June
6
Keira Knightley Considering My Fair Lady Remake
As far as I'm concerned, the 1938 Pygmalion starring Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard is far better than the terrible 1964 My Fair Lady movie adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe Broadway smash musical. The movie got by on Rex Harrison and the great music, barely. It was one of those cases where Hollywood insisted on casting a star--Audrey Hepburn, who was voiced by Marnie Nixon--instead of Broadway sensation Julie Andrews, who went on to score in the blockbuster movie musicals Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music instead!
So now Columbia's going to do it right this time, possibly with Keira Knightley, the reigning Brit It Girl, as their Eliza Doolittle. UPDATE: Here's the latest pack of Brit Boys.
Cameron MacIntosh knows how to do a musical. But can Knightley sing? UPDATE: She sings in her next, The Edge of Love.
Hard to tell from this YouTube evidence (she sings better than Scarlett Johansson, at any rate):
Here's Hepburn's unadulterated real voice in a clip from My Fair Lady:
And here's Andrews in all her glory on Broadway:
UPDATE: The next question: Assuming they cast Knightley (I'd go for Gwenyth Paltrow, who can really sing), in a British movie set in 1912, who is an age and class-appropriate Henry Higgins? Vote here.
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Based on this I'm skeptical. Maybe she had a change of heart, but the interview is only a few weeks old.
http://www.list.co.uk/article/8383-keira-knightleys-singing-fear/
Keira said: "I did some lessons with a voice coach because I can't sing. It was live. There were 100 extras and the director John Maybury was like, 'Now you're going to sing.'
"I've never been so frightened in my entire life. I never want to do it again. I don't want to be a rock star. "
Posted by: Patrick | June 06, 2008 at 05:00 PM
Alan Rickman would be a perfect Higgins. Rickman can sing, as we know from Sweeney Todd, and could be a suitably stern instructor, as we know from Harry Potter.
Posted by: Pia Susanna | June 10, 2008 at 04:48 AM
Higgins should be played by British actor, but none on the list above are suitable.
Richard Armitage would be perfect, he can sing, he can dance. He was in Cats musical before moving into television.
Posted by: Mayka | August 10, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Alan Rickman! It is his role!!! Perfect voice, perfect face, perfect attitude!
Posted by: Cindy Strickland | August 13, 2008 at 03:33 PM