On the surface at least,
Gwyneth Paltrow seems
a weak choice to portray legendary sex symbol, exotic actress and husky-voiced singer
Marlene Dietrich in an ambitious 180 minute made for t.v. biopic. Paltrow, a solid mid-level actress who is sleight-figured with a squeaky clean image, more likeable than sexy, never portraying a cent of a darker side beyond those eyes like Dietrich (the above left shot of Paltrow in the period film
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is her attempt at looking thoughtful), should stay well clear.
Eva Green would be a better choice or better yet, and perish to even consider the thought, perhaps a German actress to portray a German icon?
Luc Besson's Europacorp TV, BBC and HBO then are joining forces for the mammoth, 180 minute biopic of the legendary German actress and performer. Titled
Marlene, the t.v. film will be told in two 90 minute parts and will chronicle the life of Dietrich as told by her daughter and closest confidante,
Maria Riva, whose biography this film will be based. According to a 1993 review of the book in The Independent, the biography runs 800 pages long so there's plenty of material that writer
Andrew Davies (Bridget Jones Diary & almost every period drama
ever shown on the BBC!) could have taken from for his biopic which will be shot in the English-language next year.
It actually appears that this biopic has been floating around town for a while as
a quick google search tells us that the project was actually announced in March of this year with Davies suggesting the biopic would begin with the German movie
The Blue Angel, Dietrich€™s breakthrough film in 1930 which won her a Hollywood contract and would prove to the beginnings of a decade of dominance where she became the highest paid actress in America. The film will follow Dietrich's time in the U.S. during WWII and her life in the 50's with the role of Dietrich's one-time lover and major French actor
Jean Garbin is said to have already been taken by an internationally famous French actor but no names have leaked yet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3eGwKMP_-g The movie is apparently a passion project for Paltrow who has long admired Dietrich and the role will allow the American actress to show off her vocal talents, something she is determined to show us she can do lately with her appearance on
Glee, the film
Country Strong and her latest attachment to
Rock of Ages. The writer of Bridget Jones and Gwyneth Paltrow leading a Dietrich biopic would hardly be my desired pairing but I guess I shouldn't hold too much of a grudge against Paltrow for having ambitions to play in the bigger leagues than she has been.