When she spoke to members of the media, a major focus was about aging in Hollywood and if the industry is getting away from mainly casting young ingenues.

“I think there are more and more opportunities where the stereotypes of women — not only older women, but younger women — are being transformed even since I started in the business,” the veteran actress declared. “And it comes from a project like this. First of all, Liane’s imagination, and she writes such juicy stories and juicy parts.”

Moriarty has also penned “Big Little Lies” and “Nine Perfect Strangers” among other stories.

“It was really fun for me because I had never done something over so many episodes. … So, that was a joy for me to play such a rich character. It was such fun,” Bening said.

Bening was happy to be cast as a woman of her age. Instead of trying to make older women look younger and seem younger than their true age, there are more parts now for aging actresses, and Bening’s sister-in-law Shirley MacLaine is another actor who plays her age, which is probably whey she has lasted as long as she has in this business that is — or used to be — obsessed with youth.

Bening went on to say, “I have to admit from when I was very young and I started out in the theater, I kind of imagined that I would continue to play (characters) my age as I went through my life. … Maybe it’s because I also admired some of the actresses that were older than I was, and I was watching them age, and I was watching them continue to play and to work. … So when I work, it’s because I just want to be there. I love it. I feel lucky. And this was, for me, a joy.”

It was obvious Bening was overjoyed with this project, which afforded her the chance to work with a group of actors who were also fun to be around and who also turn in great performances. “So life’s too short for me to do stuff that I don’t want to, and I don’t have to. My mom is 95 years old. She’s an amazing person. She inspired me, so, I’m just carrying on,” she said.

Finally, the actress was asked what advice she would give to young actors. “My basic rant to you actors starting out,” she said, “is to maintain your privacy. It’s so important right now, especially with social media, and there’s just this culture of every event in your life you have to make public.” This is good advice for people not in the entertainment business as well.

“And maybe the pendulum will swing the other way because, of course, it used to be the opposite. It used to be that everybody was dying to maintain their privacy,” she added. “Not in the work (of acting). Like, in the work, we have to expose ourselves. That’s our job. And to try to do that as truthfully as possible, which is interesting because even when you choose to be an actor and you are putting yourself out there, there’s part of the psyche when you’re working that says protect yourself.”

Bening explained, “So, in the work, that’s our job. But in our private lives, we have to have some privacy.” Words for the wise. Today’s world is invasive and privacy is not easy to come by.

Bening has been nominated for five Academy Awards as well as countless other awards. Some of her popular films include “American Beauty,” “Being Julia,” “The Grifters,” “The American President” and “Regarding Henry.” She has more projects on the way on both the big and small screens. In the meantime, she can be seen in the very dramatic seven-episode series “Apples Never Fall” streaming on Peacock.