Relationships Talk

Have you ever wondered where you should go on a first date? How many cats are too many cats for a prospective partner to own? When you should meet your new boyfriend’s parents — or kids?

Well, the women of Book Club are here to answer your burning dating questions. It can be tough to navigate the complex world of swiping, ghosting, and texting, but you’ll fare much better knowing that Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen, and Jane Fonda don’t think you should waste more than an hour on a date if you’re not hitting it off immediately.

The three veteran actors star (alongside Diane Keaton) in the new rom-com, out May 18, that is technically about four longtime friends who decide to start reading the 50 Shades of Grey series in their book club. The women are all in various stages of unlucky-in-love — from a marriage rut to divorced to widowed to men? Who needs ’em? — and, as can be expected, reading about the kink habits of Christian and Ana put a little pep in everyone’s steps.

In between the book club meetings of all our dreams — it’s your four favorite actresses, plus Nancy Meyers-level cheese boards, plus a seemingly nonstop flow of white wine — they set out to fix what is broken in their respective romantic lives. That means joining the online dating world, giving an old flame a new chance, and an accidentally-on-purpose Viagra-spiked beer. So naturally, when EW got the chance to sit down with Steenburgen, Bergen, and Fonda to talk about Book Club, we had to grill them on all things romance. Watch as they share advice and their own personal horror stories — and definitely try this at home.