Julia Roberts almost starred in ‘Shakespeare in Love’: Why didn’t she finally do it?

Julia Roberts could have been the lead in ‘Shakespeare in Love’. Yes, as you hear it. Gwyneth Paltrow, who won the Best Actress Oscar in 1999 for her portrayal of Viola de Lesseps, wasn’t always the first choice to play the young poet’s love interest.

The news arrives 24 years after its theatrical release, following the publication of “The Untold Story of ‘Shakespeare in Love'” on air mail, by one of the film’s producers, Edward Zwick. In addition to delving into what was the production and development process of the famous romantic comedy, Zwick stopped to recount Roberts’ passage through the film (and, specifically, his fateful departure from the project).

As Zwick acknowledges, Universal Pictures had only agreed to support the film if Julia Roberts agreed to star in it. “The mere idea of ​​seeing the ‘Pretty Woman’ corseted was enough for the studio to drop the money. Ten weeks later, when I returned to London, there was a copy of the first draft (retouched by Tom Stoppard) waiting for me in my fabulous hotel room.”

Zwick later met Roberts in the British capital, where the chemistry tests between the actress and different actors began, who were running to bring William Shakespeare to life. The producer claimed that Julia Roberts had been obsessed with casting Daniel Day-Lewis for the role, despite the fact that the actor was already committed to filming ‘In the Name of the Father’with Jim Sheridan.

“It is brilliant. It is attractive and intense. And very funny!“, affirmed that the actress had expressed. “Have you seen her performance in ‘A Room with a View’? He has also done Shakespeare. Don’t you think he will be perfect? I can convince you to do it.“

Moments after that, according to Zwick’s statements, the actress asked her assistant to send a dozen roses to the actor, with a card that said: “Be my Romeo.”

Despite the actress’s insistence, when the producer met with Day-Lewis again, he reiterated his commitment to the other project. In this way, a new consignment of actors began to attend her casting with the interpreter.

The first to meet her was Ralph Fienneswhich failed to make her laugh. “Though Ralph did everything he could to get that famous laugh out of him, Julia barely flinched. It was a disaster. When she left, she just told me: ‘It’s not funny.’“

Over the next few days, things didn’t seem to improve. “ANDI don’t have the casting list, but I remember that among the names (many still to be discovered), were: Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Sean Bean, Jeremy Northam… None of them worked for Julia.” Two weeks later, Paul McGann would appear.

“The morning of the test, Julia arrived prepared and beaming,Zwick commented.When they started passing the text, something was wrong. There was no magic. The problem was not the script. Neither did McGann. It was Julia. Since she started talking, I noticed that she hadn’t worked on her accent.”

“I felt his discomfort. I tried to cheer her up, but she must have noticed my disagreement. I made the tragic mistake of underestimating her insecurity,Zwick continued explaining.New to the top of Hollywood, she must have been terrified of failing. I never got to talk to her. When I got to his room the next morning, they told me he had checked out.”

When the producer contacted his team, they informed him that the actress had returned to the United States and was leaving the project. The production company had already spent 6 million dollars in preparations, costumes and locations. Despite the studio’s attempts, the actress did not return to the project.

“I have not spoken to Julia again,Zwick asserted.Instead, I have seen from afar how he managed to gain height and depth in his works. I wish you no harm. She was a scared 24 year old. I wasn’t much old either and I was trying to act like an adult, as I watched the Golden Theater collapse before me and, with it, my dreams of greatness.”

Later, the project would be carried out thanks to the support of Miramax Pictures. Thus, the role would end up in the hands of Gwyneth Paltrow and, as they say, the rest is history.