Julia Roberts originally first choice for ‘Shakespeare in Love’, quit after shitty chemistry tests

[masterofmystery]

'It Was a Disaster': Julia Roberts Quit 'Shakespeare in Love' After Awful Chemistry Reads and Cost the Studio $6 Million, Says Producer Ed Zwick https://t.co/wA17tdQhV3
- Variety (@Variety) March 6, 2023
With mere days before the Oscars, let's look back at one of the most undeserving BP winners, 1998's ‘Shakespeare in Love

Comments

[nerwende]

I’m always going to be bitter about this particular Best Actress Oscar, but I don’t think the movie itself is as bad as everyone always makes it to be. It’s entertaining, has some great cameos/smaller roles and some funny bits.

[fernandocolunga]

I don’t mind the movie at all lol

[eva_hagberg]

I'm with you on that Best Actress win. There was pure magic there in the competition.

[digitalqueens]

i watch it every time it's on 🤷‍♀️

[curdlesnoots]

I’m watching it right now for the first time in, er, decades. I completely forgot Ben Affleck was in it lol.

“Ladies upstage gentlemen downstage ARE YOU A LADY MISTER KENT?”

“He dies?”

Also watching Colin Firth single handedly destroy his Mr Darcy persona. “You may show your pleasure” lmao.

Hope those coals under Geoffrey Rush’s feet were real, though.

[littleorcs]

I really dislike Ben Affleck but that line is the first thing I think of when I think of this movie for some reason

[shahrazade_bard]

Because he's literally playing himself with an accent, and it's perfection. The whole *it's called Mercutio* ruse is hilarious and one of my favorite running gags of all time. I have a friend I was in high school with when this movie was released, and we'll still quote the "yes, but he dies with such PASSION!" bit back and forth to each other on occasion lol.

[vespertinev]

It's a solid 6. Not terrible but it didn't deserve any award

[magicpebble]

I actually think the fact that it won Best Picture and Best Actress hurt its reputation in the long run, because it's a perfectly entertaining movie but should not have won those awards.

[sihaya09]

I love the movie unironically. It's a love letter to English majors and theater kids!

[marywebgirl]

Yep, I was a dork in high school who was friends with her English teacher (we saw Much Ado About Nothing along with the school librarian) and I loved Shakespeare, so I was into it.

[floatinglately]

yes! the line about how theater is an endless road of catastrophes and then it all works out anyway somehow is so real lmao. and all the little actor gags are so great - when they guy playing the nurse is asked what romeo and juliet is about and we hear him saying “well, there’s this nurse…”

[shahrazade_bard]

English major/Shakespeare geek, can confirm.