The role of Tracy Lord in Spacey's Philadelphia Story goes to.....

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 8:05am

Jennifer Ehle. Last seen in the revival of The Real Thing. Discuss.

[wildcat]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 8:15am

She won't be as quirky and comic as Debra Messing would have been, but she'll make a feisty yet elegant Tracy.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 8:28am

Whew! Good actress!! (Rosemary Harris' daughter of course)

For awhile he was considering [shudder] Gwyneth Paltrow [shudder].

Updated On: 2/18/05 at 08:28 AM

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 9:19am

You shudder but Gwyneth's performance in Proof on stage was really quite incredible. And yes, I saw Mary Louise Parker play it too.

Updated On: 2/18/05 at 09:19 AM

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 9:56am

I love Gwyneth Paltrow. To all naysayers, if you didn't see her in Proof, go out and rent "Sylvia."

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 10:34am

I see now that Variety has the story. I am surprised. I thought Debra Messing had been solidified.

Updated On: 2/18/05 at 10:34 AM

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 10:42am

I for one am glad that Messing didn't get the role. My only exposure to Ehle was her wonderful turn in The Real Thing, so I will be interested to see how she fares here.

And it's interesting that everyone is going on about her being a Brit. Didn't I see somewhere that her Brit accent is just that, an accent? Her real speaking voice is a mid-Atlantic mix.

[Jon]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 11:22am

I'd like to see Traci Lords play Tracy Lord.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 11:28am

Ms. Ehle was wondrous in the extended BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (with Colin Firth) and charmingly humorous in Bedrooms and Hallways. If she can work a little more in the extroverted vein, I think she'll be marvelous.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 11:30am

"You shudder but Gwyneth's performance in Proof on stage was really quite incredible."

I have no doubt that she has her moments. But Tracy Lord only works with a dry humor, which I don't think she could have pulled off.

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 11:37am

Gwyneth can pull out her WASP-y side to the hilt. In the same way her mother can. She was also hysterical hosting SNL- those skits were all over the comic map.

[freelancer]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 11:43am

The one I'm worried about is Kevin Spacey as CK Dexter Haven. I just don't see him as the Cary Grant-esque type needed for the role. I know that the stage role came before Cary Grant's screen portrayal, but, like it or not, they're big shoes to fill. Does Spacey have the panache and the talent to pull off the romantic/comedic parts of the show? I haven't seen Spacey in enough roles to really judge, but I'm still nervous.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 12:04pm

YAY! Ehle was one of the two or three actresses who first came to my mind when they announced they were planning a revival. She was wonderful in THE REAL THING and if any contemporary actress can do justice to Tracy Lord, it's Ehle.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 12:07pm

Just out of interest, who were the others who came to mind, Ms Channing?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 12:39pm

Ehle, Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney, Anne Heche

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 12:55pm

Ah. Obviously you and Kevin Spacey think alike, as weren't they all in the frame for it at some point, with the possible exception of Heche?

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:35pm

Perfection! Laura Linney, who is, in my opinion one of the best actresses living, really doesn't do comedy well. To me, she is strictly drama. I would have liked to see Debra take the role, prove her critics wrong, and blow everyone away, but I guess not.

Jennifer Ehle, so brilliant in the THE REAL THING revival, will do wonders with the role.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:36pm

Okay, people, flame me all you want, but I do not get the Linney worship.

[robbiej]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:42pm

I've seen Linney be magnificent (KINSEY, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME) and AWFUL (UNCLE VANYA for Roundabout).

But, in the end, she will always be Mary Ann Singleton to me, for which she has an ENORMOUS place in my heart.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 3:53pm

LAURA LINNEY is a goddess!

Brilliant performances onstage in SIGHT UNSEEN, THE CRUCIBLE, and UNCLE VANYA (don't care what you say, Robbie!)

On Screen: KINSEY, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, PS, THE TRUMAN SHOW

TV: TALES OF THE CITY, cameo in THE LARAMIE PROJECT, WILD IRIS (Emmy Award), FRASIER (Emmy Award)

Can we try to convert you, Rath?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 4:00pm

She bothered the hell out of me in one of my favorite movies, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 4:01pm

*faints*

What didn't you like about her? I thought it was a soulful, brilliant performance.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 4:04pm

Check Laura Linney out in Mystic River.

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 4:07pm

Her final scene is Mystic River is flawless- and I hated that movie.

I love Laura- I agree that she's one of our best living actresses. She's completely honest and doesn't need to embellish or ham it up.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/18/05 at 4:08pm

I've seen Mystic River. She was good. I don't find her to be a goddess, sorry, meffie my good friend.