When the poster art for “The Fabulous 4” first dropped, it was the talk of social media, where many assumed it had to be made by a fan who had put together a wish list of stars they’d like to see in a movie together. But the truth is, every celebrity lined up to make it happen. And according to the cast, even the production of the comedy that premiered Friday on Bleecker Avenue was a wild ride.
The film’s accolades include an Academy Award, six Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, three Grammy Awards, two Tony Awards, six SAG Awards, two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Peabody Award and a Kennedy Center Honor.
The main result is a comedy about four former friends who reunite in Key West to be bridesmaids at the wedding of one of them, Marilyn (Midler). However, Sarandon’s reserved character, Lou, doesn’t know the real reason for the trip, as she and Marilyn had a long-standing falling out over Marilyn ending up marrying Lou’s boyfriend after they were in college.
“It’s about friendship, but it’s also certainly about forgiveness,” Sarandon says. “Later, you find out that she never even apologized. But it wasn’t just that she lost the man; it was that she lost her friend, her do-or-die who had been through everything with her before that.”
The four characters — Lou (Sarandon), Marilyn (Midler), Alice (Mullally), and Kitty (Ralph) — have very distinct personalities and eccentricities. Lou is a profitable but feisty surgeon; Marilyn is an ever-smiling bride who loves being in love; Kitty is an earth mother type who makes a really respectable living in the cannabis business; Alice is a free spirit (with free morals) and is as spontaneous as one can be.
Although Sarandon was initially offered the role of Marilyn, she asked for a change. “I loved the idea of playing someone like Lou, who is so depressed,” she says. “How do you make someone who says ‘no’ to everything happy, someone who doesn’t let the fun in? How do you see this character and not just go, ‘God, she’s a Debbie Downer’? So I had to find some quirky passion in her to redeem her.”
And I apologize to JD Vance — but his eccentric passion is that she’s a catwoman!
In the film, Lou is lured to Key West when she is informed that she has won the chance to adopt a six-toed cat from a base on the island. One scene has Lou filming her cats on her nice phone. These cats were Sarandon’s real pets.
“I asked to FaceTime with my cats, so my assistant filmed my cats,” she reveals, adding with amusement, “My cats really feel like there were much better shots of them.” She admits there was a bit of drama each time the cats were used “because for some reason they weren’t very skilled, I mean, as you would expect cats to be,” she jokes. “There was a bit of craziness trying to control the cats and figuring out how to work with them that made that night pretty crazy.”
Among the many unplanned antics, there was one ad-lib by Mullally that had everyone laughing. “Megan developing along the way, ‘You know, you have sex with your cat; it happens.’ That wasn’t in the script,” says Sarandon.
Susan Sarandon FaceTimes with her cats in “The Fabulous 4.”
Mullally’s improvisational prowess was in full swing throughout filming. “Megan addressing issues regularly from this unpredictable place just kept it really fresh. … So a lot of her responses were improvised and just always taking the time when the other characters are panicking or offended. Megan’s fit into that character was so sensible.”
Mullally was struck down by Covid during this interview, and she looked awful. However, she did opine about how much fun the film was to work on. “Alice is like a mosquito who’s buzzing around the other characters, annoying them and never listening to any obligation,” she says. “Initially, my character had a terrible health challenge, and I suggested that maybe that wasn’t conducive to comedy,” she laughs.
The fun didn’t end when the cameras stopped rolling. Mullally said they’d head back to Sarandon’s resort room and the laughs continued. “Just recapping crazy things that happened during the day and crying laughing. There’s nothing better.”
Sarandon recalled an even better occasion. “Megan and I went to a live performance of the ‘Rocky Horror Show’ during Pleasure Week at this little club. They were blown away when we showed up.”