sally Field turned down 'The First Wives Club'
Field was in the mix to play Annie Paradis in 'The First Wives Club' and walked away. Not because she disliked the people involved - she didn't.
Her reason wasn't scheduling or money. It was the premise. Field has never been into stories that reduce older women to chasing dates or trying to spice up their marriages because, in her view, there is just more to say about women at that stage of life. That worldview didn't square with the movie she was being asked to join.
On top of that, she flagged a very practical hurdle: the finale. If you remember, the film ends with the trio belting 'You Don't Own Me'. Field does not sing, and the gig comes with singing baked in. Her words: she couldn't have done it.
Quick refresher on the actual movie: based on a 1992 novel, 'The First Wives Club' follows three college friends reunited by the funeral of a fourth, who died by suicide after her husband left her for someone younger. Turns out all three surviving friends were also traded in for newer models. They join forces, start with revenge, and pivot to something bigger - calling out hypocrisy, finding their footing again, and ultimately channeling that energy into supporting other women. It ends on that gleeful 'You Don't Own Me' curtain call for a reason.
Diane Keaton ended up playing Annie, opposite Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn, with a stacked ensemble that included Stockard Channing, Dan Hedaya, Victor Garber, Stephen Collins, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elizabeth Berkley, and Marcia Gay Harden. The film even grabbed an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. Field has zero hard feelings about any of it and is adamant the part went to the right person: she says Keaton was right for it and she wasn't.
And because the internet loves bad info: ignore any claim that Diane Keaton died in 2025. She did not. Moving on.
Why 'Mrs. Doubtfire' still lands
Field's resume is miles long - 'Gidget', 'The Flying Nun', 'Norma Rae', 'Steel Magnolias', 'Forrest Gump' - but when it comes to family films that age surprisingly well, she points to 1993's 'Mrs. Doubtfire'.
You know the setup: Robin Williams plays Daniel Hillard, a dad who loses custody after a divorce and, in a spectacularly ill-advised plan, disguises himself as a British nanny so he can be near his kids. Field plays his ex, who is trying to stand on her own two feet. As Daniel keeps the ruse alive, he learns some hard truths about parenting and why the marriage cracked in the first place. It's funny, yes, but it's also about what divorce does to a family and how you get through it. Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence, and Mara Wilson round out the cast.
'It's a lot of laughter, but it's about the difficulties of divorce for children and how ultimately, the mom and the dad can get divorced and the kids will still be OK... sometimes divorce is the very best thing because sometimes when moms and dads feel they need to stay together for the kids, it's a bad message.'
That's the secret sauce: a crowd-pleaser that quietly tells kids they're going to be fine.
What she's doing next
Field is next starring in 'Remarkably Bright Creatures', Netflix 's adaptation of the Shelby Van Pelt novel. She plays Tova, a widowed night-shift worker at an aquarium who forges an unexpected connection with a particularly sharp octopus named Marcellus. While that friendship unfolds, a young man hunting for his past drifts into the story, and a mystery begins to snap into place between them.
The cast includes Meghan Heffern, Lewis Pullman, Colm Meaney, Joan Chen, Kathy Baker, Beth Grant, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Laura Harris, and Alfred Molina. Netflix releases it May 8.