Studio exec reportedly wanted
Julia Roberts as Harriet Tubman.
“Harriet, the
historical drama based on Tubman’s life released earlier this month, stars
Cynthia Erivo. But the film’s screenwriter and producer, Gregory Allen Howard,
says when he first started working on the movie in 1994 that one studio
executive suggested Julia Roberts to portray the legendary slave turned
abolitionist. Yes, that Julia Roberts.
“In a Q&A with
Allen published earlier this month by Harriet studio
Focus Features (and reiterated in an L.A. Times
essay published Tuesday), Allen recalled how ‘the climate in
Hollywood … was very different’ some 25 years ago.
“’I was told how one studio head
said in a meeting, ‘This script is fantastic. Let’s get Julia Roberts to play
Harriet Tubman,’” Allen explained. “When someone pointed out that Roberts
couldn’t be Harriet, the executive responded, ‘It was so long ago. No one is
going to know the difference.’”
Genius.
Those are the people making the movies you pay to watch.
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