There will never be another you
I’ve been asked a lot recently in interviews that I’ve done for my book who (if anyone) should play Elizabeth Taylor if there were going to be a movie about her life. It’s a fair questions and a game I love to play. I’m a fan of casting my friends as this or that actor in imaginary or actual movies. I, for instance, would have to be played by a young James Spader – sans the chest hair.
James Spader
While casting myself is easy, I am no Elizabeth Taylor. She was successful, while alive, at preventing a movie being made of her life. When rumors that movies were being made of her life would pop up, she often said (most recently via her twitter account), “No one is going to play Elizabeth Taylor, but Elizabeth Taylor herself.” Well, that was while she was still with us. Since her death on March 23, 2011 of congestive heart failure there have been talks of a possible biopic. It has been widely reported this week that the excellent biography Furious Love –which chronicles Taylor and her 5th and 6th husband, Richard Burton’s love affair– has been optioned for a film by Paramount Pictures as a future directing project for Martin Scorsese.
While I want everyone to know about the life of Liz, the thought of a movie being made of her life makes me cringe a bit. Her life is easy to sensationalize – not that it wasn’t sensational. My fear would be that filmakers would choose to focus only the many marriages and the somewhat odd behavior in her last few decades rather that the work and life of a truly gifted actress, a tireless philanthropist and a caring mother.
Casting the role of Elizabeth Taylor will be no small feat. I feel that the biggest mistake would be to choose someone solely based on looks. Elizabeth Taylor never acted sexy … she was, plain and simply, sex personified. I’m reticent to offer suggestions, but here they are:
1. Angelina Jolie. Jolie is already on deck to star in director David Fincher’s Cleopatra remake. And she knows a thing or two about scandal having been part of the break-up of a famous Hollywood marriage just as Elizabeth Taylor was with Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.
Angie and Liz ... they both like horses.
Remembering Elizabeth Taylor
As of today, with the passing of Elizabeth Taylor, we are left without one of Hollywood’s greatest actresses. We can look back to some of her most memorable movies, like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and A Place in the Sun, to really know why she was so legendary. And did we mention what a knockout she was? Check out these 100 jaw-dropping photos of Taylor on Buzzfeed.
Here is a scene from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf–some of the best acting ever in just 1 minute 41 seconds. Dont you think so?
8 is enough
As I predicted, the news of the Elizabeth Taylor/Jason Winters engagement proved to be false. The star tweeted today that the rumors surrounding the couple, “simply aren’t true.” She added, “Jason is my manager and dearest friend. I love him with all my heart.”
Well, that solves that. It’s nice to see that she can still get us all excited.
Taylor
We love you, Elizabeth Taylor!
The Whole Nine Marriages
Multiple sources such as Perez and Us Weekly are reporting that Dame Elizabeth Taylor is going to, for the ninth time in her 78 years, be getting married. The alleged groom-to-be is Jason Winters, manager to Janet Jackson.
Elizabeth Taylor
I’m not certain that I believe this just yet, but it would certainly be in keeping with tradition. The star’s last marriage construction worker Larry Fortensky was right around the time of the release of her fragrance White Diamond. She’s is releasing Violet Eyes this month and what better way to get her (and it) some press.
No one better than Taylor knows how to use her public image for the benefit of a product; her scandals made movie studios (and her) millions of dollars. A nice little marriage could, without a doubt, get Violet Eyes in the news.
If she marries Winters it will be her 9th marriage and her 8th husband. This would also be the longest time Taylor has gone without a husband since the age of 18 when she first married Hilton Hotel heir Nicky Hilton, grand-uncle of Paris & Nicky Hilton.
Neither Taylor nor Winters has confirmed any of this. If it does turn out to be true, I bet that we will hear it here first.
