Lizzie Borden Society Forum

If Hollywood was going to make a movie about Lizzie Borden now, Are there any actress in Hollywood that you can think of that look like Lizzie?
What about Andrew?

I would recommend Jessica Simpson or Brittany Spears to play Lizzie.
That would really pack in the paying audience, especially for the scene where Lizzie denuded herself. Ka-ching!

Those fans with historical accuracy in mind will never trust a Hollywood film. IMO

I hope Jessica simpson can remember her lines!

I don't think Andrew looks enough like Lizzie to play her.

Well I do know that if Will Farrell grows beard he can play John Morse.
He looks so much like him in the eyes

Kate Winslet I think would make a good Lizzie. Lizzie was the first person I thought of when I first saw Winslet. She reminds me of Lizzie. She looks more like Lizzie then Elizabeth Montgomery did in the '75 film. Winslet can also act.

I don't have a clue about Andrew. I'm sure there are several character actors who could pull it off. I keep thinking of Clint Eastwood but he is too tall. I believe actors should physically fit the role. That is one of my pet peeves. I never cared for Alan Ladd as a two-fisted hero because I knew he was too short for those rolls. They had to dig a trench for Sophia Loren to walk in when they shot Ladd and Sophia walking together. Even with him in elevator shoes or standing on a box you could see how short his upper body is. Nice voice though and a real good actor.

Maybe George Clooney with wrinkles and gray hair. That is about as close as I can come to an Andrew Borden.

-1bigsteve (o:

Kat @ Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:21 pm wrote:I don't think Andrew looks enough like Lizzie to play her.

Well, I don't know, Kat. Hmmm... if he were to shave off that beard and try on a dress Andrew might just...

-1bigsteve (o:

I must have missed that movie where Liz Taylor played Lizzie?
That would have been somethin'!

OK you finally got me.....After a life long obsession with the case, a great nights sleep in the guest room at the B and B, and two years of reading these postings I have finally been moved enough by a thread to write. The ultimate Lizzie Borden portrayal on the silver screen would be (drum roll please) Sissy Spacek !! I have had this opinion for years...The red hair....Compare the pictures she would be perfect...She also has the acting chops(sorry) to pull it off.

Welcome to the forum, Mouschter! I agree, Sissy Spacek would be an excellent choice for the role of Lizzie.

Yooper @ Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:08 am wrote:Welcome to the forum, Mouschter! I agree, Sissy Spacek would be an excellent choice for the role of Lizzie.

YES! Especially those eyes!

Andrew could be played by Will Farrell. He does kinda look like him.

I think either Sissy or Kate could play Lizzie.

Welcome to the board also Mouschter. I am glad I was abel to think of a topic that you wanted to reply to!

Kat @ Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:24 pm wrote:I must have missed that movie where Liz Taylor played Lizzie?
That would have been somethin'!

I think that is the second time I made that mistake. I'm reading Taylor's bio so maybe that is it.

You are getting very sleepy. Now repeat after me, Steve:
Montgomery
Montgomery
Montgomery

Maybe it's old age. Who knows, Taylor may have made a good Lizzie.

-1bigsteve (o:

Any film of the murders must keep in mind the budget. 1 or 2 big stars, then a few character actors.
WHO will spend money for this film? Are there over 10 million paying customers? NO? Then forget about it.
Hollywood is a business, not a history society.

Is the TV film about Thelma Todd available? That is another mystery.

What about Carlize Theron? She was excellent as Aileen Wournos in "Monster"

I think C.T. could also play her. She would be a "Tall" lizzie but if you get other actor/actress her height to be in the movie with her she could pull it off. She would also have to gain a little weight like she did in monster since Lizzie was not a very skinny women.

Sorry I mispelled her name on my previous post, it is Charlize Theron, I will attempt to provide a link, but my computer skills are lacking these days. This is a pic of the real Aileen, then Charlize acting as her, then Charlize in person. I think she would make an excellent Lizzie.

It is acting ability which is most important, generally.
Make-up can change a person's appearance.

She won an Academy award for her performance in Monster.

Smudgeman @ Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:54 am wrote:She won an Academy award for her performance in Monster.

Yes she did, and did an excellant job. I think she had to put on some weight for it too. She looked so much like her it was scarey. I read somewhere that she also watched alot of footage, and looked at alot of pictures, to get the little tic's down pat. She did an awesome job!

Every time the subject of a movie version of Lizzie comes up, many people come forward and declare Kate Winslet, including myself.

I really believe she is perfect for the role. She's also about the right age and has the acting chops. She would be awesome.

Richard @ Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:19 pm wrote:Every time the subject of a movie version of Lizzie comes up, many people come forward and declare Kate Winslet, including myself.

I really believe she is perfect for the role. She's also about the right age and has the acting chops. She would be awesome.

Would that be good for her career? What about billing?

Maybe you would want an actress used to playing a villainess?

I agree, I think Kate Winslet would make a perfect Lizzie. Ray, Kate played a murderess in one of her first big movies, Heavenly Creatures, based on a true crime. It certainly didn't hurt her career any that I can see?

Hi Susan!
Is that the Anne Perry Story?

Hi Kat! Yes, it is the Anne Perry aka Juliet Hulme and Pauline Rieper story. The movie is quite fascinating as they used as many of the actual locations where the real life events took place. Though they didn't film the murder on the actual murder spot as everyone concerned felt very uneasy with the idea and they shifted the spot about 100 yds away.

Heavenly Creatures was Kate Winslet's first movie, so essentially she was discovered by Peter Jackson who directed the film. It's one of my favorite films and is well worth viewing if you haven't seen it yet.

People keep bringing up Kate Winslett for the role, but I think Melanie Lynsky (the actress who played the other girl in Heavenly Creatures) would be so much better. If you see her in the film you would see why.

I have changed my mind a few times about who I think would make a good Lizzie Borden. But at the moment I would have to say I'd either go with Drew Barrymore or Minnie Driver.

Was one of them ever in trouble like the Legends of Lizzie?

Delurking for a moment to suggest Jennifer Tilly. Drop in some contacts and cheek implants and I think the resemblance is striking.

Here's a pic of Melanie Lynsky from "Heavenly Creatures." I think she would be a good Lizzie.

Ray, where the HELL are you getting these replies from? We're not talking about Thelma Todd, godammit. Stick to the subject, nuncle!

And the thread wasn't about "Why won't they make a movie about Lizzie?" either.

It was simply "Which actress do you think looks like (and, by extension, could play) Lizzie?"

Go ahead and give us your verdict.

(Claudette Colbert?)

**********************

I was just thinking last night how I still see Kate Winslet as Lizzie, with James Cromwell or Robert Duvall and Kathy Bates as the Bordens. Jen Tilley is too old, now, for Lizzie, though I adore her. She was very interesting in the Agnes Moorehead spinster role in the cable remake of THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS.

Calm down, Bob.

Ray hasn't been with us since April 19. See the long thread about it in the Privy.

Will do! Thanks for cutting me off!

Read it all - well, shut my mouth!

She's a little too old today, but everytime I read about Lizzie's eyes, I think about Meg Foster.

I actually think her eyes held her back in her career because of the way they translated on film.

See
http://www.nndb.com/people/902/000024830/
fpr a photo showing her pale eyes.

Yes, that's what I've heard about Meg Foster. Too bad she and Amy Irving never played relatives in a film!

affie4u @ Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:47 pm wrote:I hope Jessica simpson can remember her lines!

She'll probably lip sync the words. LOL

Jessica Simpson seems to have a hard time just trying to act like Jessica Simpson, much less act like anyone else. Good thing she's got big boobs.

Nick Lachey was the only thing that made this blond moron palatable. Chicken, tuna, there's something fishy about this girl's talent.

Can't remember the name of the actress, but she was the lead Amish woman in Witness, opposite Harrison Ford. She's meatier than most actresses...I think she'd make a fine Lizzie.

Ya'll have romanticized Lizzie too much. People like Kate Winslett and Kelly McGillis are beautiful. Lizzie was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a looker.

affie4u @ Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:37 pm wrote:If Hollywood was going to make a movie about Lizzie Borden now, Are there any actress in Hollywood that you can think of that look like Lizzie?
What about Andrew?

I think that Kate Winslet would be a good choice. Sissy Spacek is unfortunately too old. As for Andrew, any tall, thin actor would do. Clint Eastwood I think is too old.

Winslet has that look in her eye that reminds me of Lizzie. With the right make up and dress she could pull it off. I think Eastwood would look terrible in a dress and besides he is too tall to play Andrew. He has had back trouble and has shrunk a couple of inches so maybe he is now short enough, I don't know.

-1bigsteve (o:

I am with you on Kate Winslet- if you ever saw her in Sense and Sensibility- the gal can ACT. She also has that pale skin, and wide-apart eyes that can take on the unnerving "Morse Madness" look. Honestly, Uncle Morse, Sarah Morse and Lizzie all have those eyes. And her voice is the right pitch I would think Lizzie might have.

I'm with Ellen on this one (independently, in fact. I've posted my choice of Melanie Lynskey on another thread). She can do accents too, as is proved by her role as Rose on Three and a Half Men.

Perhaps Alan Rickman for Andrew Borden. It may be difficult to picture with all of his hair and without the beard. I can definitely see it!

I think Jennifer Ehle could fit the role, though she does resemble a younger Meryl Streep. I loved her as a Victorian poet in Neil Labute's "Possession".

Oh yes- Alan Rickman indeed-he is my fav bad guy! Possession! YES! I thought I was the only one alive who saw that one. She was great in the BBC Pride and Prejudice as well. I was in Whitby when Possession was being filmed ( it is famous for the black jet jewelry so popular in Victorian mourning which I collect). I walked across the abbey grounds, past St. Mary's on the hill and down the steep cliff right onto the street where they were filming the scene with Jeremy Northrup and Jennifer, not realizing what was going on. They had to stop shooting and start again! I guess that was the closest I ever got to being in movies! It was Sept. of 2000. Yes, she is a great actress and could probably get it done. I think Minnie Driver would be a better Emma-she has a similar coloring and features.

This is Whitby and the twin light houses on the river Esk which divides the town into East and West Crescent. I was doing the Dracula tour (some of which was set in this town, so dear to Bram Stoker's heart). I thought I'd better explain the Dracula cape. There was a great storm brewing on the North Sea and nobody was around to see me being slightly looney, so why not!

When I posted, I was thinking of the scene at the seance where she tells Ash, "You have made a murderess of me". The scenery from your pic looks familiar - was it in the movie?

Yes- this is the big cliff where haunted st. Hilda's abbey is located -St. Mary's church and a great old windswept cemetery is right behind me. In the novel Dracula, this is where the vampire's ship, the Demeter is wrecked and where he meets Mina. Lucy and her mother have a summer house here. Whitby has amazing scenery and the little town is barely changed at all with the times. Yes, that scene where she utters those lines just chills my blood!Gwenneth Paltrow's character wears a large oval brooch of Whitby jet in the film. It is one of my favorite movies- apparently we are in the minority!