Out Playwright Paul Rudnick on Perpetrating the Perfect Partner

Paul Rudnick’s revamped The Stepford Wives spins a witty and wicked web of marital malice into a diva-filled, gay-flavored re-imagined romp

by John Polly

How’s your partner? Do you love him or her unconditionally? Is there anything you’d change about your mate? Given the opportunity, aren’t there a few qualities about your significant other you’d change?

Let famed out screenwriter/playwright/wit Paul Rudnick put it to you this way: “Think about that moment when you’re sitting on the couch channel-surfing,” offers the In & Out scribe, “and your partner is next to you and they’re nagging or doing whatever most irritates you. Haven’t we all had that urge to turn towards them with the remote and press the mute button?” If you answered yes to that question, then you might want to consider relocating you and your beloved to Stepford, Connecticut.

But first, gather your posse and buy your movie tickets early to see this summer’s re-imagining of the 1975 classic The Stepford Wives, featuring an all-star ensemble cast led by Nicole Kidman, Glenn Close, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, and Faith Hill. Based on the novel by Ira Levin, the original film was a chilling (if now camp) satire on the encroaching “dangers” of feminism, documenting the mutant measures that one town’s husbands employed to keep their wives in line. The new Frank Oz-helmed film, The Stepford Wives—for which the openly gay Rudnick penned the screenplay—takes the manipulative machinations of its maligned marrieds much further. Befitting today’s trends of rampant consumerism, our culture’s obsession with “having it all,” and the drive to transform into the best “you” you can be, the new set of Stepford spouses take the makeover mantra to a whole new level.

Rudnick, for one, was more than up for the task of revamping this timely tale for a new era. “In the original film, the most threatening thing that the heroine—played by Katharine Ross—does is pursue photography as a hobby!” laughs Rudnick. “And that’s considered so out of line during those early, early days of feminism that her husband is forced to turn her into a ‘Stepford wife!’ These days, now that women have made certain strides, men can feel even more threatened. And since they’ve got even greater technology at their disposal, husbands can think up all sorts of dastardly ways to subjugate their wives.”

Enter Nicole Kidman as New York TV mega-executive Joanna Eberhart. As the film opens, she’s on top of the world. But after getting forced out of her job, she follows the lead of her husband (a delightfully dour Broderick) and packs her family off to the suburbs, in search of happiness away from the rat race. And in Stepford they find a seemingly very happy town, perhaps unnaturally happy. Stepford abounds with perfect garden parties, beautiful wives, and a brightly bucolic blissfulness—all reigned over by the grand dame Claire Wellington (a divine Glenn Close) and her husband Mike (Christopher Walken), who’s head of the influential Stepford Men’s Club. But as Kidman begins to discover—with the help of local rabble-rouser Midler and her gay pal Roger Bart—something sinister is at work behind the toothsome veneer of the smiling Stepford wives. “Nicole and Bette and Roger play a tight trio of friends,” explains Rudnick, “and the three of them have this chemistry that’s just pure joy.” Rudnick is certain that gay viewers will be thrilled to discover that this round of Stepford couples includes a same-sex twosome (played by David Marshall Grant and Roger Bart).

Was introducing a gay couple into the Stepford dynamic tricky for Rudnick? “Oh, it was necessary!” he firmly states. “Especially with this increasing urge towards gay assimilation, and the sense that we deserve equality, marriage, children—and plus we are rampant consumers... And, now I think a lot of gay people who came from the suburbs want to go back, but with far more square footage—and in a gated community. So, yes, a gay couple felt right at home in Stepford.” And like their straight counterparts, Stepford’s gay pair faces a menace of their own. “I didn’t want the gay character’s transformation to be about turning him straight,” says Rudnick. “That’s too easy. So we took to the idea of a gay conservative, being Republican—which makes it more complicated. Then it becomes interesting to see what gay people have started to emulate.”

Meanwhile, behind the scenes of his own Stepford, Rudnick was in a state of bliss, enjoying how his film was coming together. “As we were shooting, we’d be in these enormous suburban houses that are both incredibly alluring and completely obscene,” he chuckles. “They’re these 11-million-dollar homes with about 70,000 square feet inhabited by just two parents and one child—and plenty of servants. It certainly made for a delicious place to shoot. And, of course, Stepford has to look extremely attractive; it can’t just be forbidding. Audiences don’t want to sit there and judge Stepford and think, ‘Oh, I’d never want that.’ It has to look really tasty. And Frank Oz—who I worked with on In & Out—was really masterful creating the movie’s tone. There’s great darkness in it, and a lot of comedy to it! It just feels like a wonderfully deluxe movie.”

And the cast couldn’t possibly be more deluxe. “I would never have dreamed of such a cast,” exclaims Rudnick. “Nicole Kidman was a joy to work with. I think she had great fun with the idea of the Stepford ‘Barbie’ image, and how it’s both very enticing to play dress-up to that degree and also a little terrifying. And I think she enjoyed the change of pace of this film, because she’s played a lot of tragic heroines over the past few years. She won an Oscar for her efforts, but here she got to play a very contemporary woman in a comic film—and she got to wear the Stepford drag!”

If the Stepford look is akin to drag, then the reigning queen is certainly Glenn Close. “Oh my God, Glenn Close is so stunning in this film on every possible level,” gushes Rudnick. “And she’s wonderful because the audience has so many associations with her: There are the people who are scared of her from Fatal Attraction, and there’s her diabolical side from Dangerous Liaisons, as well as Sunny von Bulow and Cruella DeVille—and then she’s got such a terrific comic sensibility! Her character didn’t exist in the original, but Glenn’s physical transformation and her comic abilities made creating this role a real privilege for me.”

Bette Midler’s role of the caustic author Bobbie Markowitz was also a treat for Rudnick to conjure. Or, at least it was a character he could relate to... “Well, she’s a sarcastic Jewish writer, so I’d say there are some traits that she and I share...” quips Rudnick. “Plus, she’s got that instant audience identification factor. You just see her and feel happy.”

The 21st-century Stepford seemingly has it all … elements of high comedy, queer-tinged humor, and eerie chills. And it’s got the alluring buzz of a sure-fire summer movie hit. But still, as much as he loves his creation, Rudnick isn’t ready to succumb completely to Stepford’s charms. Not that it hasn’t crossed his mind... “I think there are plenty of moments where my partner would be far too happy to unplug me, or reprogram almost everything I do. One thing I do know for certain... We haven’t moved to the suburbs yet—and I promise we never will.”

The Stepford Wives opens nationwide on June 11.

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