In 1998, the famous comedy “Shakespeare in Love” appeared with Gwyneth Paltrow (50) and Joseph Fiennes (52) in the main roles. The former played the viola de Lesseps and the latter played William Shakespeare.
Hail the critics: – Nonsense!
In 1999, Paltrow, somewhat controversially, won an Academy Award for her work in the film. Her acceptance speech has gone down in history as one of the most tearful acceptance speeches at the Academy Awards.
The film’s producer, Ed Zwick (70), can now reveal that from the start it wasn’t Paltrow who was destined for the role. In contrast, it was co-star Julia Roberts, 55, who was first linked to the movie.
Bad chemistry
According to Zwick, the 55-year-old must have been very unhappy on set, and had a hard time finding the perfect partner for the scene. This was written in an article published in Air mail.
In other words, Paltrow would never have achieved the success she has, were it not for Roberts’ sudden retirement. Zwick claims that the project, which was supposed to cost six million dollars, was then put on hold.
– I can not Talk
Zwick writes that he has nothing against Roberts, and claims it was a huge draw to the film’s well-financed. When she was flown to London to read with potential Shakespearean actors, things must have gone wrong.
– I remember Hugh Grant, Robert Graves, Colin Firth, Sean Bean and Jeremy Northam. Julia found fault with all of them. One was too solid, the other not romantic enough and so on.
– disaster
Zwick wrote that he was looking forward to reading Roberts with Ralph Fiennes (60) — the older brother of Joseph Fiennes who ends up in the movie. It must not have gone as desired.
– Ralph did his best to make her famous smile. Julia hardly recognized him. I don’t mean she was trying to sabotage on purpose, but it was a disaster nonetheless. I tried to apologize to Ralph as he left, but he rushed out of the doors. After he left, I turned to Julia and waited for her reaction: “It’s not funny,” that’s all she said.
The director reveals: – Al-Anmary’s mood
He further writes that in addition to the chemistry problem, Roberts had not worked enough on his British accent. The producer acknowledges that the actress may have been very unsure at the time, and wishes he had the chance to persuade her to stay on as Viola de Lesseps.
She walked out of her hotel and headed back to the States without saying anything.
—I haven’t spoken to Julia since, Zwick writes, adding that he’s followed her growing and successful career from a distance.
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