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Joy Behar Page
Eva`s World; Interview With Bette Midler
Aired October 28, 2011 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Coming up on "THE JOY BEHAR SHOW, Eva Longoria talks about what it`s like to be the highest actress on TV and dishes on the end of "Desperate Housewives".
Plus the legendary Bette Midler is here and she has brought some of her most memorable dresses
That and more starting right now.
JOY BEHAR, HOST: Eva Longoria has been playing a desperate housewife for eight seasons but there`s nothing desperate about her. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don`t think they`re dead, do you?
EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: God, don`t bring that in the front seat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t hear anything.
LONGORIA: All right. I`m trying to remain calm. Please tell me those are your long webbed fingers on my arm.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not panic.
Keep calm. Keep calm. Watch the road.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: Now, that "Desperate Housewives" is coming to an end, we all want to know what`s in store for the women of Wisteria Lane. Here now with all the scoop on the show and her life and everything, actress Eva Longoria. Welcome to the show Eva.
LONGORIA: Thank you for having me back.
BEHAR: I want to get to the show in a minute because there`s been plenty of dish over there.
LONGORIA: Ok. Great.
BEHAR: I mean -- all right. I heard -- somebody told me on Monday, you did a fund-raiser for President Obama.
LONGORIA: I did, yes.
BEHAR: How much did he raise?
LONGORIA: I think we raised close to a million dollars.
BEHAR: Very good.
LONGORIA: Yes. I don`t know if I`m supposed to talk about this.
BEHAR: Why not?
LONGORIA: I don`t know.
BEHAR: He talks about it.
LONGORIA: Yes. We did a fund-raiser for the -- it`s called the Futuro Fund which is the outreach to the Hispanic market. And you know, a lot of Hispanics are angry.
BEHAR: I know. I know that.
LONGORIA: We`re not happy.
BEHAR: Well, I mean you have Herman Cain saying that the United States should construct electrified border fence to keep out illegal immigrants and then he said it was a joke. Do you think it was a joke?
LONGORIA: First of all, if any other presidential -- if the President of the United States said anything like that and then said it was a joke --
BEHAR: Yes.
LONGORIA: So if you`re running for President of the United States --
BEHAR: You think --
LONGORIA: You should act as you would want to be, I think.
BEHAR: This guy also, you saw the ad where he has his campaign manager smoking in the ad.
LONGORIA: Yes.
BEHAR: A president would not do that so why would a candidate -- again, show someone --
LONGORIA: Wanting to be president.
BEHAR: -- smoking when we know it causes every disease.
LONGORIA: Wanting to be president. I know. You know, I think Rick Perry said today he thinks there`s too many debates.
BEHAR: There`s too many debates. Like Mozart, they told him, too many notes. Same idea.
LONGORIA: I just think that whole GOP side has made such a circus of it. I have a lot of Republican friends who don`t think that way.
BEHAR: Of course.
LONGORIA: I don`t think they`re reflecting the true party. I don`t think they`re reflecting really -- there are things that I do like about Republicans. I`m actually a very conservative Independent. I`m actually very, very --
BEHAR: What are you conservative about?
LONGORIA: Fiscally like --
BEHAR: No spending.
LONGORIA: Yes. I mean I am. Although I understand that revenue needs to be generated. So I`m not as extreme as the right of no taxes and just cuts. I mean I think --
(CROSSTALK)
LONGORIA: I think if you balance your checkbook --
BEHAR: Yes, exactly. It`s not conservative, that, to me, is just logical. That`s not conservative or liberal. Everybody is expected to do that in their own household, you know.
It turns out Rick Perry is the most compassionate to immigrants. That`s a shocker.
LONGORIA: The thing about the immigration reform, which, you know, Latinos are really upset about because there has been no movement on it and the Dream Act didn`t pass, which the Dream Act is a no-brainer for anybody, if you served in the military. If you are not even a citizen of the United States and you served in our military to protect our country, you should have the right to go to college --
BEHAR: I would think so.
LONGORIA: Or a pathway to citizenship, you risked our life for us.
BEHAR: There`s no -- wait a minute I don`t even know there. There`s no pathway to citizenship but you can go into the army if you`re an illegal?
LONGORIA: You don`t have to be a citizen. You have to be documented of some sort. These terms are very tricky. Illegal and undocumented --
BEHAR: Two different things?
LONGORIA: They`re different things. But that`s part of the problem with immigration is nobody has really studied it, the history of immigration. Any time there`s been a flux of immigrants, our country has benefited. We have our own huge natural resource here with this market.
So instead of trying to push them out of the country, we have to think about how to keep them in and capitalize on everything that they have to offer. Like I said, the Dream Act is for people who have excelled in school --
BEHAR: They should be rewarded.
LONGORIA: And they have something to contribute to society. Let`s bring them out of the shadows. Their biggest thing is they don`t pay taxes. Great, bring them out of the shadows and figure out a way to make them citizens and get them to pay taxes. They`ll do -- they do, they pay a lot of taxes.
BEHAR: You know, I remember a time, Eva, if somebody was working for you and them came over from another country, let`s say they were household work and you liked them so much and they took care of your children maybe and you wanted to make them a citizen, you could do that. It doesn`t seems like you can`t do that -- sponsor somebody anymore.
LONGORIA: Right. It`s very difficult for low level jobs. Because, you know there`s a certain amount of visas that we give out every year. Tom Roach speaks about this. If you look up Tom Roach, he did a really good speech and he said, there`s a certain amount of visas at different levels. There`s professionals, which are medical professionals --
BEHAR: Doctors.
LONGORIA: Doctors.
BEHAR: So they don`t mind a doctor coming in and becoming a citizen.
LONGORIA: No. Because they give more visas. They give about 40,000 visas for the medical profession. Then there`s the technical, the Microsoft people, the engineers, those people that we need in this country, from all over, not Mexico but anywhere else. They give plenty of visas.
For low level skilled jobs, which the United States creates 500,000 jobs a year, low level jobs, farm work, domestic work, it`s all in the informal sector which Americans will not do and that`s very, very proven.
(CROSSTALK)
LONGORIA: They give 5,000 visas a year --
BEHAR: Yes.
LONGORIA: -- they allot 5,000 a year for 500,000 jobs available.
BEHAR: That`s stupid.
LONGORIA: So just mathematically, logically it doesn`t make sense. So how do we reform that? Because people want to work, they don`t want to live in the shadows. They don`t want to be scared.
And the other big misconception is I`m Latino. I`m 9th generation American.
BEHAR: You`re Mexican?
LONGORIA: Mexican-American.
BEHAR: Mexican-American.
You know what; let me interrupt you because it seems to me when this illegal thing comes up, it`s always about Mexico. Nobody ever says about Canada. They might be sneaking in.
LONGORIA: Right.
BEHAR: Nobody goes up to Montreal and is watching all the Canadians sneak in; all those people that are on "Saturday Night Live", those were illegal Canadians. You notice that?
LONGORIA: Right. Yes. But also on the assumption that all Latinos in America are somehow illegal or undocumented, whenever it`s a very small portion.
BEHAR: Is that a perception?
LONGORIA: That`s a perception. Since I`m a Latino I must side for illegal immigration. I`m not for illegal immigration --
BEHAR: You`re for legal immigration.
LONGORIA: I`m for legal immigration. I`m for immigration reform. What that looks like is problematic for both sides.
BEHAR: So when Michele Bachmann pledges to build a double fence around the United States and Mexican border by the end of 2013, is she interested in reform there when she says something like that?
LONGORIA: Building a fence is not reform. It`s only creating a one- way -- creates the border to be one way. They`re still coming in. Now, they can`t go back. There used to be a flow, they would have a visa, they would go, come back.
BEHAR: Yes.
LONGORIA: They would just come to work and they would go back. Now, they`re stuck, they can`t get back. There`s the fence and that`s why Arizona is so problematic as well is because where they built this other fence, which isn`t really doing and solving anything, it`s just driving the immigration to certain states and it`s putting a lot of -- you know, pressure for law enforcement.
BEHAR: That`s the other thing. What about this whole -- you could explain maybe they have this idea that Mexican drug cartels are coming into the country and that changes the perceptions for Americans. They get worried that the law-abiding people in, you`re going to get some of these. What do you say to that?
LONGORIA: Drug cartels are not walking over the border, they`re flying here.
BEHAR: They`re flying here. They have the money to fly in.
LONGORIA: The problem is, there`s a lot of great people who want to get into this country to work and really do it in a legal way and the system does not allow them to do that.
The criminals are not the majority of those people. The criminals are very important. And this is what Obama`s reform is addressing is focusing resources on that criminal element, not on the dreamers, not on the people who want to come and contribute to our society and to our, obviously economy because our economy would collapse if we couldn`t --
BEHAR: Totally, yes.
I mean we`re going to talk about "Desperate Housewives" when we come back.
LONGORIA: This is pretty desperate news here.
BEHAR: You`re pretty good on immigration. Very good.
And those babies who are born here but they`re parents are illegal, they`re sending them back? It`s outrageous.
LONGORIA: Family reunification is important.
BEHAR: That`s terrible. Ok. We`ll be back with Eva Longoria in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with Eva Longoria who, according to "Forbes", is the highest earning actress on TV. Did you know that?
EVA LONGORIA, STAR, "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES": Isn`t that crazy?
BEHAR: Good for you.
LONGORIA: I didn`t know that.
BEHAR: You are the highest earning actress -- so it`s not me, I guess.
LONGORIA: I know, when I heard that, I go, obviously, women aren`t making enough. If I`m -- if I`m the highest paid woman in television, my gosh.
BEHAR: So wait a minute, so you get more money than the other "Desperate Housewives."
LONGORIA: Not because of "Desperate Housewives"; because of everything I do outside of Wisteria, all of my endorsements on L`Oreal, and also my perfumes.
BEHAR: Well, the endorsements -- it`s all because you`re gorgeous. If you were a dog you would get nothing. I mean, you get job as an actress but you didn`t get those --
LONGORIA: I would be a character actress.
BEHAR: You wouldn`t get those beauty endorsements honey, like the perfume.
LONGORIA: L`Oreal has been kind.
BEHAR: Because you`re gorgeous.
Now I saw -- speaking of gorgeous, I heard that they did a full body scan on you at the L.A. airport.
LONGORIA: Everybody gets the body scan.
BEHAR: No I didn`t get one. How dare they? I`m insulted now.
LONGORIA: Every time I go there I had to do that thing where they -- they (EXPLETIVE DELETED) --
BEHAR: Yes, no, no.
LONGORIA: Yes.
BEHAR: You mean you went in the thing and they could see you naked. They could look in your nakedness.
LONGORIA: Yes I guess, I don`t know.
BEHAR: I think they did it on purpose because they wanted to see you naked.
LONGORIA: I do it all of the time. I mean, like they actually -- you don`t have a choice. Either -- you mean, you can say I don`t want to do the body scan and then you have to go to extra screening. So I`m like, I don`t have time, just scan me yes I`ve got -- thank God I was having a skinny day too because that was scary.
BEHAR: What the day of the scan? What, do you have fat days?
LONGORIA: Yes I do.
BEHAR: Oh I`m going to have to smack you now.
LONGORIA: I do.
BEHAR: Why do you have a fat day?
LONGORIA: I do. I do.
BEHAR: All right, forget it. I`m done with this interview.
LONGORIA: But you know, no, those scans, I mean, I don`t --- yes, I`m done with those scans. And I`m just so efficient, and I`m like just get through the passes, what line is shorter?
BEHAR: all right. But this is the eighth season and the final season of "Desperate Housewives."
LONGORIA: The final.
BEHAR: How do you feel about that? I mean, it`s a long time you`ve been doing that show?
LONGORIA: Eight years, it`s a long time we shoot ten months of the year.
BEHAR: Yes.
LONGORIA: So it`s you know, it`s very, you know, we can`t really do anything else other than the show. But I love the show. I hit the lottery. I mean --
BEHAR: Yes.
LONGORIA: I hit the lottery.
BEHAR: You`re very funny on the show.
LONGORIA: Thank you.
BEHAR: You`re a riot.
LONGORIA: Thank you.
BEHAR: Yes, you`re good.
BEHAR: But I mean, Marc Cherry pulled the plug saying he didn`t want the show to overstay its welcome. How annoying. Who -- who tells him when it`s overstaying is welcome.
LONGORIA: Well, he talked to us about it.
BEHAR: Yes.
LONGORIA: He talked to us about it. And he said what do you guys think and he always wanted to write backwards and because he knows the end. He`s always on the end and so he wanted to write backwards and he said, you know I`d love to end and I`d like -- I`d like to start writing backwards and then if -- if we went a nine -- and I`d stay with the show as long as it went. But if he went a nine, he would have to write a whole another season. And which is see like you know what, we`ve had such a great run and it`s been great. But it hasn`t hit me yet because we still have six more months of filming.
BEHAR: Right.
LONGORIA: So we`re not really at the end.
BEHAR: No it`s not over yet. What`s the storyline this season for you?
LONGORIA: Well, I killed, I didn`t kill -- my husband killed my stepfather who used to sexually abused me when I was younger. And so we all four girls are hiding this big secret. But that`s going to wrap up about this week`s time and so the second half of the season is going to kind of wrap up all of our stories. And I don`t know how he`s doing that but he`s going to do it --
BEHAR: You might all end up in the slammer at the end.
LONGORIA: Or dead.
BEHAR: Or dead.
LONGORIA: Yes.
BEHAR: No, he wouldn`t do that, kill -- kill the "Desperate Housewives"?
LONGORIA: Why not?
BEHAR: No, no, no. No, well how would you like to see it end?
LONGORIA: I don`t -- I -- I don`t have a say.
BEHAR: I know you don`t have a say.
LONGORIA: No meaning I don`t -- I don`t have a thought.
BEHAR: You don`t.
LONGORIA: No.
BEHAR: You just work --
LONGORIA: And not -- never in eight years have I been in the writer`s room to give a note. Never in eight years.
BEHAR: Yes.
LONGORIA: So I`m not going to start now.
BEHAR: Ok.
LONGORIA: I think they know better than I do.
BEHAR: Well, you do what you do very well and they do what they do.
LONGORIA: Yes.
BEHAR: But you`re going to miss your cast mates or have you --
LONGORIA: Yes.
BEHAR: I asked of you girls.
LONGORIA: You asked me this last time I was here.
BEHAR: All right, I`m asking you it again because you could have had a fight since then.
LONGORIA: No, no. No, no we -- you know, I feel like, I hate that question because if it was a show about four men, nobody asks that question.
BEHAR: I know. It`s true. They only ask me -- us on "The View" constantly.
LONGORIA: Yes and they only ask women. And it`s such a stereotypical assumption. But no. You know Lucy and I are -- live right next to each other so we see each other all the time. Marsha is like our cast therapist and she has a degree in --
BEHAR: In -- in shrinking?
LONGORIA: In shrinking.
BEHAR: Oh, really?
LONGORIA: I don`t know I wanted to say she had the wrong degree she`s always giving us advice. What I`m going to miss is the crew.
BEHAR: The crew.
LONGORIA: The crew.
BEHAR: Oh I know.
LONGORIA: We are a well oiled machine and we have this shorthand with each and nothing needs to be said and we just -- we just bang it out.
BEHAR: Yes.
LONGORIA: So to go and learn another crew --
BEHAR: I know people who -- sometimes you hear celebrity turns on the crew. It is such a mistake. I mean, they could make you look really bad.
LONGORIA: Oh yes.
BEHAR: You know what I mean.
LONGORIA: Specially your GP.
BEHAR: On their -- yes, they`re controlling the lights, the sound with the camera angle; they could shoot me from up here.
LONGORIA: Yes, yes. Be nice.
BEHAR: I mean that`s really self destructive to attack the crew.
LONGORIA: Be nice to the crew.
BEHAR: This is why I`ve slept with all of them.
So what do you think you`ll miss about the show the most?
LONGORIA: You know I love the medium of television. And I`m -- I think I`m going to miss being in people`s homes every week. I mean that -- that Debbie really lived with people and people know her and people love her. And so I feel like you know that, I like -- I like television a lot. And you know I`ll be back.
BEHAR: Do you feel that you`ve been typecast at all?
LONGORIA: No. Well, what would it be, sexy? Is that the typecast?
BEHAR: Sexy and hot.
LONGORIA: I`m going with sexy and hot as far as it will take me. What is wrong with that?
BEHAR: Yes -- no that`s a smart idea.
LONGORIA: Well, no because I remember oh, you`re going to get cast into just sexy roles and I`m like, and why is that a problem?
BEHAR: But you haven`t been cast into like, you`re not typecast as a Latina.
LONGORIA: No, no I`m not.
BEHAR: I mean, like you know Rita Moreno used to complain about that I think sometimes.
LONGORIA: Right, yes I mean, it used to happen a lot. Now, it`s not really an issue. And you know I`m doing a movie with Forest Whitaker, playing his wife and she`s tough and great. I`m doing another movie --
BEHAR: Oh with Forest Whitaker.
LONGORIA: Forest Whitaker.
BEHAR: Didn`t he -- he did the Idi Amin -- he played yes the "King of Scotland".
LONGORIA: Yes, yes.
BEHAR: I don`t see you two together.
LONGORIA: I`m not like this. I actually -- I actually get down and dirty.
BEHAR: Oh you do because he is a real big character guy.
LONGORIA: Yes.
BEHAR: And really has --
(CROSSTALK)
LONGORIA: He`s a powerful character in the script.
BEHAR: Yes, yes. Well, that`s nice. So you have movie roles coming up.
LONGORIA: Yes.
BEHAR: All right. We`re going to talk a little bit about, you know, more plans that you`re going to have and we`re going to do some Facebook questions because people want to hear from you. All right?
LONGORIA: Ok. All right.
BEHAR: Ok. We`ll have more with the lovely Eva when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with the beautiful and talented star of "Desperate Housewives", Eva Longoria. And I have a big surprise for you. The mystery guest. Where is she?
LONGORIA: Is this Chaz Bono?
BEHAR: No.
LONGORIA: What are you doing here? What are you doing here?
GEORGE LOPEZ, COMEDIAN: I`m sorry, I`ve entered illegally. Don`t let Herman Cain know. Besides if CNN has an electric fence, that`s surprisingly very refreshing.
BEHAR: Did you happen to be in the building?
LOPEZ: I did and I saw -- this woman is like my sister, I love her so much. And she`s the only -- how much do we do together?
LONGORIA: Everything. We do everything together.
LOPEZ: For foundations.
LONGORIA: We do everything together. We wake up in the morning and we call each other and we`re like, "What are you going to do today?"
BEHAR: No, kidding.
LONGORIA: I can`t do anything unless you tell me I can do it.
LOPEZ: Yes.
LONGORIA: He`s never said no to me.
LOPEZ: Absolutely. We were -- Monday, we were with Obama at Melanie Griffin -- it`s funny because when you`re Caucasian, they tell you it was Melanie Griffin`s house.
BEHAR: Yes.
LOPEZ: And when you`re Latino, they say, "Oh, it`s at Antonio Bandera`s house."
LONGORIA: So we`ve got everybody. We got everybody to come.
BEHAR: So who was there? Tell me about it.
LOPEZ: All of us were there, in their backyard. Maybe next time we`ll be able to go in the house.
LONGORIA: We were in the house and then we moved outside to the tent.
LOPEZ: Yes. So I always do, I never say no to this woman. I have done more for her than any other person that I was not sleeping with. It`s unbelievable. Usually, there`s an ulterior motive.
LONGORIA: What do you think, George, about Herman Cain building fences? Michele Bachmann --
LONGORIA: Go on George.
LOPEZ: I could never support a black man in a cowboy hat. I can`t. It`s just -- I can`t. It`s counter to my thinking.
BEHAR: What about her? She`s got those eyes.
LOPEZ: Who?
BEHAR: Michele Bachmann.
LOPEZ: Listen. Here`s the thing about Michele Bachmann. She`s raised 23 foster children and she`s trying to get the Latino vote behind that. Listen, I`m a friend of Latinos, I`ve raised 23 -- have 23 kids and then we`ll talk. Like we do.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: If you really want to be a Latino you have to --
LONGORIA: There`s nothing new.
LOPEZ: I am an only child so my mom would just say, run around the house and look like more.
BEHAR: The Hispanic population is growing by leaps and bounds in this country. They`re a big voting bloc.
LOPEZ: You cannot win a pie eating contest without the Latino vote now. It is that powerful. It really is. And there`s -- the thing she does for politics and her stance and her education in Latino studies is amazing. We need an advocate. No one listens to me. This is our -- this is our advocate.
BEHAR: She`s very good on the topic.
LOPEZ: She`s very good.
LONGORIA: When you talk about the Latino population. Within that growth, the Latinas are the groups to pay attention to, the women.
BEHAR: The women.
LONGORIA: The women. The women -- Latinas open up small businesses - - Latina entrepreneurs -- six times more than the average American.
LOPEZ: And Latinos open up 12 packs seven times faster than the normal American.
BEHAR: Well, you know, New York City used to be filled with bodegas, and then the Koreans took over and now I understand they`re dwindling. So what`s going to happen next? Who`s next?
LONGORIA: Well, Puerto Ricans.
BEHAR: The Canadians.
LOPEZ: Here`s what`s going to happen. Here`s my plan.
LONGORIA: What`s your plan?
LOPEZ: African-American people and Latino people will now co-mingle. We will now embrace each other and start to have children and become a superpower because we need Latinos that can run and that are swift.
BEHAR: You don`t want to throw any Caucasians in there for good measure?
LOPEZ: Maybe to look like a cafe latte, maybe a little bit. A little bit for flavor.
BEHAR: Listen. It was great to have you here, George, wonderful to see you.
LOPEZ: I love you.
BEHAR: Eva.
LONGORIA: I love you.
BEHAR: And we`re going to miss you in "Desperate Housewives". But we look forward to the rest of your career and yours, too, George.
LOPEZ: Yes we are.
LONGORIA: Thank you.
BEHAR: Ok. You can catch Eva on "Desperate Housewives" Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on ABC.
We`ll be right back.
LONGORIA: How did she drag you here?
LOPEZ: I`ve been watching you all day on TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: Bette Midler is known for a lot of things. For her music and for her movies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETTE MIDLER, ACTRESS/SINGER: OK, Elise, the time has come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BEHAR: For her great concerts.
(MUSIC)
BEHAR: But more than anything else, Bette Midler is known for her subtle, understand, lady-like sense of fashion.
I`m happy to welcome the one and only, Bette Midler.
MIDLER: Thank you. I`m wearing black.
BEHAR: You`re wearing black. Me, too. You`re demure today.
MIDLER: We are.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Before we get to the costume, because I know you`re auctioning off 40 years of costumes that you wore.
MIDLER: Yes. And sets and memorabilia.
BEHAR: And furniture I see in here too.
MIDLER: And furniture. Yes.
BEHAR: And all sorts of stuff.
MIDLER: Yes.
BEHAR: We are going to get to that. But before that, I heard you have a herniated disc.
MIDLER: I do.
BEHAR: How did you -- is it bad and where is it?
MIDLER: I have it -- it`s in my neck, 4 and 5, between C-4 and C-5, as they say. And it`s quite painful. When it first happened to me, I couldn`t raise my arm above this. Get that shot. I mean, it was horrible. I really thought I was going to have to have the operation, but have an operation, but I went to my husband`s doctor and --
BEHAR: What do you call him, the count?
MIDLER: The baron.
BEHAR: The baron.
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: He`s a sweet guy. He is the greatest. But he`s had a lot of work done. He`s had a lot of back work done, because he has had -- he had a herniated disc. So he has had back work done, so he took me to his surgeon and his surgeon said, well, I can do this for you, but your voice would be different. So at first, I said, yes, yes, fine. And then I realized, oh. Oh. Can you imagine?
BEHAR: You`re a singer.
MIDLER: I`m a singer, and what am I if I`m not a singer? Who am I?
BEHAR: You`re an actress?
MIDLER: Yes. I know that, but truly people come to hear me sing.
BEHAR: I know.
MIDLER: I gave up on that, and I had a couple of epidurals, and I feel much better. Much, much better. But the epidural, they only last a couple of -- a few weeks.
BEHAR: Did you fall?
MIDLER: No, I didn`t fall. I was doing a Fosse class.
BEHAR: Oh, Fosse, Fosse, Fosse?
MIDLER: Fosse, Fosse, Fosse, Twyla, Twyla, Twyla.
BEHAR: Yes. One of the great scenes from --
MIDLER: I`m still quoting it, from "Birdcage."
BEHAR: "Birdcage."
MIDLER: I felt this twinge and I thought, oh, this will recover because I`ve had twinges all my life. And then I went to boot camp, and the twinge got a little worse. And I thought, oh, this will clear up. It never cleared up. And four weeks after -- four weeks of boot camp, I was practically -- I was a basket case.
BEHAR: So what can we learn from this?
MIDLER: Well, you should exercise, but you should exercise appropriately. And maybe Fosse isn`t really -- maybe Fosse isn`t your choreographer.
BEHAR: Definitely not mine. And they are saying that yoga now, they are saying that yoga doesn`t even help you mentally or spiritually. I hated it anyway.
MIDLER: Well, you know what, I didn`t mind yoga, but I have gotten injuries from yoga. I`m not a fan. I`m not a total fan. Sometimes I do it. I do like the stretching. I think everyone should stretch. You do have to stretch. And I like to do things that get your heart rate up. I really love that, aerobics, I love that, any kind of aerobics, and I love dance. I love, love, love to dance. I think that`s what women want, they want to dance.
BEHAR: They do. But you know.
MIDLER: But not you.
BEHAR: No, I love to dance also in my living room, in the privacy of my own living room, not in a class with everyone watching me.
MIDLER: Oh, these are privates (ph) --
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Not that they`re watching me.
MIDLER: I go to private class. I had a girl in. I didn`t just go to the class. Oh my God, are you nuts?
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: I wish I had, I was such a fan. And Gwen Burdon (ph), oh my God, I worshiped her. She was a genius.
BEHAR: Is she alive?
MIDLER: She passed. She passed. But she was an inspiration.
BEHAR: OK. So the back injury prevented you--
MIDLER: Neck injury.
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: People say, how`s your back? I say, my back is fine but my neck sucks.
BEHAR: OK. So I read, I read somewhere, in (inaudible) or something, that you couldn`t do this Phil Spector movie because of the neck injury. What a drag.
MIDLER: Well, my dear--
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Are you nuts?
MIDLER: First of all, it was a drag. I was laying in the trailer, literally laying in the trailer weeping. It was really, really hard. It was hard. And I could see that -- I could see that it wasn`t going to get any better unless I really did stop and take care of it. So I did that. I had to say goodbye. It was a nice group of people, too.
BEHAR: What was the part?
MIDLER: I was playing Linda Baden.
BEHAR: I have her on this show all the time.
MIDLER: She is divine. I was playing her.
BEHAR: Really? You don`t look anything like her.
MIDLER: Linda Baden, Kenney Baden, Linda Kenney Baden. I get a little -- because I`m old now.
BEHAR: So who`s playing her now?
MIDLER: Helen Mirren.
BEHAR: Stop that.
MIDLER: Swear to God.
BEHAR: From Bette Midler to Helen Mirren.
MIDLER: Please.
BEHAR: Oh my God.
MIDLER: What do you mean, oh, my God?
BEHAR: Helen Mirren and Linda Baden and Bette Midler, the whole picture --
MIDLER: You`d be amazed at what a wig can do, what a hairdo can do. I think they hired me actually because they saw me with my hair in a way that Linda wears her hair. I think that`s why they hired me. Because -- and I met her subsequently. I`ve had, you know, I`ve been to the house. I saw the photographs, I met the husband, who I adore, and we`ve been to dinner. I really liked her. So that was great. I made a new friend.
BEHAR: OK. Now let`s talk about the New York restoration project.
MIDLER: Yes.
BEHAR: Which you are into, preserving New York City parks. What about this thing that`s going on down in Zuccotti Park?
MIDLER: I think it`s fascinating.
BEHAR: Do you think -- they`re squatting basically there overnight. Are they messing it up, or do you think they should?
MIDLER: The thing about land is that it can always be rehabilitated. Land is just land. Parks can fall to pieces and be brought back to their former glory. Look at Central Park, which was a pit in the early `80s until those women got together and decided they would not stand for it.
BEHAR: Yes. And you`ve cleaned up a lot personally--
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: Personally, I have personally, and I have personally taken bags out of the trees. I have personally swept -- I pick -- I go walk down -- and I`m on the Upper East Side, can you imagine. I am personally picking up things. And I don`t know where it comes from, because I have never actually seen anybody do it. But I think they sit in their cars and go like that, and then the garbage lands and they pretend they didn`t do it.
BEHAR: That`s right.
MIDLER: Because I`ve never seen anybody do it actually, I`ve only seen the plop on the sidewalks.
BEHAR: But people are protesting down there, they are saying there are no toilets.
MIDLER: Which is a good thing. You mean the families?
BEHAR: The families around Zuccotti Park don`t like it.
MIDLER: Well, they should chip in and buy some toilets. Toilets are cheap. Port-a-potties are cheap. Excuse me, I`m sorry, let`s not get into that. I don`t want to be nailed because I said port-a-potty. I will send the port-a-potty down.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Don`t put me in this with you.
MIDLER: Don`t put this -- don`t (ph) put me in this with you!
BEHAR: Let me tell you, Sigmund Freud did not want to come to the United States and live because there were no pissoirs here, port-a-potties.
MIDLER: You know, my husband says the same thing all the time. There are no public toilets. There are no public toilets.
BEHAR: Where was he born?
MIDLER: My husband is German.
BEHAR: Oh, sure.
MIDLER: Born in Germany and he lived a long time in England too. There`s no public toilets. Because all over Europe, they have them. But I think they think that there`s -- the element is so dangerous that you`ll go into the potty and you won`t come out. You`ll like live in it.
BEHAR: You`ll just live in there.
But they had to --
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: What they do is, after you`re done, the whole thing is a shower, that`s why you can`t stay in it. Because they turn --
BEHAR: Really, you do your business and then it cleans it.
MIDLER: You do your business and then if you don`t get out, you`re wet from head to toe.
BEHAR: Why don`t they just put -- never mind.
MIDLER: You know what, it`s very interesting, because they put one in ten years ago, 13 years ago right down there by Wall Street.
BEHAR: Oh, they did.
MIDLER: They did. And it was a resounding flop.
BEHAR: Why?
MIDLER: I think nobody wanted to go into it. People were afraid someone was waiting for them in there. I don`t know.
BEHAR: Hedge funders don`t pee?
MIDLER: They have private toilets. They have keys to their -- don`t you know that?
BEHAR: I don`t know that. I don`t do down there.
MIDLER: The agents (ph) have keys.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: I don`t go down to Wall Street. There`s no reason for me to go down there.
MIDLER: You don`t? But it`s fascinating. There is so much history down there.
BEHAR: But now I`ll go down because of--
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: Wait a minute, I have to talk to you about this Fulton Fish Market that used to be down there and all those brilliant parks that are down there and Battery Park and Hudson River Park, all that area is extraordinary. You should walk down there.
BEHAR: I`ve been there. I grew up in Brooklyn. I`m been to the Fulton Fish Market. You grew up in Hawaii, so to you, the Fulton is so exotic. It`s so exotic. To me, it`s just a bunch of fish.
Now, you know, the thing about these protests -- I want to talk to you --
MIDLER: I know you are going to -- I am going to get the crap kicked out of me, I am.
BEHAR: No, we are of a certain age, shall we say, so we remember--
MIDLER: I`m much younger than you.
BEHAR: -- the `60s protests.
MIDLER: Yes. And we did it all the time. And it was like something that you did. You did it because you were a citizen and you had something to say and you wanted to support your point of view.
BEHAR: But they`re sort of doing the same things, saying things about this group, some of the right wing, saying they`re unwashed and they are druggies.
MIDLER: It`s so shocking that they`re saying this. It`s like they took a book, a page out of like 1969, it`s like so old school that they would say such a thing. I mean, close to 50 years have passed, get a new line.
BEHAR: Get a new line.
MIDLER: Than dirty hippie.
BEHAR: But I used to feel like this generation, the new generation since we came up, like they didn`t want to protest. Now I`m so happy.
MIDLER: I`m thrilled, I`m thrilled, I have to say. Now, you may or may not agree with their politics, but the point is that they have organized themselves -- organized themselves and they are saying things that have to be said.
BEHAR: That`s right.
MIDLER: People don`t just go form a group and not say something that has to be said. They`re not just talking about fashion, they are talking about the way you live and policies that have affected everybody, that everyone wants and all these things that people want -- a lot of people want to sweep under the rug. It`s time to take out the rug and show the light of day.
BEHAR: And what about this other business, talking about politics now, Rick Perry now is saying that -- because you`re from Hawaii -- he`s now saying he`s not sure -- basically he`s not sure where President Obama was born.
MIDLER: I don`t think Rick Perry is sure where he was born. Rick Perry is so -- Rick Perry is a really odd duck. It`s like so -- that piece of business was put to rest. He showed them the birth certificate. I mean, it was most -- they reduced him to that indignity, something that no president, no sitting president has ever had to do, and I for one was completely ashamed to be an American at that time. I thought it was absolutely disgusting.
BEHAR: Even Karl Rove -- even Karl Rove is reprimanding Rick Perry at this point.
MIDLER: Even Karl -- well, Rick Perry has executed more people than anyone has executed down there.
BEHAR: In Texas.
MIDLER: And he also presided over the worst wildfires in the history of wildfires in our country. And then he cut the firefighters. He cut the firefighters.
BEHAR: He also doesn`t believe basically in climate change. He`s going to burn up before he admits there`s no climate change.
MIDLER: How about that drought they`ve got going down there?
BEHAR: I know, how about that?
MIDLER: How about the wildfires? There`s over a million acres burning.
BEHAR: I know. It`s a mess. You must feel bad about that because you`re such an environmentalist.
MIDLER: Sometimes I get so--
BEHAR: When we come back, we are going to have much more with Bette Midler, so don`t go away.
MIDLER: No, I don`t want anymore.
BEHAR: Yes, you do.
You know you want it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
BEHAR: That was a look at Bette Midler in the movie "The Rose," which got her an Oscar nomination. That was a hard, a tough role.
MIDLER: That was so much fun.
BEHAR: Was it your first?
MIDLER: Not tough at all. That was the first--
BEHAR: It wasn`t tough?
MIDLER: No, it was the greatest experience I ever had up until that time. It is fantastic. Just thrilling.
BEHAR: You weren`t scared at all? It was a big part.
MIDLER: It was a part I was born to play.
BEHAR: You were.
MIDLER: I was. And I resisted it for a long time, because I thought, I don`t know, maybe it`s too close to -- you know, people kept saying, well, it`s Janis, and I kept saying, well, no, it`s not Janis, because if I had said it is Janis, then I never could have done it. So I sort of made it up on my own. I sort of like made my peace with it and I sort of like - - I had been on the road -- you know, by that time I had been on the road 12 or 13 years, so -- and I had seen all that happen. I had seen people come, rise to the top and then self-destruct. So I knew the road pretty well.
BEHAR: Yes?
MIDLER: Yes.
BEHAR: I mean, we are seeing so much of that nowadays.
MIDLER: So many.
BEHAR: Amy Winehouse.
MIDLER: I`m broken-hearted over Amy Winehouse.
BEHAR: That was terrible.
MIDLER: I was broken-hearted.
BEHAR: She seemed to be on the mend also, and then she just--
MIDLER: You know, I think that -- it`s very interesting, there`s certain kinds of drug abuse that you simply cannot -- she was a tiny little thing and her little body just couldn`t take it. She just couldn`t -- you see these big strong strapping guys -- who go -- look at Keith! Look at Keith Richards. Did you read his book?
BEHAR: Yes.
MIDLER: Keith Richards.
BEHAR: He`s a tiny little thing.
MIDLER: He`s a tiny -- now, he`s a tiny little thing. Then he was a little bit taller. But I mean, he, look what he lived through. But he survived it all.
BEHAR: But look at Michael Jackson, we are talking about him all the time now with the Conrad Murray trial. He didn`t make it.
MIDLER: You know, I can`t watch that trial. I can`t watch it.
BEHAR: Why not?
MIDLER: You know what, he`s gone. Nothing is going to bring him back. What`s the use? What`s the point?
BEHAR: I know.
MIDLER: And I must say Michael Jackson had a say in that, too. Michael Jackson was right in there collaborating with the doctor.
BEHAR: Well, we found out just today I think or yesterday that he was asking for Propofol from a nurse. So he wanted to sleep. The poor guy couldn`t sleep.
MIDLER: I know exactly how it feels. I`m in menopause, I haven`t slept in years. Oh my God, I can`t talk about it, but--
BEHAR: I know. You will never sleep again. Once you hit 50, you do not sleep.
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: And I have like a whole thing that I do, I have like a thing, you know, my ritual. I was in Morocco on my birthday last year, and I was desperate to sleep. So I said to the people who were at the hotel, what do you do to sleep? And they said lemon verbana tea. So we got lemon verbana tea. You get it at Calustian (ph) on 27th street, big packet, you brew it, and that will put you to sleep. It won`t keep you asleep for more than four hours, but it will put you to sleep. I couldn`t even get to sleep.
BEHAR: Yes.
MIDLER: So now at least I can.
BEHAR: I think it`s a terrible thing when you can`t fall asleep. He was in terrible psychic pain.
MIDLER: I know, I know.
BEHAR: OK, now, speaking of your career, over the past 40 years, you have saved all these wonderful costumes, shoes and jewelry which you have brought. Now, are you a hoarder?
MIDLER: You know, I`m embarrassed to say -- I don`t like to call myself that, but I think I must have been.
BEHAR: You have hoarder tendencies.
MIDLER: My mother -- my mother was a hoarder. They weren`t like -- they -- well, I don`t want to diss my parents because I love my parents, but they did tend not to give things away. And my mother bought -- my mother was one of the first Salvation Army people. She went to Salvation Army when I was in 7th grade and she never returned. I mean, I went -- everything I wore was from the Salvation Army.
BEHAR: Oh, really?
MIDLER: Yes. Remember Barbra Streisand`s song, look, there goes my old fur coat? That was my life. And I mean, that was how I was brought up, and I was terribly mortified about it. But as it turns out, in my personal life, I have nothing in my house, I have nothing, I don`t collect. But my costumes, I`m so attached to them.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Let`s look at what you brought. Tell me about the mermaid costume.
MIDLER: Well, I`ve been doing this character since the early `80s. She is a kind of a foulmouthed disco -- she is a disco queen. She only sings disco music, she rides around in a wheelchair because obviously she`s a fish out of water, she can`t walk. And her whole thing is that she is in show business, and is going to stay in show business, she has some friends that she does this act with. And it`s always a disco act, and it`s always utterly ridiculous, and we always do patterns on the floor, and sometimes we play musical instruments. And she -- that was from my last show, "Show Girl Must Go On."
BEHAR: Yes, I saw it.
MIDLER: And that was probably the last time I will ever do that character.
BEHAR: Doesn`t Lady Gaga have --
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: She tried. And I gave her hell. But she was very contrite. I was only teasing, really.
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: -- wasn`t it an homage?
MIDLER: I felt it was.
BEHAR: It`s an homage.
MIDLER: I was actually thrilled. I mean, what -- I was thrilled, I was thrilled, because she`s actually -- she`s a really sweet girl. And she`s very talented.
BEHAR: She`s a nice girl. She`s a nice Italian girl.
MIDLER: She is. What can you say?
BEHAR: So do you want her to bid on that?
MIDLER: I wish. I told -- I`ve been going around town saying that if she wants the whole act, I can give her the chorus kids, I can give her the wheelchair. She can buy the chorus kids, she can buy the wheelchair, and she can buy the actual music if that`s what she wants.
BEHAR: I think you would sell these more readily if they were in a 26 petite. I can`t believe you were such a skinny bitch in those days.
MIDLER: I was so tiny.
BEHAR: You were tiny.
MIDLER: In fact, I pulled a dress from the auction because I couldn`t believe how small I was when I wore it. I was --
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: I have to have this, I can`t believe I was ever this thin.
BEHAR: But you`re always thin to me. Except one period you had where you buffed up a little bit.
MIDLER: Well, not buffed up. Chubbed up.
BEHAR: Well, you chubbed up. And you were on the Johnny Carson Show, I remember this, and you sang a song called "Fat as I Am."
MIDLER: "Fat as I am."
BEHAR: Love it.
MIDLER: Who wants to see a diva fat as I am?
BEHAR: OK. We`ll be right back with a little more with Bette Midler.
MIDLER: Just a little more?
BEHAR: Yes, sorry to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BEHAR: I`m back with the Divine Miss M.
MIDLER: And look at you.
BEHAR: And she`s showing me pieces that she`s collected over her career, which are now being auctioned off. OK. Oh, it`s quite stunning.
MIDLER: Well, you know, you really do have to work it, hon. You can`t just let it get into your mouth, I mean, you have to just --
BEHAR: I`ve heard that before.
MIDLER: And, you know, it`s quite becoming, it`s a good color for you. Good color for you.
BEHAR: OK. So tell me about this other one. You have a --
MIDLER: Which one?
BEHAR: You have one designed by Bob Mackey.
MIDLER: This one over here, the short one is a Bob Mackey one. He called it the bird of paradise, and it really was a bird because these are -- the sleeves are feathers, and they`re wings, and then there was kind of like a parrot head dress that seems to have found -- it`s gone to (inaudible), we can`t find that part. But the dress is really interesting because it lights so brilliantly. And I really looked like I was on fire when I came out. And I was dating a guitar player at the time. Yes, I was.
BEHAR: Is he still alive?
MIDLER: He is still alive. He managed to survive. And although we don`t talk about him in my house. And --
BEHAR: What about the black and white one? How do you breathe in that dress?
MIDLER: That dress is one of my favorite dresses, of course. It`s a Bob Demara (ph) designed it. It was the cover of Bathhouse Betty. It`s kind of an homage to Mae West, because I stood on a bunch of apple boxes like she used to do. You know, she was only this big.
BEHAR: She was tiny.
MIDLER: She was tiny. And I also wore it during the Divine Miss Millennium, which was the show that turned from 1999 to the next century.
BEHAR: And who were you dating then?
MIDLER: I was married then.
BEHAR: Oh. So here you have a head dress and shoes. Where is that?
MIDLER: I have a head dress.
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: These are shoes -- you know, these are actually quite iconic. Cher gave these to me when I first came to town, first came to L.A. in about 19 -- I guess -- and -- you couldn`t walk in them. You just couldn`t walk in them.
(CROSSTALK)
MIDLER: They`ve come back. As my mother said many years ago, never throw anything away because in 20 years, it will be back.
BEHAR: She`s right. She`s absolutely right.
MIDLER: So they`re back. And I`m proud of them. And they`re my daughter`s favorite, but she decided to let me let them go.
BEHAR: Sophie, how is the girl doing?
MIDLER: She`s darling. She`s fabulous.
BEHAR: Is she married yet?
MIDLER: She`s not married not yet.
BEHAR: Is she going to be married? Do you care?
MIDLER: I -- let`s not talk about it, OK, Joy?
BEHAR: I`m sorry. OK. Here`s a question from Facebook. Are you really retiring?
MIDLER: I`m not retiring. I never said I was retiring. I said I was selling my mementos.
BEHAR: That`s right. Here`s a good question. Ask her if she was drunk when she had sex with Geraldo. He wrote about that.
MIDLER: He did?
BEHAR: He wrote about that in his book. Or you did, one of you did.
MIDLER: He did? I didn`t write about sex with Geraldo. Ew.
BEHAR: But is it true, Bette? Did you have sex with Geraldo?
MIDLER: I had sex with him, but I don`t think I would write about it. It was nothing to write home about. There was nothing to write about.
BEHAR: The ultimate diss. Geraldo, the ultimate diss.
MIDLER: He was cute in those days, though.
BEHAR: He was adorable.
MIDLER: He was cute.
BEHAR: All right, listen, Bette--
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Well, whatever. Listen, send the feathers to him. This is -- I love this thing.
MIDLER: It does wonders for you.
BEHAR: It makes everybody look more fabulous.
MIDLER: You know, I think you should wear that -- you should make that a signature.
BEHAR: I think I`ll wear this to bed tonight.
MIDLER: Please. Like, bid on it, please.
BEHAR: OK. Fine. Bette Midler`s auction presented by Julien`s Auctions of Beverly Hills takes place on November 12th. The auction benefits the New York restoration project, a really good benefit. Go to juliensauctions.com for details. Thank you for watching. Good night, everybody.
END
