Annette Bening on ‘Nyad,’ ‘Apples Never Fall,’ and Oscar Nomination

After cementing herself as a legendary fixture in Hollywood, and at this point in her career, following so many nominations, would it be nice to finally win an Oscar? 

“Well, I would think it would feel really great but I certainly know what it’s like not to win,” Bening says. “I’ve been there and I’ve done that, and that’s also not so bad.”

After she gets through awards season, her first-ever limited series, Apples Never Fall, premieres on Peacock in March. Bening plays Hoy Delaney, a mother, wife, and retired tennis coach in her sixties who goes missing seemingly out of nowhere. The series is adapted from a book by Big Little Lies’ Liane Moriarty, and Sam Neill plays her suspicious, fictional husband Stan Delaney.

Bening sat down with Rolling Stone and discussed her new show, what winning an Oscar would mean to her, and how things have — and haven’t — changed for women in Hollywood. 

You’ve acted in so many incredible films, what made you finally want to join Apples Never Fall, a limited series for TV and streaming?
It was just the right time. Other things have come my way, but it just wasn’t the right time. And it was juicy. I loved the idea of doing something that was just juicy entertainment and fun. I love dark material, and I’ve done so many dark, kind of weird, more indie things, and this, I felt, was like when you pick up that great book that you love. It’s also got a lot of heart to it. 

The show was in the middle of filming in Australia last summer when the writers went on strike in May, and when the actors went on strike in July. What was it like to have to pause production before finishing the show? 
We carried on during the writers strike. It was not fun because we didn’t have [director] Melanie [Marnich]. I was, quite frankly, heartbroken. I, of course, totally supported the strike as did she. But I have to say, because I got so enamored with the dynamic of having [Marnich] there [before she left during the strike]; she was always so smart about things. But then we figured it out.

How did it feel to pick back up again when the strikes ended in November?
The writers had been on strike from the center episodes, so then we were coming up to the final episodes not knowing if the actors were going to go on strike or not. I was worried about people in my business, quite frankly. There were so many people who were under such financial duress. When we stopped in Australia, it was very interesting, because we explained to the crew there that we were going on strike and had to explain that in our business, the way that strikes and unemployment affect our health care is so key compared to their country. It’s a real beef of mine. In Australia, they do have health care, and they don’t have unemployment in the same way that we do. For people who go on strike in California, you cannot collect your unemployment. Shame on you, Gavin Newsom, for not standing up for us. When that came across his desk, I thought that was a very unfortunate decision he made because we pay into our unemployment, and those of us on strike, in whatever profession we are in, we have a right to it. 

What made you want to play Diana in Nyad?
I sat down to read it and I just loved the story. Diana was so prickly, and I love that about her.  I’ve never read this character before, I’ve never seen this woman before, so I was curious. I didn’t really think about the athleticism of it, which is crazy. At first, I just read it like an audience member would watch it and thought, “What a story.” I was laughing, crying, and I was so moved by it, and I knew that it was Jimmy [Chin] directing. I was like, “I’ve got to do this.” Then after I thought about it, I thought: “Wait a minute — oh, shit. It’s me in a bathing suit. How do I feel about that? How do I feel about being in the water? Is it me swimming? Is it somebody else swimming for me? How does that work? How can I do it?” But I just plunged in right away because I love the story. I got to know Diana very well in real life, too, and she’s an amazing woman.

So much of the film is about Diana’s resilience as someone who’s constantly told she can’t accomplish her goal because she’s a 60-year-old woman. What do you think her character and the film say about being a woman aging in our society?
I think there is something about growth, it either comes to us kicking and screaming or it comes to us because we embrace it. Life’s circumstances, as they present themselves, are the material that we have to work with in our own lives about how we come to ourselves. There’s something about the athletic spirit that I’ve always been interested in and, quite frankly, fascinated by. The extreme athletes, the great athletes. I’ve always watched the Olympics, and I love when they tell the stories about how they got started. That kind of mentality is instructive to those of us who are not athletes because they’re constantly bumping up against what they’re going to do next. It is a great metaphor for any of the challenges that we have, whether it’s in our relationships with our family, our romantic relationships, with our parents, or kids, or if it’s in the work that we do. How do we find the fuel? I think we’re all looking for that, as human beings. And Diana is just one of those people who can teach us about that.

Did you relate to any of Diana’s thoughts and feelings based on her experiences? Did any of those messages resonate with you?
Diana wrote a book [Find a Way]. She’s a very literate, sophisticated person, and she has quite a way with language. I would love that book even if I never worked on the movie, because she’s actually very articulate about, for want of a better word, the spiritual side of what she’s doing in her life, the experience of being in the water, and how everything else sort of drops away. In marathon swimming, you’re just this little speck on top of the water on the face of the Earth. This picture of life is the perfect metaphor because ultimately we are all alone in our heads. It’s such an interesting thing, right? Nobody can ever be in your head and hear your thoughts the way you’re hearing them. But yet, life is all about connecting to people; we survive by being connected. Diana embodies that duality.

Nyad is your fifth Academy Award nomination. What would it mean to you to win an Oscar at this point in your career?
Well, I would think it would feel really great, but I certainly know what it’s like not to win. I’ve been there and I’ve done that, and that’s also not so bad. You get to be in the room. We just had our nominees luncheon, which is super fun. 

Do you give much thought or consideration to your legacy?
Not really. I think that’s something that’s out of my hands. I just follow what I love. I’ve also got a lot going on in my own life that means a lot to me. I like taking time off, I like being away. But no, I don’t think [considering my legacy] is something that is my job. That’s somebody else’s interpretation.

You’ve seen so many iterations of this industry in the changing landscape of Hollywood, culturally and technologically. How do you think those changes over the years have impacted you specifically? 
What’s really changed is the amount of technology. It has completely revolutionized what we do. I don’t think it’s all bad. I love streaming, I love watching things in my house, and I love the amount of content. It is overwhelming and there are times I’m paralyzed with opportunity. I think privacy is the biggest thing. Today, there’s this kind of abdication of a private life for people, and I feel like in the long run, there’s kind of a price you pay when you’re documenting everything and putting everything out there. Because then when the shit hits the fan and something goes wrong in your life, which of course is going to happen because we’re only human, and suddenly [people] say, “OK, now I deserve my privacy.” That’s hard. 

How do you think about being in the public eye and your relationship to fame as something that comes with the territory of your profession?
I’ve always been slightly uncomfortable with being a public person, and I think that’s a good thing. I think having a little bit of weariness about it is a healthy thing as an actor. What you’re really there for is to try to do the work.

I think it creates a lot of pressure for women particularly. There are all these expectations. I don’t think it’s gotten easier on women, I think it’s gotten harder in terms of what you’re supposed to look like and what’s considered beautiful. I think it’s really tough. One thing I never thought about is how having a successful career might make life harder for my own children. Not because of what’s going on at home, but because of how the world treats them and how they’re perceived. I think my kids have navigated it very well. I’m very proud of them, but it is something they have to reckon with. That’s part of their fate. 

What do you think has, or hasn’t, changed over the course of your career for women in Hollywood?
There is a lot more diversity, equity, and inclusion. I see that in the efforts of organizations. I think there’s absolutely a revolution in acceptance of the queer world. That is such a wonderful and important thing. I hope that continues. I’m really worried about the next election cycle and the way trans folks are being targeted, but I know that the more that time goes on, the more people learn. Elections used to target gay people, they were the ones that were used as the political football. In this election cycle, we’re seeing a lot of targeting of trans folks, but I’m hopeful the more people see our trans community, the more we accept and understand. These are just folks that want to live their lives just like the rest of us, and they deserve the dignity to do so. Shame on those people that are targeting the trans community. Shame on them.

Your career is so expansive and you’ve had such a range of experiences. What’s a lesson you’ve learned and taken away from all of it? 
My dad just passed away, and he was kind of into aphorisms in a good way. He was a conservative Republican, and I certainly didn’t agree with his politics, but one of the things he would always say that resonated with me the most is, “You don’t change people.” To me that message is about acceptance. People change if they want to change, but you can’t change them. I think that’s one of the smartest things my dad has said — to just remember you don’t change other people and they are who they are. 

A lot has changed in Hollywood since Annette Bening was nominated for her first Academy Award, for The Grifters in 1990. 

“I went to the Academy Awards with [actor] Ed Begley in his electric car. At the time, no one knew what an electric car was, basically. Ed was so far ahead of the curve,” Bening says with a smile. We’re talking in a quiet, dark corner of a hotel bar in the Langham Pasadena, and the 65-year-old actress is the epitome of cool in a black leather jacket and a gold snake ring wrapped around her finger. “All the women in my category got together in a little circle,” Bening says. “We were all chatting and saying, ‘Let’s have lunch or dinner next week, and whoever wins will pay. Whoopi Goldberg won and she treated us to dinner and gave us each a chocolate Oscar.” 

After cementing herself as a legendary fixture in Hollywood, and at this point in her career, following so many nominations, would it be nice to finally win an Oscar? 

“Well, I would think it would feel really great but I certainly know what it’s like not to win,” Bening says. “I’ve been there and I’ve done that, and that’s also not so bad.”

After she gets through awards season, her first-ever limited series, Apples Never Fall, premieres on Peacock in March. Bening plays Hoy Delaney, a mother, wife, and retired tennis coach in her sixties who goes missing seemingly out of nowhere. The series is adapted from a book by Big Little Lies’ Liane Moriarty, and Sam Neill plays her suspicious, fictional husband Stan Delaney.

Bening sat down with Rolling Stone and discussed her new show, what winning an Oscar would mean to her, and how things have — and haven’t — changed for women in Hollywood. 

You’ve acted in so many incredible films, what made you finally want to join Apples Never Fall, a limited series for TV and streaming?
It was just the right time. Other things have come my way, but it just wasn’t the right time. And it was juicy. I loved the idea of doing something that was just juicy entertainment and fun. I love dark material, and I’ve done so many dark, kind of weird, more indie things, and this, I felt, was like when you pick up that great book that you love. It’s also got a lot of heart to it. 

The show was in the middle of filming in Australia last summer when the writers went on strike in May, and when the actors went on strike in July. What was it like to have to pause production before finishing the show? 
We carried on during the writers strike. It was not fun because we didn’t have [director] Melanie [Marnich]. I was, quite frankly, heartbroken. I, of course, totally supported the strike as did she. But I have to say, because I got so enamored with the dynamic of having [Marnich] there [before she left during the strike]; she was always so smart about things. But then we figured it out.

How did it feel to pick back up again when the strikes ended in November?
The writers had been on strike from the center episodes, so then we were coming up to the final episodes not knowing if the actors were going to go on strike or not. I was worried about people in my business, quite frankly. There were so many people who were under such financial duress. When we stopped in Australia, it was very interesting, because we explained to the crew there that we were going on strike and had to explain that in our business, the way that strikes and unemployment affect our health care is so key compared to their country. It’s a real beef of mine. In Australia, they do have health care, and they don’t have unemployment in the same way that we do. For people who go on strike in California, you cannot collect your unemployment. Shame on you, Gavin Newsom, for not standing up for us. When that came across his desk, I thought that was a very unfortunate decision he made because we pay into our unemployment, and those of us on strike, in whatever profession we are in, we have a right to it. 

What made you want to play Diana in Nyad?
I sat down to read it and I just loved the story. Diana was so prickly, and I love that about her.  I’ve never read this character before, I’ve never seen this woman before, so I was curious. I didn’t really think about the athleticism of it, which is crazy. At first, I just read it like an audience member would watch it and thought, “What a story.” I was laughing, crying, and I was so moved by it, and I knew that it was Jimmy [Chin] directing. I was like, “I’ve got to do this.” Then after I thought about it, I thought: “Wait a minute — oh, shit. It’s me in a bathing suit. How do I feel about that? How do I feel about being in the water? Is it me swimming? Is it somebody else swimming for me? How does that work? How can I do it?” But I just plunged in right away because I love the story. I got to know Diana very well in real life, too, and she’s an amazing woman.

So much of the film is about Diana’s resilience as someone who’s constantly told she can’t accomplish her goal because she’s a 60-year-old woman. What do you think her character and the film say about being a woman aging in our society?
I think there is something about growth, it either comes to us kicking and screaming or it comes to us because we embrace it. Life’s circumstances, as they present themselves, are the material that we have to work with in our own lives about how we come to ourselves. There’s something about the athletic spirit that I’ve always been interested in and, quite frankly, fascinated by. The extreme athletes, the great athletes. I’ve always watched the Olympics, and I love when they tell the stories about how they got started. That kind of mentality is instructive to those of us who are not athletes because they’re constantly bumping up against what they’re going to do next. It is a great metaphor for any of the challenges that we have, whether it’s in our relationships with our family, our romantic relationships, with our parents, or kids, or if it’s in the work that we do. How do we find the fuel? I think we’re all looking for that, as human beings. And Diana is just one of those people who can teach us about that.

Did you relate to any of Diana’s thoughts and feelings based on her experiences? Did any of those messages resonate with you?
Diana wrote a book [Find a Way]. She’s a very literate, sophisticated person, and she has quite a way with language. I would love that book even if I never worked on the movie, because she’s actually very articulate about, for want of a better word, the spiritual side of what she’s doing in her life, the experience of being in the water, and how everything else sort of drops away. In marathon swimming, you’re just this little speck on top of the water on the face of the Earth. This picture of life is the perfect metaphor because ultimately we are all alone in our heads. It’s such an interesting thing, right? Nobody can ever be in your head and hear your thoughts the way you’re hearing them. But yet, life is all about connecting to people; we survive by being connected. Diana embodies that duality.

Nyad is your fifth Academy Award nomination. What would it mean to you to win an Oscar at this point in your career?
Well, I would think it would feel really great, but I certainly know what it’s like not to win. I’ve been there and I’ve done that, and that’s also not so bad. You get to be in the room. We just had our nominees luncheon, which is super fun. 

Do you give much thought or consideration to your legacy?
Not really. I think that’s something that’s out of my hands. I just follow what I love. I’ve also got a lot going on in my own life that means a lot to me. I like taking time off, I like being away. But no, I don’t think [considering my legacy] is something that is my job. That’s somebody else’s interpretation.

You’ve seen so many iterations of this industry in the changing landscape of Hollywood, culturally and technologically. How do you think those changes over the years have impacted you specifically? 
What’s really changed is the amount of technology. It has completely revolutionized what we do. I don’t think it’s all bad. I love streaming, I love watching things in my house, and I love the amount of content. It is overwhelming and there are times I’m paralyzed with opportunity. I think privacy is the biggest thing. Today, there’s this kind of abdication of a private life for people, and I feel like in the long run, there’s kind of a price you pay when you’re documenting everything and putting everything out there. Because then when the shit hits the fan and something goes wrong in your life, which of course is going to happen because we’re only human, and suddenly [people] say, “OK, now I deserve my privacy.” That’s hard. 

How do you think about being in the public eye and your relationship to fame as something that comes with the territory of your profession?
I’ve always been slightly uncomfortable with being a public person, and I think that’s a good thing. I think having a little bit of weariness about it is a healthy thing as an actor. What you’re really there for is to try to do the work.

I think it creates a lot of pressure for women particularly. There are all these expectations. I don’t think it’s gotten easier on women, I think it’s gotten harder in terms of what you’re supposed to look like and what’s considered beautiful. I think it’s really tough. One thing I never thought about is how having a successful career might make life harder for my own children. Not because of what’s going on at home, but because of how the world treats them and how they’re perceived. I think my kids have navigated it very well. I’m very proud of them, but it is something they have to reckon with. That’s part of their fate. 

What do you think has, or hasn’t, changed over the course of your career for women in Hollywood?
There is a lot more diversity, equity, and inclusion. I see that in the efforts of organizations. I think there’s absolutely a revolution in acceptance of the queer world. That is such a wonderful and important thing. I hope that continues. I’m really worried about the next election cycle and the way trans folks are being targeted, but I know that the more that time goes on, the more people learn. Elections used to target gay people, they were the ones that were used as the political football. In this election cycle, we’re seeing a lot of targeting of trans folks, but I’m hopeful the more people see our trans community, the more we accept and understand. These are just folks that want to live their lives just like the rest of us, and they deserve the dignity to do so. Shame on those people that are targeting the trans community. Shame on them.

Your career is so expansive and you’ve had such a range of experiences. What’s a lesson you’ve learned and taken away from all of it? 
My dad just passed away, and he was kind of into aphorisms in a good way. He was a conservative Republican, and I certainly didn’t agree with his politics, but one of the things he would always say that resonated with me the most is, “You don’t change people.” To me that message is about acceptance. People change if they want to change, but you can’t change them. I think that’s one of the smartest things my dad has said — to just remember you don’t change other people and they are who they are.