Thursday, October 07, 2010

Kristin Scott Thomas Wanted Tilda's Role in "Burn After Reading"

The latest issue of French Premiere has hit the newsstands 'cross the Ocean. It's a big Harry Potter issue with new photos and such but if you look at the top left hand headline you can see the hallowed name of Kristin Scott Thomas, one of the few British acting giants that didn't teach at Hogwarts. Kristin has lately been headlining French films like Leaving (now in theaters) and, of course, I've Loved You So Long a couple years back. 

I had the pleasure of interviewing her a couple of years ago and she struck me as surprisingly unguarded and honest about her career ups and down. Premiere asked her if she ever watches movies and wishes she had played that role. "Of course, all the time" she answered (!) and then some.
Les rôles de garçon, surtout. Il y a aussi Burn After Reading des frères Coen, dans lequel je voulais tourner, mais ils ont préféré prendre Tilda Swinton. Et je suis aussi très fâchée contre Stephen Frears, parce qu’il ne m’a pas proposé le rôle de la femme de l’écrivain dans Tamara Drewe. Tamsin Greig est formidable, mais quand j’ai vu le film, je n’ai pas pu m’empêcher d’aller voir Stephen pour lui demander pourquoi il n’avait pas pensé à moi. Je rêve de tourner avec lui et il le sait très bien !
 Kristin Scott Thomas and two roles she wanted to play.

My french is of the high school variety but basically she's jealous of the men's roles first and foremost. She also alludes to having auditioned for the Tilda Swinton role in Burn After Reading but the Coen Brothers preferred Tilda. I heart Tilda but I could totally see KST barking orders at George Clooney and John Malkovich while chopping carrots or driving through DC, can't you? She also approached Stephen Frears after seeing Tamara Drewe. 'Why hadn't he thought of her for the role played by Tamsin Greig?'

About the Oscar loss (The English Patient) and the snub for I've Loved You So Long, she has this to say.
Un jour, quand j’aurai 95 ans, ils m’amèneront sur scène et me donneront un prix pour l’ensemble de ma carrière. Mais je n’ai pas vraiment besoin de récompenses. De toute façon, je ne gagne jamais rien, ni loto, ni tombola, ni Oscars.
This is something humorous along the lines of  'I never win anything -- lottery, Oscar -- but I don't need awards.' Maybe when she's 95, they'll bring her up on stage for career honors?

 Kristin and Sergí Lopez in Leaving (Partir)

Kristin Scott Thomas is still inarguably vivid onscreen at 50 and what's more she's still erotically viable, too. Leaving is full of randy sex scenes with Sergi Lopez but my favorite moment in the film is one where her husband (played by Yvan Attal, Charlotte Gainsbourg's real-life man), who has learned of her affair verbally assaults her marking her "sluttish grin" and comparing her to a cat in heat. The moment, which is nasty but unfortunately relatable (given the outright flaunting of her affair), wouldn't work half as well if you hadn't already marked how much she's abandoned herself to desire.

One hopes more directors and casting directors start to notice how well she's maintained her particular screen magic. Maybe her role in Nowhere Boy, in which she's typically excellent playing the key role of John Lennon's (Aaron Johnson) disciplinarian aunt can remind them what they're missing when they don't consider her for the meaty parts. If that pre-fame Beatles biopic takes off at all, it's easy to imagine Oscar traction for her role in Best Supporting Actress.

Can you imagine her in Tilda's Burn role? Do you plan to see Nowhere Boy?
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16 comments:

billybil said...

God forgive me but I actually prefer her to Tilda - I know, I know, I'm being stoned even now, but there's something just as "off" about Thomas but not as weird. Certainly there are roles that ONLY Tilda could play (like Narnia) but many more in which I'd prefer to see Thomas -- she's so earthily powerful.

cal roth said...

Clooney & Scott Thomas would make that couple too sexy for what the movie needed.

pasifauna said...

I have seen Nowhere Boy ( I live in Turkey and I have seen it back in April, during İstanbul Film Festival) and both Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff are fab! Nathaniel, as an actressexual, you should not miss it. I would say Anne-Marie Duff's role is showier and more Oscar material. Also, Kristen Scott-Thomas has become such a household name in this "cold outside-burning inside" British women, they tend to think she is like that in real life and does not even need to try! It is George Clooney in "Up in the Air" all over again!
That said, I wish both ladies of Nowhere Boy best of luck during awards season, it would be great to see them shine on red carpet of some ceremonies. And would not it be great if Anne-Marie Duff brought her man alongside?

NATHANIEL R said...

pasifauna -- i have already seen it which is why i said she's terrific in it -- i wouldn't say that otherwise ;) -- and it's close enough to the kind of role that Oscar likes to see older actresses in that they may just notice her.

cal -- hmmm. maybe so.

Deborah said...

I adore Sergi Lopez. The combination of Kirsten Scott Thomas, Sergi Lopez, and sex just made me pop a blood vessel.

Bia said...

I loved her in Gosford Park.

Walter L. Hollmann said...

Man, Hugh Grant made a huge mistake in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Andie MacDowell over *her*? Get outta here!

She's the whole reason I want to see Nowhere Boy. I loved Tilda in Burn After Reading, though, and while I adore KST, Swinton was just too perfect in the role.

Anonymous said...

I think KST would have pushed Tilda's character harder than Tilda did. Tilda did the 'fat cow' line perfectly. But then again, I saw the movie on a plane.

adelutza said...

I have too seen Nowhere Boy at Sundance ( with Elton John in the audience that stole all the thunder I must say ) and , even if I can't say I liked the film too much ( I'll have to see it in a normal theater with a "normal" audience again, for sure as these premieres with a lot of stars present don't do much for me in terms of cinematic experience ), I loved the scenes between the two sisters.
Though if it came to it, I couldn't choose between Tilda and Kristin - it would be too much of a Sophie's Choice for me to survive it.

JoFo said...

She's absolutely one of my favourite actresses. She manages to be a chameleon in different roles whilst staying distinctly Kristen Scott Thomas.

I also can't believe it's taken so long for America to get a release of Nowhere Boy. Even Australia got it last year. She is fantastic in though, isn't she?

pasifauna said...

Oh I thought you were saying she looks great. I am glad you liked it!
And Clooney and Thomas would be great in a L.A. Confidential type film noir-ish period drama. Just sayin'.

Unknown said...

I totally want Kristin Scott Thomas to take over the role of Vivien Leigh in My Week with Marilyn noe that CZJ turned it down to be with ailing hubby Michael.

NATHANIEL R said...

seisgrados -- she'd be a great choice, i agree, but they chose Julia Ormond (??????????)

vg21 said...

Last week I saw a guy reading a Kristin Scott Thomas interview in a magazine on the Paris metro...now I know what it was :). I love her work, I will see anything she is in, if it ever comes to the theaters, that is.

I'm not so obsessed with Tilda, I have to admit so I prefer KST to her. I still think they are equally excellent, it's just a personal thing, I guess. It might be their films that make the difference to me. I'm looking forward to seeing Nowhere Boy, by all means. I hope I won't have to travel 2000 kms to see it.

And by the way, being brunette so becomes Kristin, I think she should stick with it :).

Anonymous said...

Saw Nowhere Boy last night, Kristin was brilliant in the restaurant scene with Anne Marie, hopefully this award season she will be awarded for her work.

Also saw Partir (Leaving) those sex scenes made my jaw drop. All I can say is gooooo Kristin.

Can't wait until her new French film, Contre toi (In your Hands) hits the screens. She is a doctor that has been taken hostage by the husband of her patient that died.

Luv her!

Findley said...

I went to see Nowhere Boy last week and sat through it twice--I adored it. Both Kristen and Anne-Marie are fabulous, and both deserve to be so much more well known in the US!

Haha, would love to see AMD on the Oscar Red Carpet with her hubby (and baby daddy) at her side, since she's accompanied him a couple of times.