For decades, shes been the foremost purveyor of onscreen hygge.
Now shes ready to retire it all.
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The first thing Nancy Meyers does when I FaceTime her is direct me.
Youre supertight, she says matter-of-factly, sitting at her kitchen counter in an off-white sweater.
You probably want to back up a little.
Youre completely filling the screen.
I say, laughing.
I try not to, she says.
Im just trying to help you.
Thats what directing is.
Namely, her fans and critics.
My first question for you is actually about your response to me telling you about Nancy Meyers Week.
You seem so surprised, like people wouldnt be interested in something like that.Well, I dont know.
Itsbeen a while since Ive had a movie out.
If it wasnt for Instagram, I really would have been shocked.
What do you mean?I get a lot of feedback on Instagram, a lot of DMs.
Theres a lot of that.
And youve found that appreciation is more intense since the pandemic started?For sure.
Well, whos home this much?
Whos watching this much TV?
And I …likewatching it.
I feel like this time of year, we have to watch it.
And he says, Do you watch it?
Do you watch it?Well, on Thanksgiving, there was aHolidaymarathon on Lifetime.
If you see anI Love Lucymarathon which is what I usually watch on Thanksgiving its many different episodes.
This was: The movie ended, then it began.
And it ended, then it began again.
So I did watch a lot of it.
Because I never watch it.
I never watch my movies.
Its not that I dont care for them.
I just … after I make them, its many, many years until I see them again.
I hadnt seen those movies in ten years, I would say.
I was proud of it.
It was a movie that wasnot a hitand almost didnt get made.
When the movie opened, I was in France.
We were doing publicity around Europe, and the day it opened was my birthday.
This is the perfect example of that, this movie.
The way in which it was sold I felt needed to adjust.
But she wouldnt take my call.
I called her Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
I said, I cant.
I was so depressed.
I thought the movie worked.
It wasnt a different movie then.
It was the same movie.
So, for many years, I didnt see it, but then audiences found it over the years.
It wasnt that I didnt watch it because I lost faith in it it was that I felt badly.
It was always something I felt badly about.
I had to wait 13 years.
I mean, I watch it every year.
It had a lot at the time around it.
So its the sweetest story for me.
I noticed that almost all of your films have come out around the holiday season.
Is that a choice that you made?No.
I said, Ive had 20 years of Christmas movies.
Its a good thing.
you could go with your family.
But they promised Christmas to some movie that didnt do well.
So we came out at some random September date and we still did really well.
Which was great, but I really wanted that one to come out at Christmas.
You really think youre done?It feels that way.
I lovethe new people that came into it.
And it took three months to do, as opposed to a year and a half or two years.
The length of a movie, I found over time, became exhausting.
Because its not that I cant work for two years.
Its the intensity of it for that amount of time it never lets up.
Is there any world in which youd change your mind?Icouldchange my mind, but no.
I miss that part of myself that gets to do that, but its so stressful.
It didnt used to be that way.
Making movies used to be much more fun.
It was always stressful.
There was always a lot of money at stake.
It was always a lot of personalities.
Theres always those things, but it was just more fun.
So I did that a year and a half later.
I made two movies in three years, and that just about put me over the edge.
Im still on the edge.
Could I be pulled back from the edge?
Ive had some interesting offers.
But also, with COVID, Im not going on a set.
I dont even go into my backyard if somebodys here.
Maybe once youre back from the edge, youll feel differently.Maybe.
Im saying this for myself, mostly.
I hope you make another movie.I gave it my all, Rachel.
Forty years.I started at 29.
I hadtwo pregnancieson two movies.
I gave my life to it, really.
I dont think it was me, although I worried more as I got older.
I worried more about everything.
But I think thats somewhat of the directors thing: You want to get it right.
you’re gonna wanna get it right.
All these people are looking at their watches.
I dont know it became less fun.
I cant explain it.
The kind of movies I was making I dont know what theyre called.
Some of them are romantic comedies; some of them are comedies.
They paid a lot of attention to the money but not necessarily to what I was doing.
Because they, for the most part, did very well for the studio.
And we builtboth those homes.
That was the best time.
That wholeWhat Women Wantoffice was built.
TheSomethings Gotta Givehousewas built.
We were living on soundstages.
It was fabulous.We went to Franceat the end of [Somethings Gotta Give].
They didnt say, Go to Studio City and be inside a restaurant.
We all got on a plane, went to France, and went inside a restaurant for two weeks.
And so there was a luxury of time.
And you lost that forThe Intern?Oh yeah.
We had less than half the amount of money to do that movie.
And it was all practical locations.
I was very used to imagining the set, with there being a drawing and then they start building.
I love that process.
But shooting on location isnt so terrible.
I mean, you’re able to still get what you need.
I just wasnt used to it.
Id get to a house, and I say, Well, thats good.
Well change the front door.
And they said, We dont have money to change the front door.
It would be like, This is the door that comes with the house.
Sure, but also more generally.
I think theres an appetite for it that the studios might not have believed there was in 2014.
Even just the fact that youre constantly harassed on Instagram about making another movie.
I think the appetite is there.
Do you see it?Do I see that theyre coming back?
I havent seen that.
A lot of romantic comedies arent good, like a lot of all genre movies.
The good ones we love, right?
Its not just the genre, right?
you might watch a lot of historical dramas, then you watch something fab.
You havent?No, none of them.
Its certainly not what Cameron [Diaz] was looking for [inThe Holiday].
Kate just needed to get away from that horrible guy.
That was a complicated situation in her life: kind of accidentally having an affair with her ex-husband.
It doesnt fall into the category of Oh, I go to a lot of weddings and whatever.
What was the last romantic comedy you saw that you liked?Lets see.
Can you name some?
Ill tell you if I saw them.
Crazy Rich Asians.Didnt see it.
The lesbian rom-com Christmas movie?Didnt see it.
Ive been watchingThe Crown,obviously.
And now listening toThe Crownpodcast, which is great.
Oh, yes.Fleabaghad everything.
You hadnt seen this before.
Had great characters, unpredictable situations everything.
It had absolutely everything.
Would you ever consider TV?I havent all these years, so I probably wouldnt start.
My brain thinks in three acts, and so TV its just different.
Its got to keep going and going.
Its a different animal, and Im not sure that I could do it that well.
And its a lot of people that write TV.
There are writers rooms.
My writers room is not very crowded.
I think theyd probably let you write it.Its me and a bunch of Post-its.
Right beforeThe Intern, you almost made aroyal-wedding movie.What happened there?Okay, heres what happened.
SoThe Internwasnt getting made.
I wrote it, and it just was not getting made.
I did the rewrite, and by the time I finished,The Internstillwasnt getting made.
So then they asked me if I would direct [the royal-wedding movie].
I did some casting sessions.
I said, I just dont know.
Lets see if we find a girl.
And I didnt really find a girl that I thought was right for it, so I bowed out.
Also, I was talking to a friend about what it was about.
She said, I dont think you should make a movie when you cant explain what its about.
Im having difficulty talking about it now.
Because, in the simplest terms, it was about an American girl meeting a prince.
And you couldnt talk about it because you were embarrassed by that?A little bit.
Like it felt too cheesy?A little bit.
Was I offeredFirst Wives Club?
Yes.I dont really remember that.
It was before you had directed anything.Oh, maybe Scott Rudin called me about that.
I think that would have been the perfect Nancy Meyers film.Oh, see now, I dont think so.
Why not?Ive never done anything farcical like that, where three women get together and have revenge.
It doesnt sound like anything Ive ever done.
Well,The Parent Trap.That got the parents back there.
I was going to say: Theres some farcical elements But thats a childs movie.
[TheFirst Wives Club] was a huge success.
The women are all friends of mine.
Theyre all great in it.
Its just not my kind of movie.
Not one I would make.
I did, yeah.Whatd you think of that?
It definitely felt like part of the earlier work that you did.
Does that earlier work still feel very connected to you?
Does it feel like your sensibility still?It did then.
You know, when you get older youre so young.
But I was a very strong participant in those movies.
I sawIrreconcilable Differencesfor the first time in 30 years when a local cinema here [screened it].
I thought it had some excellent, excellent writing in it.
And theres a lot of [Harvey] in that movie.
Hes just a geniusly funny person.
And so I hear his voice sometimes.
I can still remember sometimes who came up with something.
But I probably wouldnt doIrreconcilable Differencesnow.
I dont know what I would do now.
We did a rewrite for a couple of months.
You do that in Hollywood to make money.
Of course.It wasnt our idea; it wasnt our characters.
Eugene Levy directed it.
I have never seen that movie.
I honestly dont even remember what its about.
What aboutI Love Trouble?It was an unfortunate experience.
We had a lot of fun writing a script.
And then it just sort of whats the opposite of fun?
Thats what it was like.
I know that Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte have been relatively open about how they reallydisliked each other.
Was that part of the reason it wasnt fun?That was not a good situation.
And it was just unlike any experience Ive ever had.
If youve talked to people Ive worked with, we dont have unhappy sets.
Would you say that thats a fair assessment?I enjoyed making that movie.
I thought Diane [Keaton] was great.
I was pregnant with Hallie.
I liked being in Vermont.
I have good memories of it.
But it was really hard to write.
I remember it being a very hard movie to write.
It did not come easily.
The world was not like it is today.
It wasnt as accepting, you know?
So Im gladBaby Boomgot to say all those things.
And I think you could connect the dots betweenBaby BoomandThe Intern,for sure.
Kind of like bookends.
What made it so hard to write?I dont know.
It was just hard.
I just remember going for endless walks with Charles.
You know the one-sheet of Dianeholding a baby in a business suit?Business suit.
Thats what it was called then!
And whats that big advertising magazine Ad Age?
Do you think thats an image we will begin to see in the world?
I said, I do, because its what were doing.
A script should be well, now they like them shorter like 110 pages or something.
But Ive never written one under 130.
That was very much based on a relationship I had had after my divorce.
So I knew where I was headed, what I wanted to say.
I just didnt know how to get thereshorterat first.
Was your relationship with a Keanu or a Jack Nicholson?Oh, no.
Youre living in the fantasy world.
Jack an age-appropriate person.
I think he asked her what kind of mustard on the sandwich.
Thats the only thing that reminded me of Charles.
That ex-husbands really not even in it.Its Complicatedis an exaggerated version of Charles; thats not Charles.
But its not my job Im not making documentaries for a living.
But he was charming, right?
I mean, Alec [Baldwin] played a charming guy.
And a lot of the women are exaggerated versions of me, you know?
Its the exaggeration part thats the fun part.
Nobody wants to see a movie about me.
I watched them growing up, and they were so formative.
Im curious when that became clear to you, that you had this connection with her.I loved her always.
Like, before I knew her.
Thats really funny.Ive always liked her because shes just so damn original.
As she was in the commercial; she was full of energy, full of life.
She has the ability to deliver things in the most unique fashion.
So Ive always felt connected to her.
I was so happy when she said yes toBaby Boom.Oh my God, I was so happy.
And we were just so lucky to get her inFather of the Bride,because its not the part.
[Steve Martin] is the part, right?
AfterFather of the Bride Part II, you not only wrote but directedThe Parent Trap.
It was going to get made with Hugh Grant, and I was going to direct it.
But he changed his mind.
I was really heartbroken.
We had already writtenThe Parent Trap.
So whenLove Crazydidnt happen, I went through a mourning period.
So I said, Well, I guess I could directParent Trapthem.
I was a bigParent Trapfan as a kid, so I felt comfortable with it.
But it wasnt the plan.
Did you feel like some of your earlier stuff wasnt as protected?No, not at all.
All the movies Charles directed were very co-made by the two of us.
We worked as a real team.
The reason I direct in general is probably that you dont want someone else directing it because itll change.
Itll absolutely change it.
To me, thats directing.
This is why Ive never directed anything I didnt write.
What Women Want, you rewrote that, right?Oh yeah.
What did you change?I didnt keep the initial script.
I had just broken up with Charles.
I called itWhat Women Want.And the premise intrigued me, I have to say.
So I wrote the Worst Guy in the World.
Im exaggerating when I say that; he wasnt the worst guy.
But this is not the heart of a feminist.
So I jumped into it.
I said, I dont want to direct it; I just want to write.
I just want a writing job.
He said, Just do it.
Youve just directed a movie.
Just verify that you have to be the first person they offer it to.
And I kept saying I dont want to direct it.
But anyway, I then spent six or eight months rewriting it and making it my own.
And they had to offer it to me.
And at that point, I was so deep in.
Youre not credited as the writer, right?Oh, I know.
What happened there?You tell me.
How does that happen?Theres an arbitration committee at the Writers Guild, and they read the scripts.
If youre a director who was the writer, you have to have a greater percentage.
In general, writers dont like directors.
Anyway, theres no sour grapes.
I want to go back to your 250-pageSomethings Gotta Givescript.
How did you edit it down from that point?
What was the work there?You mean how did I take 250 pages and get them down?
I did cry when I read it [again], because it seemed overwhelming.
It seemed overwhelming to have to cut it down.
But I got there.
Was it new for you to cry while writing?Ive never cried while writing.
As I said, a lot of it was based on a relationship I had.
I never used anything so personal in my work, and Im happy I did.
But I like the way it came out.
Do you follow the She shouldve picked Keanudiscourse?No.
I think its kind of cute and funny, but no.
I think she didnt love him.
She really did, more than anybody.
Different than the kind of feelings that she even had for the husband.
It was some other level for her.
Your next movie,The Holiday, feels like the most straightforward rom-com of all of your work.
You mentioned it was unappreciated when it first came out.
I do think, for some time, there was a sort ofderogatory dialoguearound some of your work.
In the past, critics have sometimes written it off in a way that feels unfair.
Look at the results.
Thats all that matters, right?
There are certain kinds of things that matter.
That was nice.But nothing about that lasts.
Who are you making them for?The audience that goes to movies.
People that like movies.
People that want to see stories about people.
So you dont have a more specific demographic?
I think people say that, but its really two movies over 40 years.
It sort of took over as Thats what she does.
But, I mean, I dont think so.
I make a movie that I feel I want to make.
And, actually, they kind of age with me, the characters.
Another unique aspect is the casting of people like Alec Baldwin, and even Jack Nicholson, too.
Theyre not really cast in these kinds of roles otherwise.
They write about the schmucky business guy.
They write the hard-nosed cop.
They write the mobster.
And hes not impossible, and hes not difficult.
Most father figures are written as hard to relate to.
Somebody is always crying because he never really gave them what they needed or whatever.
This is a guy thatll give you everything you need.
Can you define the way?
Well, I was going to ask you to define it.I think its an easy handle.
Somebody did some kind of survey when Rotten Tomatoes first started.
Who are these people [reviewing movies]?
It was 90 percent men.
But I made movies about these kinds of men.
Im okay with it.
Nobody makes movies for critics.
And besides the fact that I do have a lot of women in my movies, theyre comedies.
Comedies are always at the childrens table.
Did they win the top honor?It taught me a lesson.
I have comedy; I have women; I have romance.
Im not here to like everybody.
What can I do?
I think I yo a lot of people, so Im happy.
I once saw online a really cute dog in a sunbonnet.
And the [caption] underneath said Saw his first Nancy Meyers movie.
He was in a straw bonnet.
Ive never had a woman [in my movies] in a straw bonnet that I can think of.
He actually had a bonnet on.
It just made me laugh.
But I dont totally get it.
Ill be really, really honest with you.
I dont totally get that.
I dont get how they arrived at that for that dog.
You dont get the meme-ification of your work.I dont totally get it.
Thats a version of a Nancy Meyers movie.
I posted that because it made me laugh.
So I find it humorous.
I find that all humorous, but I dont totally get how it caught on.
He said something like, Dont go there again with this movie.
I said, Go where?
He said, Dont let it be a thing.
And I was like, Ah, what thing?
So I dont know.
I dont think I spend that much more time on it than any other director does.
Every director is shown this sofa, this sofa, this fabric, this fabric.
To be known for it,thatI dont like and I think thats what Scott was saying to me.
Because he really liked the script, and he really wanted the script to be the thing.
And for the movie to be the thing.
But I said, Dont worry about it.
I dont know why people are so attracted to it.
Its a sort of aspirational, beautiful, calm fantasy world.
Thats how I feel when I watch your films.
Its evocative, in combination with everything.
It creates a really specific feeling that I would only identify as a Nancy Meyers movie.
I couldnt say anyone else that does that.But I think my real life looks like that.
And I said, Well … She had no idea who I was.
Its all just an extension of the way I see things.
I think thats a good point.
So now weve solved it.
Because thats nothing like how most peoples lives look.Well, isnt that a good thing?
Thats a big part of why I love your movies.
To that point, there is struggle in your movies, but its never really financial in nature.
Your characters are mostly quite well-off.
Do you purposefully remove the problem of money?What do you mean?
You could name a thousand movies where financial problems arent part of the movie.
I mean that its a pattern throughout that your characters are well-off.But thats true of a gajillion movies.
Shes got a pretty nice cabin.
I would say her cabin is nicer than most peoples houses.Her cottage?
Yeah.So you thought she was a rich girl?
Her job, the way she dressed?
Well, she was comfortable.I thought you loved my movies.
To me, thats what I do best.
Theres also no politics in [my movies].
Theres also no religion in them.
No ones ever gone to a church or a synagogue.
Well, inFather of the Bridethey went to one … but there are certain subjects Im not writing about.
I dont think every film has to serve every part of the population.
And she says, How do you know my life so well?
I said, I dont know your life, but I know mine really well.
Most of your characters also tend to be white.
I know in Father of the Bride Part 3 (ish), you did cast Alexandra Shipp Right.
I felt good about it, and I felt happy.
I heard what [critics were] saying.
Prior to that, I have tended to write families.
I think any work going forward would be more aware than I think I was in the past.
But yeah, I havent had a Black leading lady or man.
I thought that was really a great thing.
I felt very affected by it.
So I have cast people that seemed like they would best fit the parts that Ive written.
Why does this doctor have to be a white doctor?It was good.
I guess you want to know How do I feel when somebody doesnt like my work?
I mean, whats the best answer to that?
Its great if everybody loved it, but what are you going to do?
And in some cases, I think theyre fair like the bit we just talked about, about race.
But I think the way that male critics read your work for years is horrible.
The audience is everything.
I think your films have more than found their audiences.
They serve a cathartic, joyful purpose for people.The wordcomfortcomes up a lot.
What about it comforts you?
And she makes movies that are about decency.
And I was like, Yeah, thats exactly what it is.
You feel a renewed sense of hope after watching them.Theyre optimistic.
Theres so much thats truly dark in the world and unkind and difficult.
I would like to use my power for good.
Thats the feedback I get.
Ive experienced it Im sure you have where someone just simply didnt love you back.
I know I wont.
The comfort thing, its a good thing.
It is a good thing.Im with you.
Whats the Danish word?Hygge?
Yeah.When I heard it had a word, I loved it.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
