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Piers Morgan Live
Interview With Geena Davis; Interview With Julianna Margulies
Aired September 24, 2011 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PIERS MORGAN, HOST: She's not the only woman who's played the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEENA DAVIS, GEENA DAVIS INSTITUTE ON GENDER IN MEDIA: It was funny how many people would say -- they would look at me and say, "I'd vote for you in real life." And I'd say, well, I was just playing this character on TV.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: And knows what it was like to be in bed with Brad Pitt?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: It was worth $6,000.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Geena Davis on a real life campaign to inspire women.
And ripped from the headlines, that cheating hearts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been unfaithful to my wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've exchanged messages and photos of explicit nature with about six women over the last three years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and that violates my or any sense of right and wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: That's what they say in public, but what goes on behind closed doors?
Tonight, Emmy winner Julianna Margulies and the cast of one of the hottest shows on TV, "The Good Wife."
This is PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT. MORGAN: Geena Davis, there's a thing or two about strong women. She's played everything from the president, "Thelma and Louise." But she says women in Hollywood get a raw deal and she's here to explain why.
Welcome.
DAVIS: Thank you.
MORGAN: I want to call you Madam President. Is that what they call her -- female president?
DAVIS: Yes, absolutely.
MORGAN: Because I loved "Commander in Chief..."
DAVIS: Thank you.
MORGAN: ...which was the great series you took part in.
DAVIS: Yes.
MORGAN: Which I thought -- it was kind of like my new "West Wing" fix...
DAVIS: I know.
MORGAN: ...with a twist and then suddenly I woke up and it was gone.
DAVIS: I know.
MORGAN: What happened?
DAVIS: That's what happened to me, too. I woke up and my show wasn't on anymore.
MORGAN: Were you disappointed as I was?
DAVIS: I'm devastated. Devastated. I even have an idea if the show is ever brought back. I have the whole publicity angle worked out that it would have a, you know, maybe a profile shot of me at the desk and it would say, look who just got re-elected.
MORGAN: For years, I reckon, after watching that, it's a bit like Martin Sheen. You were more presidential in that role than many of the presidents, I would say, like Martin Sheen. And both of you are very electable in those roles.
DAVIS: Right. Right.
MORGAN: And in your case, I know you've become this great standard bearer for all things women, but I see in that role, that was doing you for you, I felt.
DAVIS: Absolutely. MORGAN: Is that how you felt?
DAVIS: Absolutely, yes. And it was funny how many people say, they would look at me and say, "I'd vote for you in real life." And I'd say, well, I'm just playing this character on TV.
MORGAN: Now, this is what I like about you, Geena Davis, because you started off -- an unlikely starting base to become this woman, this fighting for female rights, because you were Victoria's Secret model, which I had no idea about. And, of course, you starred in a film called "Earth Girls are Easy".
DAVIS: And my first role was in "Tootsie" in my underwear.
MORGAN: So as I say, an unlikely starting base...
DAVIS: Yes.
MORGAN: ...you found yourself. Now, tell me about your journey through this weird, little trip you've been on.
DAVIS: Right, right. Well, yes, I actually done a sort of lay it out like that. And maybe it's even more remarkable that I, you know, I have a humble beginning.
MORGAN: Yes.
DAVIS: Exactly.
So, you know, it was all sort of an evolution. I mean, part of what happened in the early days is that I wanted to play interesting and unusual characters. I wanted to have some sort of challenge and not just be like the girlfriend of the person that's doing all of the interesting things.
So, that's why I think I ended up in the '80s in the movies like "Beetlejuice" and "The Fly," and even "Earth Girls are Easy," Piers. There something interesting for me to do, rather than just be sort of set dressing. And then eventually, I did "Thelma & Louise," and that changed everything. That was really...
MORGAN: Let's have a look a bit of "Thelma & Louise," because I love that film. This is you and Brad Pitt, of course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS, AS THELMA, "THELMA AND LOUISE": What'd you rob?
BRAD PITT, AS MICHAEL, "THELMA & LOUISE": Hmm, well, let's see. Let's add it up here. I robbed a gas station, a couple of convenience stores, liquor stores.
DAVIS: Wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MORGAN: Of all of the movies where you'd want to do a sequel, I would have thought love scenes with a naked Brad Pitt might be pretty high on the list.
DAVIS: Yes. If we weren't pancakes at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: I mean, in Hollywood, people come back to life, don't they?
DAVIS: Oh, yes. Well, oh, yes, I really tried to convince them. Because some people wanted to say, "It's sort of metaphorical, we don't know what happened." We are so dead.
MORGAN: Air of mystery.
DAVIS: We're dead.
MORGAN: Was it all that it's cracked up to be, being in bed with a naked Brad Pitt?
DAVIS: Well -- first of all, who cracked it up to be -- well, anyway.
MORGAN: Every woman watching this is wondering, "What was it like doing a love scene with Brad Pitt."
DAVIS: Yes, I know.
MORGAN: You can't get away with that. It's an inescapable fact.
DAVIS: Well, sometimes, I will answer by saying, "It was worth $6,000."
MORGAN: Let's get serious because you've had the sort of, you know, frivolous buildup, I guess, to the new Geena Davis. Now you're here in New York, you spoke at the Social Good Conference and the Clinton Global Initiative. And these are serious places for you to be serious about. And the main kind of thesis, I think, of where you're coming from is that women are still portrayed in a fairly ludicrous way by the media, particularly Hollywood women, female politicians, I guess, as well.
Just tell me about that. Why do you feel so exercised about this?
DAVIS: Well, from the reaction that women had to "Thelma & Louise," it was an incredible lesson in the power of media images. And it made me realized that we don't give women the opportunity to feel like that about female characters that often. You know, we don't come out of a movie feeling pumped and inspired.
So after that, I made all of my choices based on thinking about the women that were going to be watching the movie and would they like my character, would they, you know, get something out of it. And so that's why playing the president was like...
MORGAN: Fantastic.
DAVIS: ...the perfect thing, you know. So iconic. But then -- so I had all this, you know, spidey sense about women's roles already. And then when my daughter was 2 -- she's 9 now -- and I started watching little kids' things with her, I was horrified to see this tremendous gender imbalance in what we're showing to the littlest kids. And I just thought it was very disturbing.
MORGAN: What kind of thing?
DAVIS: Well -- so, I have an institute that's now -- a research- based institute. We've sponsored the most research ever done on gender representations in the media. And what we found is that in all family film ratings -- G, PG, and PG 13, for every one female character, there are three male characters. And in crowd scenes, it goes to five to one.
MORGAN: Is that right?
DAVIS: Yes.
MORGAN: That's extraordinary.
DAVIS: Isn't it? I don't know, but, you know, people...
MORGAN: So it's kind of subliminal bombardment that men are more important.
DAVIS: Right, right. Exactly.
MORGAN: And that's what bugs me.
DAVIS: And, you know, when you think about the crowd scene or the village or whatever, if there's so few women, it's saying women take up less space in the world than men. And so if that's all kids see from the very beginning is this huge imbalance, I mean, it becomes -- like you said, it becomes sort of internalized.
MORGAN: What do you think of the way that modern female politicians are portrayed? I mean, I'm talking particularly about Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin. They're kind of more controversial ones. But it definitely seems to me whatever side of the political divide you come at with them, they are treated in a very different way to man.
DAVIS: Yes. Well, they are, they are. It is because it's so rare. You know, we have to get to a point where it's completely normal. When I was doing the show, interviewers would invariably ask, did I think we would see a female president in our lifetime? And first of all, I would say, what century are you from? Yes, we will.
But we have to get to where it's just as likely for a woman to be the president as a man. And we're not anywhere close to that yet. And so every woman gets so focused on and ends up representing the whole gender rather than just female.
MORGAN: Are you concerned politically that the most likely people to become the next president of the United States are, as we stand, I guess, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, because there are no Democrats circling around -- I mean, Hillary Clinton...
DAVIS: You don't mean the next president, you mean the first female president. Is that what you mean?
MORGAN: The first female president. It's more likely to be one of these tea party candidates because they're the only ones who are currently showing their faces in this particular race?
DAVIS: Well, in this race.
MORGAN: Yes. Does it worry you it's that end of the market? It does, doesn't it?
DAVIS: You know...
MORGAN: I know your cup of tea.
DAVIS: I think probably we will not have a female president in this election.
MORGAN: Are saying that it isn't close to your heart? Is that what you're...
DAVIS: You know, interpret it as you will.
MORGAN: You think Hillary would have made a good female president?
MORGAN: Absolutely.
MORGAN: Is it a regret to you that she didn't actually win that standoff with Barack Obama.
DAVIS: You know, I supported and adore Barack Obama and I think he's doing a great job. And, you know, you could say, well, would somebody else have done it differently?
But, you know, it's just hard to know. If she had gotten elected, who knows? We might be saying, oh, well, Barack would have done something different. But I think she would make an extraordinary president.
MORGAN: Are you tempted to get into political life yourself? I mean, you tasted it in a dramatic way. You're now making important speeches at these big conferences. Is it giving you a little bit of the taste?
DAVIS: You know, I liked it very much. It went to my head a little. No. There's one -- there's one scene where we arrive. We arrived at the White House. And the Secret Service are opening the car doors and I go in the White House. And there was a tape keeping the people, you know, that were watching it. They were watching off of the set.
And when they took the tape down, we had -- I hadn't left the set yet and people were coming up, literally, I looked at the Secret Service, the extras who were playing Secret Service guys and thought, what are they doing? I was like, oh, my God.
MORGAN: For a fleeting second, you thought you were the president.
DAVIS: I did -- I did -- what do they know. So I went, hey, pretend you're actually the Secret Service. They were like, OK, please wait, wait...
MORGAN: Is it your -- just this magnificently intimidating figure. When you come in like -- you came in today, you're wearing these long heels, you're already about six feet tall. So you just -- you tower over men. And so therefore, with one swoop, you are basically making us all feel, you know, a little bit intimidated. That's an advantage, isn't it?
DAVIS: I'm not sure that's everyone's reaction.
MORGAN: I think so. When you march into these conferences, you must get these guys going, whoa, OK. She not only played the president but...
DAVIS: Right, right. Well, you know...
MORGAN: ...she's intimidating.
DAVIS: I have a certain amount of gravitas which helps, yes.
MORGAN: What is the state of play with Hollywood and the way that they treat women now? I mean, lots of barriers have been smashed down over the years. It's nowhere like it was 40 years ago, right? Where could Hollywood still improve, do you think?
DAVIS: Well, in exactly what I was talking about in reference to kids' movies is have more female characters and have them do more interesting things. We found that a great majority of the female characters in kids' movies are hyper-sexualized, they're very narrowly stereotyped. If the more hours of television a girl watches, the fewer options she thinks she has in life.
So, there's clearly a strong message coming through this that's negative. So, what we say -- we go to studios and present our research and I say, change some of the characters to female where it doesn't matter. You know, just think about it consciously when you're putting together the crowd scene, say, why are there so many guys in this scene. Just populate the movie with women. And if you have that many women, naturally, they're going to be of many diverse occupations and types.
MORGAN: I think the simpler way is to simply bring back "Commander in Chief."
DAVIS: That -- I think we're getting back to that.
MORGAN: And represent you as the screen fictional female president, but make people think it's time for one in real life. I think it could be a good thing.
DAVIS: Yes. All right. We'll get on that.
MORGAN: We're in this together, right?
DAVIS: Yes, yes.
MORGAN: You're not going to say no, are you?
DAVIS: No.
MORGAN: I win my campaign to bring it back.
DAVIS: Absolutely.
MORGAN: You're available?
DAVIS: I am.
MORGAN: You can start Monday?
DAVIS: I'm ready. If elected, I will serve.
MORGAN: Geena Davis, thank you very much.
DAVIS: Thank you.
MORGAN: Coming up next, one of the strongest women on TV today, Emmy winner Julianna Margulies in "The Good Wife."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIANNA MARGULIES, ACTRESS, "THE GOOD WIFE": To my spectacular husband, I love being your good wife and I'm so grateful you have no political aspirations. And I just want to say thank you to you and to our sweet boy, Kieran. You handle my long hours with such grace and understanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: A triumphant Emmy moment for my next guest. She's the star of what may be the hottest show on TV today, certainly my vote for the hottest show on TV. And that's "The Good Wife."
Welcome Julianna Margulies.
MARGULIES: Thank you, thank you.
MORGAN: What a moment -- I saw you the night before in a party. And you were so giddy with excitement. You also had next to you this handsome Adonis of a husband of yours. You then paid tribute to. He's an impressive character. He's not a politician, but he is a lawyer ironically.
MARGULIES: Yes, yes. Ironically, he is. Now he's running a company. But, yes, he's a lawyer by trade.
MORGAN: How do you feel when you -- you were the -- I think the only cast member who would not be on ER. Is that right?
MARGULIES: That is true. Yes.
MORGAN: Here you are again, scooping it again. Does it get boring? You won eight SAG awards, which I think is an all-time world record. Even Jack Nicholson hasn't won eight SAG awards. You know that? You're a tough...
MARGULIES: But I don't think that's fair because I've done a lot of television. So, if Jack Nicholson -- I mean, they only do one movie every three years. So, I'm sure, if Meryl Streep did a movie a year, she would have --
MORGAN: Is it still the ultimate -- I don't know, is it the ultimate affirmation of your acting prowess of all the work you put in when you win these big awards, when you win an Emmy? Do you feel like, OK, it's worth it.
MARGULIES: Well, I always -- honestly, I always feel like it's worth it, because I've gotten very lucky with great writing and playing great characters and having people respond to these characters. So I always feel like it's worth it. It's gratifying. It's one thing in this business to actually work. 5 percent of the Screen Actors' Guild works. It's another thing to do work that's satisfying and that people are loving.
And to get accolades on top of it, I mean, it's surreal. To be honest, it feels very -- I keep saying to my husband, this isn't normal, you know. Because we sort of came right out of the gate and he didn't know the business. And the first time out to L.A., we came back with a Golden Globe, and I thought, truly, this doesn't happen. And he's like, well, it's happening. And I thought, I should hear it and enjoy it for a minute because I know it goes away like that.
MORGAN: One thing about your part is that she's getting ever more evil. And I would like evil characters. I think you're just taking it all far too gently early on. And slowly but surely in the last season, I thought you came into this grip of right, "I'm taking no more of this doormat nonsense."
MARGULIES: Yes. I think evil might be a little bit of a strong word, you know.
(CROSSTALK)
MARGULIES: But you're absolutely right. I think what's happening now is she's seeing that being a good girl got her nowhere. And she's seeing that people's evil ways seem to constantly come in to her existence and I think she has nothing to lose now. So, she's taking a little bit of a darker road, I like to say.
MORGAN: Are you a good girl in real life?
MARGULIES: I'm a real mix. I'm the kind of person who always has to be on time and I'm incredibly professional. I don't have a lot of stomach for people who don't show up to a set knowing their lines because you're keeping 150 people waiting. But I like to have a good time and I like to be a little mischievous also.
MORGAN: I heard after the Emmy triumph on Sunday, you had a rather late night, Julianna?
MARGULIES: We had a late night. And I did the good girl side because we had the Hollywood foreign press conference tomorrow morning and I had to be up by 8:00. And he said you just won an Emmy, we're going to party.
MORGAN: We are now Thursday and your voice still seems a little quirky.
MARGULIES: Yes, it's still worse.
MORGAN: That's one hell of an evening.
MARGULIES: The music was loud and I was talking a lot.
MORGAN: You said in your victory speech that you try to be a good wife to your husband.
MARGULIES: I said I love being your good wife.
MORGAN: Well, right. Everybody must, when they meet you, always ask you ad nauseam, "What does it mean to be a good wife?" So, what does it mean to be a good wife?
MARGULIES: That's a very good question And they do ask that often and I think it's different for every person. I mean, for me, being a good wife is communicating completely, honestly with your spouse. So you're always on the same page, and there's never miscommunication. That's a good marriage.
MORGAN: Let's have a little break. And I want to ask you to think about this until we come back. If you discover your Adonis-like husband was behaving like your on-screen husband, what would you do to him? Don't answer yet.
MARGULIES: OK.
MORGAN: Just hold your thought however murderous it may be.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you all right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Wow. That was some slap. Even now you're cackling as you watch yourself do that.
MARGULIES: Well, it sounded very loud over here. It actually wasn't that loud.
MORGAN: Did you actually strike the poor man?
MARGULIES: I did. He was really great. It was three times -- why I struck him. And he said, I was on "Sex in the City" for six years, I've been hit many times. He didn't seem to mind. But I heard Robert and Michelle King, our executive producers and creators, say to them that was her wakeup call, slapping him.
MORGAN: I know you said before that, you know, a lot of the parallels with "The Good Wife" and the story line involving your character are drawn on the real life scandals, particularly the Eliot Spitzer one. And you said you remember watching him giving the press conferences we showed at the top of the show and his wife next to him and how sorry you felt for her. And you sort of vowed this could never be a scenario you'd find yourself in.
MARGULIES: Yes. I think every woman did at that point.
MORGAN: Yes.
MARGULIES: Were watching Eliot Spitzer. Yes.
MORGAN: What do you think of that? I mean, could you imagine doing that? Would you stand by your man?
MARGULIES: I really think it would depend on the situation. But honestly if it was the kind of thing that Alicia Florrick went through, if it was me personally, no, I wouldn't put myself through that humiliation. I wouldn't be able to stand at a podium knowing that he had slept with hookers and humiliated his entire family and how are you going to explain that to your children that you're still with a man like that. I personally could not do that.
MORGAN: You came from a divorced background yourself. Your parents split up when you were quite young.
MARGULIES: Yes.
MORGAN: You said that the reason you didn't marry until you were in your 40s was precisely because you didn't want to get it wrong like your parents.
MARGULIES: Right.
MORGAN: What were the memories you had of them splitting up in your life, that you came to the United States with your mother, and how much do you see of your father?
MARGULIES: Well, actually, when I was -- when we're very little, my parents split when I was 1 and it was a very amicable split for the most part. My father moved to Paris. So my mom to keep the kids together, we all moved there. And then he moved to London, we moved to Sussex.
MORGAN: Sussex? That's where I'm from.
MARGULIES: Oh, yes?
MORGAN: Where did you go?
MARGULIES: In East Greenstone (ph), darling.
MORGAN: What?
MARGULIES: Yes.
MORGAN: I'm from a place called Newark (ph). It's 4 miles away.
MARGULIES: I went to school in Forest Road.
MORGAN: You didn't?
MARGULIES: I did.
MORGAN: It's a mile from my village.
You didn't go to the nightclub at East Greenstone, did you?
MARGULIES: No, I left when I was 13.
MORGAN: That could have been very awkward. I was suddenly having these flashbacks. How extraordinary. You were literally raised -- literally around the corner from me.
MARGULIES: I usually have to tell people if you go on the A-22, you'll miss it if you blink.
MORGAN: I absolutely know exactly where you are. I went to school in Dane Hill, which is half a mile from Forest Road.
MARGULIES: Yes, that's right. That's very funny.
MORGAN: How bizarre.
MARGULIES: Small world.
MORGAN: We need a break after that.
When we come back, I'm going to bring in your TV trays. Not the husband, obviously, but just Charles, the dashing handsome Josh Charles. I want to know how that last scene ended after the last season.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP) JOSH CHARLES, ACTOR: There's no doubt that he's be living a great life right now except for that he's dead, because, when you're 14 years old all you ever really want to be when you grow up is your 16-year-old brother. In my case, that meant smoking a lot of dope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: That was Josh Charles now talking Sports Night. He's now joining Julianna and I at this desk. I mean, obviously, the first question, I suppose for you, is how did things end up when the hotel door shut the end of last season because your good friend here went on a TV show earlier this week and said things got steamy. What -- what does that mean exactly?
CHARLES: Well, I think people are going to find out soon enough Sunday night on CBS.
MORGAN: I mean, there are allegations that we see your butt. Is this correct?
CHARLES: Allegations?
MARGULIES: No, David Letterman was obsessed with asking what we would see in the first episode and he kept saying, "Your butt, are we going to see your butt?" I'm like, no, you might see some thigh.
CHARLES: Just a little bit of thigh, no butt.
MARGULIES: He was obsessed with the butt.
MORGAN: No butt at all?
MARGULIES: I don't think so.
MORGAN: Really?
(CROSS-TALK)
CHARLES: I don't know if there's any butt.
MARGULIES: It's steamy.
MORGAN: How much do you enjoy the show, because it seems to me that you've got the most brilliant cast that you can possibly have and every time I think they can't improve on it you go and hire -- like Lisa Edelstein's joining you from House, or Michael J. Fox comes in or something like this and they just make it even better. It's a brilliantly written show, isn't it, with great characters.
CHARLES: Absolutely brilliantly written and we have the most amazing talent pool here in New York City of such great theater actors and our casting director, Mark Sacks, I think Julianna would agree, just does such a brilliant job of bringing those people together. They're here. They want to work and the Kings just write so beautifully for them. And, every week, it's a gift to see not only the script but then which actors we're going to work with that some of us have done plays with or we've admired their work, so.
MORGAN: Now my big issue with you, Josh, is that you Tweeted two days ago...
CHARLES: Yes.
MORGAN: ...I'm so glad Arsenal won today because Piers Morgan will be in a good mood on Thursday when Julianna, Christine, Alan, and I do his show. And I didn't even know you knew what Arsenal was and from my -- from my many followers on Twitter.
CHARLES: How could I not know what it is. I follow you on Twitter. That's all you talk about half the time.
MORGAN: Well, you know they're having the first season ever but that's a good time to start supporting them.
CHARLES: (INAUDIBLE) doesn't scare me away. I really just want to gather all the information. As you -- as you accused me earlier, I'm not flirting with trying to figure out which team, I want to get all the information...
MORGAN: You're a Baltimore Ravens fanatic, right?
CHARLES: Yes, I am.
MORGAN: Well, then you should understand the pain that I'm going through as a...
CHARLES: No, the Ravens are quite good. Ravens are good. They're not underperforming. The Ravens are good. The Orioles, by the way, that would be -- that would be a more apt ...
MORGAN: Do you like Twitter, because you're not on Twitter. You're very much, you said, an e-mail and text person.
MARGULIES: I e-mail and text.
MORGAN: Why don't you like the whole social network thing.
MARGULIES: It's not that I don't like it. I -- I just, honestly, I'm a mother of a 3-1/2-year-old with a full-time job five days a week, 14 hours a day. I don't have time.
MORGAN: You've got another half an hour a day (INAUDIBLE).
MARGULIES: I have no time -- I don't know how people have time.
MORGAN: Now, you had a great moment earlier because you met one of your heroes backstage in Nick Kristof of the New York Times who is a brilliant guy to follow because often he just Tweets in realtime from wherever he is and, as he said to me before, it's kind of become the new form of information to the public from reporters like him.
CHARLES: Well, I said -- I said last night, you know, we were at work and I was following all the Troy Davis story... MORGAN: Yes.
CHARLES: ... while we were filming and while I was -- while I was following all these people's Tweets, I -- I really realized for the first time what Twitter was all about.
MORGAN: Yes.
CHARLES: And just feeling all that beautiful humanity coming through my iPhone which was kind of hard to believe...
MORGAN: Did you see (INAUDIBLE) last night?
CHARLES: ...I did...
MORGAN: I mean, he was virtually self-imploding but I -- I loved the visceral rage that he was ...
CHARLES: I absolutely...
MORGAN: ...(INAUDIBLE) whichever side of the argument you were on, I love the fact that Twitter allows somebody like him to vent his spleen over a big breaking news story in that way. Wasn't it -- it was extraordinary to read.
CHARLES: Yes.
MORGAN: I mean, he took everybody down with it, didn't he?
CHARLES: I -- I enjoyed it as well.
MARGULIES: Isn't there a danger with Tweeting, like drunk dialing? Isn't there a drunk Tweeting danger?
MORGAN: Oh my goodness, I think there's even worse dangers than that. I think you just -- there should certain rules. Never get on Twitter after more than two drinks.
MARGULIES: Like it locks off -- yes.
MORGAN: Never get on after midnight.
CHARLES: Yes.
MORGAN: Never follow an ex-girlfriend...
MARGULIES: Right.
MORGAN: ...would be definitely top of the list, I think, don't you?
CHARLES: Oh, absolutely.
MORGAN: I mean, just tell me about your real life. I mean, are you as pathetically unlucky in love in real life as you are on screen?
CHARLES: Actually, no. I'm very lucky right now.
MORGAN: Are you?
CHARLES: A beautiful girlfriend.
MORGAN: You are quite (INAUDIBLE) because the endless misery you have to go through on the show. I mean, seriously.
CHARLES: I know. No.
MORGAN: My wife saw it and said, he's such a good-looking smart guy, what is it -- why can't he keep a girl. What's wrong with him? That's what happens after a while. It's like, what's wrong with this guy?
CHARLES: What's wrong with him, I know. Exactly.
MORGAN: But in real life, things are a lot happier?
CHARLES: Things are much better for me than Will Gardner, as far as his emotional life, yes.
MORGAN: And is he comfortable with these steamy love scenes that they're about to unfurl on the nation?
CHARLES: I, you know, my girlfriend Sophie is not only comfortable with it, she wants to see it. So...
MORGAN: And your husband, you've banned from watching?
MARGULIES: No, I've -- I said to him, I said, I think the first episode, honey, might be steamier than I thought and he said, "Good, I'll send Sophie flowers."
CHARLES: I mean, that's just part of the -- the joy of it, though, is that Jules and I go back and we -- we're just so comfortable together and I think it makes it really easy and we have great partners that understand what we do.
MARGULIES: And we're all friends.
CHARLES: And we're all friends together. We all (INAUDIBLE) each other.
MORGAN: Speaking of friends and partners, we're going to bring out two more of them. These are your other co-stars, Christine Baranski and Alan Cumming. So, we'll see you then after this break.
MARGULIES: Excellent.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think?
CHRISTINE BARANSKI: I think you're holding something against her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm what?
BARANSKI: Alicia. Maybe it's unconscious, maybe it's not, but you're being hard on her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: That's Christine Baranski in The Good Wife. She joins me now along with co-star Alan Cumming. Welcome to both of you.
BARANSKI: Hello.
CUMMING: Hello.
MORGAN: So, this is what I love about this particular moment of the show, because you've been married very contentedly to one man for the last 30 years...
BARANSKI: Twenty-seven...
MORGAN: ...27 years.
BARANSKI: ...but who's counting (INAUDIBLE).
MORGAN: A perfect personification of a long-lasting happy monogamous marriage. You, Alan...
ALAN CUMMING, ACTOR: I knew you were going (INAUDIBLE).
MORGAN: ...you, unless I'm wrong, were once quoted as saying, "I don't believe monogamy is feasible..."
CUMMING: Yes.
MORGAN: ...and have been married to a woman and to a man.
CUMMING: Not at the same time though.
MORGAN: Well, that's the only complication that could have made this more interesting. So, come on, let's discuss monogamy for a moment because your show is littered with the opposite of monogamy. Everyone's at it. Let's have a monogamy debate. You go first. Why is monogamy not feasible?
CUMMING: Well, as a man...
MORGAN: When there's a glittering example sitting right next to you.
CUMMING: ...as a man, I don't feel that my gender is particularly attuned to being monogamous. I don't think as an animal, as a male animal, I don't think we are meant to be monogamous.
MORGAN: Really. I mean, if you can get away with that...
BARANSKI: (INAUDIBLE).
MORGAN: How -- how would your girlfriend treat you coming back on Monday and saying, I'm an animal, I can't be monogamous.
BARANSKI: That's a loaded question.
CHARLES: Wow, Pierce.
(CROSS-TALK)
CHARLES: Arsenal -- Arsenal is playing on Saturday, you said, right?
CUMMING: I don't think it ...you know, our show is based on -- on a lack of monogamy. The whole notion for our show that's so much of art, so much of art you talk to people across this table about is about the fact that monogamy isn't working. And, you know what the biggest thing I think is not the fact that monogamy isn't feasible, it's that we don't think that, you know, sexual infidelity, we -- we think that's the worst betrayal and, actually, I think there are much worse ways you can betray your partner than -- than that.
MORGAN: Do you, like what?
CUMMING: Like betraying them as -- as -- in friendship or betraying their trust and if we -- if we -- we are so conditioned...
MORGAN: Isn't cheating on them betraying their trust?
CUMMING: Yes, but -- but if you were to think about it this way that, you know, (a) it's a physical thing, it's a desire that we have and we can't, you know, we can -- if you are kind with it then maybe it's going to be OK. And, I think if we, as a culture, were conditioned to think that's something maybe, like in France, maybe it happens, maybe we deal with it in a way and we brush it into a place that we're all able to let it disperse and be OK with, then maybe we would be able to -- to have happier lives.
MORGAN: Christine?
BARANSKI: I think a big -- big factor is when you have children and you're raising a family, staying together. I think the greatest gift Matthew and I gave our kids was staying together and working things out. You know, it can be really hard and you endlessly shifting your weight but we have two grown daughters and they seem to be, both, in wonderful relationship and, so, it isn't even a question of monogamy or not monogamy. It's like, hmm, this really makes sense, just to -- to make this work.
MORGAN: Do you understand (INAUDIBLE) character?
BARANSKI: It feels good because it makes your children happy.
MORGAN: Do you understand why her character, then, would stand by her man? BARANSKI: Yes, in fact, you asked Julianna about the women who stand by their men instead of deserting them and I think a big factor, for instance, Silda, she had two daughters, two daughters of an age to really know what was going on. I think she probably just, you know, closed ranks and said we're going to get through this as a family with as much dignity as we can rather than talk to the press, make a dramatic exit, whatever. You notice that woman just got very quiet and dignified. I saw her at an event and she was just so -- so beautifully dignified and I think she did that for her kids.
CUMMING: There's also the way that if that happens your hair will change. Because, I don't know if you've realized that in the new season of The Good Wife, that since there's been change in Julianna's character, there's a change, her hair has changed as well.
MORGAN: But, I mean, am I hearing you say it with your hair currently in a slightly alarming condition itself. So, I mean, you don't want to be dishing out hair advice. I mean...
CUMMING: It's not advice, it's merely observance. It's like, basically, on television, if you get some action, you get a different hairdo.
BARANSKI: That is very true.
CHARLES: That is very observant.
MORGAN: What I love about your character is, apparently, it's based on Rahm Emanuel, right...
CUMMING: Yes.
MORGAN: ...who was the former White House Chief Of Staff for Barack Obama and Eli Gold is in The Good Wife and, of course, the link is that Ari Gold from The Entourage is based on Ari Emanuel, who's Rahm's brother.
BARANSKI: It's all recycling.
MORGAN: It's a horrible evil little axis.
CUMMING: You know, you just skipped the other brothers, that Zeke one who's...
MORGAN: Who's the one -- yes, who's the one (INAUDIBLE) doesn't any TV shows.
CUMMING: I think that must be awful.
MORGAN: So your character is wonderful in this.
CHARLES: Or amazing.
MORGAN: Do you think he's inherently an evil person?
CUMMING: No, not at all. No. He's got -- because he's got softness and he's got human term and he's got ...
MORGAN: Has he though? Wouldn't he, in the end, do anything for political gain?
CUMMING: Yes, but he's still got -- he's still got chink in his armor.
MORGAN: Does he have a moral compass, though?
CUMMING: Yes, it's just kind of slanted a little further.
BARANSKI: And, also, this season you're going to see -- you're going to see -- Parker Posey plays his ex-wife.
MORGAN: Really?
BARANSKI: And -- and you get to see a whole different side of him which is really exciting.
MORGAN: Do you (INAUDIBLE), you have got an ex- wife?
CUMMING: In real life.
MORGAN: Yes, and in real life you've also recently gone through a civil partnership?
CUMMING: I have a husband.
MORGAN: So, I mean, that's unusual. Talk to me about that.
CUMMING: What would you like to know, Piers?
MORGAN: I don't know, whatever you think I should know.
CUMMING: Well, just, things change.
MARGULIES: I saw them kissing at the Emmys. They were sitting next to me.
MORGAN: Did you really?
MARGULIES: Yes, after -- after you lost, right?
CUMMING: OMFG.
MARGULIES: Yes.
CUMMING: Yes, they gave me a conciliatory (INAUDIBLE).
MORGAN: You've always given wonderful interviews over the years. You know, you came out as a bisexual and said, you know, I like women and men.
CUMMING: Yes -- yes, I do, and I think that...
MORGAN: Are you sure now that you're on the right side of the fence?
CUMMING: Yes, I am. I mean...
MORGAN: I mean, I'll say it, are there any (INAUDIBLE) attractive ladies? I mean...
CUMMING: I mean, I -- I mean, between Jules and Christina I'm not going to break up my marriage for either of you, I'm sorry. George, maybe. But...
BARANSKI: You might break up the marriage to my husband.
MORGAN: What -- what do you think of all these -- what do you think of all these politicians, talking of politics who, on the Tea Party side of the Republicans are coming out and saying same sex marriage is disgusting, it can't happen.
CUMMING: Well, I think if -- I think, you know, there's such -- America is a country full of such hatred in terms of politics and the politics of hate is so rampant and now the only kind of minority that can really be dealt with in that way is -- is the gay population. So, it kind of makes sense but, of course, I just think it's awful. I think that the Tea Party has some very, very -- some quite sensible notions, actually, when on paper. But, also, that kind of seems to be an umbrella thing that just covers up a lot of real homophobia and racism...
BARANSKI: I think most of America has moved past this, I really do.
CHARLES: I do to.
MORGAN: I get the sense they're moving past it, (INAUDIBLE) moved past it.
CUMMING: I just think the Tea Party is out of touch with America, actually. That's the sad thing for them to have to come to terms with.
MORGAN: Let's have a good break, come back, and talk about the new season of The Good Wife. I want to know all the gory details. What can we look forward to, including the ongoing debate about whether there is any butt action on Sunday because, if there is, I'm watching.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MORGAN: Back to the cast of The Good Wife in the moment but first, CNN Heroes, real people changing the world. The top 10 heroes of 2011 were revealed. Each will receive $50,000 and be honored at CNN Heroes and All Star Tribute. Actor Gerald Butler took part in last year's show. Listen to what he told me about it.
(VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Gerald, last year you presented our CNN Heroes All Star Tribute. You introduced Magnus McFarlane-Barrow. Tell me about that experience.
GERALD BUTLER, ACTOR: I found myself reading this -- you know, about this incredible man and what he had achieved and just feeling -- I was just very, very moved.
Please join me in honoring CNN Hero and I'm proud that he's a fellow Scotsman, Magnus McFarlane-Barrow.
I just completely choked up.
MORGAN: You choked up, you did, yes.
BUTLER: Yes, I think one it was total pride that we were Scottish and just the humility with which you could feel everything about his story and the work that he did. They feed more than half a million children every day all over the world.
MORGAN: You actually went and saw Magnus at his home, didn't you?
BUTLER: Yes.
MORGAN: Tell me about that.
BUTLER: I chased him down. We swapped a couple of phone calls and I said, OK, I'm coming to visit you and so I went and spent the day with him and his family and saw his charity and all the people that worked for him.
MORGAN: But he's a remarkable man, isn't he?
BUTLER: A remarkable man and a beautiful soul.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Get more information and vote for your favorite at CNNHeroes.com. The winner will receive $250,000 and be named CNN's Hero of the Year. Back to the cast of The Good Wife in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn't read about it unless you subscribed to the Israel National News. Two days later an Israeli woman gave birth in a Palestinian hospital. Where did you read it? AP, CBS News, every major paper, Google it. Go ahead. This is a PR war and this is winning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael, I do not go to your house and tell you what novels to write. I do not go to your committee and tell you what lobbyists to hire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: That was Alan Cumming of The Good Wife. The season premiere is this Sunday night on CBS at 9 p.m. Back with me now, Julianna Margulies, Josh Charles, Christine Baranski, and Alan Cumming. I'm going to read you this Tweet. You'll love this, Christine.
"Christine Baranski is just too classy. I can't handle it half the time. I'm loving her on this segment."
BARANSKI: I knew there was a reason I wanted to do your show.
MORGAN: Too classy for your own good.
CHARLES: Classiest Buffalo Bills fan you've ever met.
BARANSKI: I'm from Buffalo, from the Polish neighborhood in Buffalo. Josh and I talk about football. How about those Bills?
MORGAN: I don't even know what you're talking about. I'm a soccer -- I'm a soccer fan.
CHARLES: This is American football.
BARANSKI: 2 and 0.
MORGAN: (INAUDIBLE) Bills whatever, whatever. Let's get back to The Good Wife. (INAUDIBLE) football (INAUDIBLE) helmet. Now, let's talk about The Good Wife. I need some juicy bones to lob on this barbecue tonight because we want them all tuning in on Sunday so...
BARANSKI: Well, they have to come out of the hotel room, right?
MORGAN: Exactly.
BARANSKI: They've got to come out.
MORGAN: And you -- you don't realize what's happened. When do you realize they're at it?
CUMMING: There's a lot of suspicion. There's -- I -- it's still -- I would say it's still -- I mean, you know, duh, for the story and the tension we don't know for a while, I mean (INAUDIBLE). The whole season last season was about are they going to get together.
MORGAN: It was unbearable. I was willing them into the hotel room.
CUMMING: Yes, no, this one is are we -- who's going to find out when.
MARGULIES: My -- my favorite question, though, from people on the street is so what happened when you closed the door? We held hands and drank wine.
MORGAN: So, are you confirming, unequivocally, that sex took place?
CUMMING: She's got a new hairdo. BARANSKI: Yes, I mean, I think any adult who goes to a hotel where it's $7,800 for the night, I mean, you're not going to sit there for $7,800 and just hold hands?
MORGAN: He's not going to waste that kind of money is my sense, not his character.
MARGULIES: He's much too smart for that.
BARANSKI: Married lady, she could have chickened out.
MARGULIES: We had also been drinking.
CHARLES: Will is what you call a closer.
BARANSKI: You have to put alcohol into the picture too.
CHARLES: Yes.
BARANSKI: She really hasn't had any in two years.
MORGAN: She's been waiting a long, long time for this.
MARGULIES: That's the haircut.
MORGAN: You're like a smoldering volcano.
MARGULIES: No, of course.
CUMMING: Her hair just actually curled at the moment of orgasm she's been waiting so long.
MORGAN: Have you all seen the first episode?
MARGULIES: No.
BARANSKI: No.
CUMMING: No.
MORGAN: Do you all get together for a Good Wife party?
(CROSS-TALK)
CHARLES: Alan and Julianna and I are going to live Tweet Sunday night from Julianna's apartment.
MORGAN: Fantastic.
CUMMING: But, usually, I don't have a tele so I don't actually see it. At some -- I just watch it on the internet -- interweb afterwards.
BARANSKI: Let's just say in terms of the show, the fact that Peter Florrick got re-elected this is happening. I mean, we don't have to give anything away in terms of the plot but this affects the internal office, you know, the -- the -- the ...
MORGAN: Right. You know what, leave it on a cliffhanger...
MARGULIES: But, also, here's another -- now -- now, Eli's in the office...
CUMMING: I'm in the office and his office looks into my office.
MORGAN: You're giving too much away. Leave it as a cliffhanger. That's brilliant. Thank you all so much.
BARANSKI: Thank you for having us.
MORGAN: I love the show. I love you all. I can't wait. Sunday 9 p.m.
