For those who were disappointed in the Lifetime movie Liz & Dick starring Lindsay Lohan which is just about everyone, including Lindsay Lohan, there is hope.
Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West are set to play Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in a biopic for the BBC. The film will tell the story of the tempestuous couple’s experience working together on a Broadway production of Noel Coward‘s Private Lives in 1983 after they had, at that point, already divorced twice.
This excerpt, from a New York magazine article about the production, describes a rehearsal that the reporter Marie Brenner observed and illustrates what made their choice to work together on a play about a couple getting a divorce such an odd one:
“Darling,” Elizabeth Taylor said to Richard Burton, “you’re still wearing your wedding band.” She took his hand tenderly. “I know,” Burton said. “Why don’t you take it off?” Taylor said. “Because I can’t get it off.” “I see,” she said, light as a meringue. The moment played like Noel Coward, deft, a little too fraught with meaning, except, irony of ironies, it wasn’t from Private Lives at all.
In addition to his acting roles, Burton was known for being temperamental and having an alcohol problem. Dominic West is no stranger to playing a character with those tendencies after portraying Detective James McNulty (who enjoyed liberally indulging in booze and women) on the HBO series The Wire over the course of five seasons.
The film, which has no set air date, will premiere on BBC4.
“Darling,” Elizabeth Taylor said to Richard Burton, “you’re still wearing your wedding band.” She took his hand tenderly. “I know,” Burton said. “Why don’t you take it off?” Taylor said. “Because I can’t get it off.” “I see,” she said, light as a meringue. The moment played like Noel Coward, deft, a little too fraught with meaning, except, irony of ironies, it wasn’t from Private Lives at all.