Napoleon: Which actress should have played Empress Josephine?

What is it about? A spectacular mural, Napoleon focuses on the rise and fall of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The film depicts Bonaparte’s ruthless conquest of power through the prism of his passionate and painful relationship with Josephine, the great love of his life.

Conflict of agendas

After their last duel, Jodie Comer and Ridley Scott were to team up for Napoleon. But the actress cast as Josephine had to withdraw from the project due to scheduling conflicts before being replaced by Vanessa Kirby.

The director says about the latter: “If you have in mind a slender, dark-haired actress and a shorter, blonde young woman walks into the room and you’re interested, you have to be open-minded. Vanessa played the role with sensuality and great confidence, but above all, I was sensitive to her humor. She has a great sense of humor. A feeling and a completely intuitive sense of rhythm that sets him apart and makes him a unique and interesting person opposite Joaquín.”

From Apple TV+ to cinemas

Napoleon was originally intended for exclusive release on Apple TV+. The film is finally enjoying a theatrical release rather than being available on the streaming platform later.

Long version 4h30?

If Napoleon has a substantial length of 2h38, Ridley Scott announced that a longer version would be well suited to see the light of day. Indeed, the director has many hours in a hurry; With all this material, he has enough time to process in 4 hours and 30 minutes! According to him, it would be the long version “fabulous” and contained “Many more scenes with Josephine de Beauharnais before she meets Napoleon.” The director did not specify how this happens Director’s Cut would be visible.

shooting

For the most part, the production tried to shoot in London so as not to transport the crew all over Europe – with a few exceptions. The team specifically filmed at Boughton Manor, located in Northamptonshire, about three hours from London. “It was built in the 18th century by a Francophile – an Englishman who was fascinated by French architecture. It really looks like a French-style chateau set in a magnificent estate on several hundred acres, with sheep, horses and a luxury century. So it was a separate place, and we decided that Napoleon’s Let’s make a fort.”explains production designer Arthur Max.

The team also shot at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, for the state rooms and some of the exteriors of the Château de Fontainebleau and the Tuileries Palace. “It’s a neoclassical building in the Palladian style. Whether it’s its scale or the richness of its materials, it’s sublime. We also realized that we could use the exterior, from different angles, for scenes taking place in several countries. For example, when Napoleon approaches Paris or returns from Moscow.”Continues to max.

Ridley Scott and his colleagues also found sites they had already invested in for Gladiator, such as Bourne Wood in Surrey and Fort Ricasoli in Malta.

Military training

To recreate the great battles fought by Napoleon, it wasn’t enough to gather extras in costume: they also had to learn the maneuvers of the Napoleonic era. Military adviser Paul Biddis – who served in the Parachute Regiment for 24 years before becoming a military consultant on film sets – organized a training camp for infantry and artillery. Since the scenes were shot on multiple cameras, it was impossible to simulate the action or hide it in the background.

“As a military advisor, I spend 60% of my time on research, and the rest comes from my experience in the military.said Bidis. It turns out that this is not the first time that he was a consultant on the staging of major battles of the Napoleonic Wars: “I met Napoleon three times at Waterloo. I defeated him each time.”

(re)watch our interview with Ridley Scott: