BBC will air Taylor & Burton, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West, next week. So this week is full of promotional stuff for the movie, which is exciting. I hope it airs in America sometime soon, maybe on PBS or something? I’m including some promotional images of HBC and West – Dominic doesn’t really look like Burton to me, but I think he’ll probably do Richard Burton justice as an actor, and with his voice. But maybe that’s just me being a Dom West fan-girl. As for Helena… look at her! She doesn’t really look like Elizabeth, but Helena looks STUNNING. So pretty! And Helena will be able to bring out Dame Elizabeth too. Here’s the trailer:
It looks good. The story focuses specifically on the time frame of Liz & Dick just before Richard’s death, and after their second divorce. They agreed to do a play together – Private Lives. According to the historical record, Elizabeth was a mess of booze and pills. Richard was trying to maintain his sobriety, and he was remarried. Here are some assorted quotes from HBC’s promotional interviews:
HBC loves jewelry now: “I had a birthday during filming and Tim did actually buy me a present which cost him a lot of money. It’s funny how things educate you, because I wasn’t really that into jewels, but I got a few during the Elizabeth Taylor phase.”
Young people don’t know about Taylor-Burton? “When the writers approached some UCLA film students to say they were doing a Burton Taylor biography, their response was: ‘We didn’t know that Elizabeth Taylor was married to Tim Burton!’ Elizabeth Taylor was so horrified that, these days, the Burton name meant Tim and not Richard, she said, ’Write it! You’ve got to write it!”’
HBC & Elizabeth were born in the same area of England: “I never met her, but I had lots of friends who did and there were a lot of bizarre coincidences. A really close friend of mine was her goddaughter, so she convinced me to do it and brought some photos of her. I didn’t realise she was such a clown, she was so funny. She was famous for being this extraordinarily beautiful woman and sexy, but she was also hugely powerful and fun and had great joie de vivre and strength of character to survive.”
Dominic West shades the Cracken: “The great revelation for me was that she wasn’t this spoilt pain in the ass. Well she was, but she was also ballsy and great to be around, and that’s why Helena was perfect to play her. There are very few actresses in the world who could do it.”
Elizabeth’s alcoholism was raging at the time of the play: “I don’t think he was aware before they started the play that she was having severe problems. This was the worst time in her life, she was out of it, by her own admission, and then she checks into the Betty Ford clinic.”
Does HBC think Liz & Dick would have gotten back together if he had lived? “I feel yes, there would have been a third time around. She often said that and I think it would have been interesting once both of them were sober, then maybe there’d have been a future.”
HBC almost didn’t take the role: “I nearly didn’t take the role. When I first found out about it, I thought, ‘Elizabeth Taylor? I should run a mile.’ Even my mum said, ‘Don’t touch that with a barge pole.’ But it was the script that won me over – it was such a touching, sweet story. The fact that it was about two of the world’s most famous stars was incidental.”
HBC is a huge fan of Elizabeth: “I don’t look like her at all. But I had to forget about what she looked like and think about the woman. She was phenomenal. What was inside was extraordinary – which is impressive considering how beautiful she was on the outside. She was fun, witty, practical, clever and wise. She had an amazing strength of character and was never a victim. To sustain that amount of fame and beauty from such a young age – look at stars like Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland and what happened to them. Liz Taylor lasted eight decades. She survived all those drugs, all that fame and drink. She loved life and had a great appetite for it. There will be no one like her ever again.”
HBC on her costar, Dominic West: “I think we have great chemistry. I try to lure him back into my bed but he won’t have me. Dominic’s very funny. I didn’t want it to end.”
HBC consulted an astrologer to find out more about Elizabeth: “She was really insightful. She told me Elizabeth was a water person. Water is sexual and sensual and that’s the place she operated from. She had a big appetite for life. She was a good eater. Unlike actresses these days, she liked her food.”
[From Vogue & Wales Online]
I feel like Helena really did the work and the research to understand Elizabeth. Unlike… you know who. Rhymes with Fraken. I love the bit about Helena being into jewelry now and Tim Burton buying her something nice for her birthday. We should all be so lucky! And check out the photo of HBC where you can see her imitation Krupp diamond… God, that thing was so spectacular.
Photos courtesy of BBC.
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