Shakespeare in love : A Midsummer Night’s Romance
Released in 1999, Shakespeare in love directed by John Madden is set in 1593. We meet a penniless young playwright, William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes). Despite his talent, he awash in debt and must immediately return a new piece to Henslowe, his sponsor. William promises him a new project: Romeo and Ethel, the pirate’s daughterof which in reality it has no other material than the title.
In parallel, we discover Lady Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow) great admirer of the young author. She dreams of becoming an actress, but her profession is exclusively male. Ignoring correctness, she then pretends to be a man and landed the male lead role. It doesn’t take Shakespeare long to figure out the deception and he can’t help it fall madly in love of his interpreter…
For a budget of $25 million, Shakespeare in love brought more than 289 at the worldwide box office. In addition to this financial success, the feature film was also Thirteen Oscar nominees and won seven awards including those of Best Movie, Best Actress for Gwyneth Paltrow, Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench e Best Original Screenplay for Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard. A tidal wave for this film produced by Harvey Weinstein which did not fail to arouse suspicions…
Daniel at all costs
Ed Zwick, producer of John Madden’s film, recently wrote an essay for Airmailin which back to preparation of the film. It begins by revealing that Universal Studios does not deigned to invest in Shakespeare in love that when Julia Roberts showed interest in the Lady Viola soundtrack in the early 1990s. The actress, then 24, joined the project.
It was then necessary to find her playmate, and the young woman had a fixed idea in mind: Daniel Day-Lewis. Unfortunately the latter was already engaged in another project, In the name of the father. After announcing it to a very disappointed Julia Roberts, the tryouts with a certain Ralph Fiennes resumed. Only his playmate showed up very closed during their tests as the producer recalled:
I’m not saying he was deliberately sabotaging, but it was disastrous nonetheless.
Subsequently, none of the actors, from Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves to Colin Firth via Sean Bean and Jeremy Northam, found thanks to the eyes of the star.
A whirlwind departure
Finally, hope returns for Shakespeare in love when Julia Roberts agrees to give Paul McGann the answer. But, upon the arrival of the young woman, “radiant” in her costume, it’s the drama.
Something went wrong when he started talking.
According to Ed Zwick, the concern came from the actress, who obviously had it didn’t work on his accent. The producer says he regrets making her feel “uncomfortable” about her and “underestimating her lack of self-confidence.” In his opinion, shoulder pressure of Hollywood’s new darling was too strong. The next morning, Roberts returned to the US and left the project.
Tom Pollock, head of Universal Studios at the time, told the producer yes already spent six million dollars on the film. Zwick says he assured her he would be able to convince the actress to return, but history decided otherwise. Ultimately, it was Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow who landed the lead roles, years later.
On his relationship with Roberts, Ed Zwick is very clear:
I never spoke to Julia again.
On a positive note, assures the manufacturer I do not want it to the star. He insists she was young and scared. By her own admission, he himself was not starting as a young producer in this ambitious project.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
