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| Emma Thompson received her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame last month and showed up at the unveiling with a pig and a pint. |
Yipppeee for Emma Thompson. Yes, I know Emma’s not a leading man, but she is working on a new project, a remake of My Fair Lady, to star Carey Mulligan as Eliza Doolittle and rumour is that she’s tapped Colin Firth to play Henry Higgins, with Hugh Grant in a supporting role. Emma has said in interviews that she was dissatisfied with the original film version’s sugary take on the storyline of Pygmalion which, however one slices it, revolves around a father’s having sold his daughter to an older man in a form of prostitution. Emma has said:
“It’s a very terrible thing [Eliza Doolittle’s father] does, selling his daughter into sexual slavery for a fiver. I suppose my cheekiness is in saying, “This is a very serious story about the usage of women at a particular time in our history. And it’s still going on today.”
“I’m not hugely fond of the film. I find Audrey Hepburn fantastically twee … Twee is whimsy without wit. It is mimsy-mumsy sweetness without any kind of bite. And that’s not for me. She can’t sing and she can’t really act, I’m afraid. I’m sure she was a delightful woman — and perhaps if I had known her I would have enjoyed her acting more, but I don’t and I didn’t, so that’s all there is to it really.”
With equal honesty, Emma spoke to the Daily Telegraph of Firth’s chances of playing Higgins, “He would do it brilliantly, but because it’s a really expensive movie it’s really up to the studio. They’re always really picky about these things.”
Wow, I can't wait to see the results of this Emma Thompson creative process! And I can definitely see Colin Firth as Henry Higgins.