Why Goldie Hawn Never Reprised Her Most Iconic Role
Goldie Hawn’s Oscar-winning career includes hits like First Wives Club, but despite the film’s massive success, repeated efforts to make a sequel fell apart due to pay disputes and script problems.
If you’re planning to watch The Christmas Chronicles on Netflix this holiday season, you might notice the undeniable spark between Santa and Mrs. Claus. That chemistry isn’t just movie magic—Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, who play the festive couple, are partners in real life. Even in their seventies and eighties, they bring a warmth and playfulness to the screen that’s hard to miss. But beyond their holiday roles, Hawn’s career has been marked by both early triumphs and missed opportunities.
Early Stardom and Oscar Glory
Goldie Hawn’s rise in Hollywood was swift. After a brief stint as a dancer and a regular on the comedy show Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, she landed a role opposite Walter Matthau in 1969’s Cactus Flower. The film, a lively comedy with a surprisingly dark opening, also starred Ingrid Bergman and was well received by critics. Hawn’s performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination, a BAFTA nod, and, most notably, an Academy Award win—an unexpected victory considering her competition that year.
Despite her Oscar, Hawn’s career didn’t immediately skyrocket. She spent the next decade appearing in smaller films, including Steven Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express and Warren Beatty’s Shampoo, the latter earning her another Golden Globe nomination. Her second Oscar nomination came with Private Benjamin in 1980, which kicked off a period of major box office hits and collaborations with stars like Kurt Russell, Mel Gibson, and Bruce Willis.
The First Wives Club Phenomenon
In 1996, Hawn joined Bette Midler and Diane Keaton for First Wives Club, a surprise blockbuster about three women seeking payback after their husbands leave them for younger partners. The film was a runaway success, grossing $180 million on a modest budget. But as Hawn later explained, the financial arrangements behind the scenes were less than ideal.
“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.”
Failed Attempts at a Sequel
Despite the film’s popularity and fan demand, efforts to make a sequel to First Wives Club repeatedly stalled. The first attempt in 2004 fell apart over disagreements about pay for the three leads. Another try in 2016, this time with Netflix, was abandoned due to script issues. A final effort in 2020, which would have reunited Hawn, Midler, and Keaton, was ultimately shelved after Keaton’s untimely passing.