MovieChat Forums > Coco Chanel (2008) Discussion > maclaine was NOT coco chanel.

maclaine was NOT coco chanel.

posted 16 years ago by missingNYCITY
7 replies | jump to latest

the casting was so off.
that being said, i think barbora bobulova did a wonderful job portraying the character.

I agree, when I was watching this with the flashbacks, having a french accent with the younger Coco made her more realistic, and then going back to "present" Coco having Maclaine talk in "her" accent was confusing, and hearing her get called Mademoiselle, cared not to be called it and looked rather annoyed by it, also it seemed Maclaine completely threw out everything french in this character
"It's not the Scar that you make , It's the Memory you leave with it"

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] aafleming 16 years ago

I agree; bad acting or bad casting or both. Shirley's performance was very much like her "cranky old southern lady" character in "Steel Magnolias." I felt like I was watching the Steel Magnolias character pretending to be Coco Chanel.

[–] toriblue 16 years ago

But you also have to remember after Boy's death she turned into a much unhappier person.

[–] alittleprincess 16 years ago

You know who recommended McLaine to play Coco? Audrey Hepburn. And Hepburn was obviously familiar with Chanel and the designer, so she knew what she was doing when she told McLaine she would be a good Coco. I don't get what was so wrong with the way she portrayed her.. I mean, do any of you know exactly how she acted? The acting wasn't far from unbearable. It wasn't that bad.

[–] TahitiNini2 16 years ago

How could Audrey Hepburn recommend that Shirley McLaine play the part of Coco when she died in 1993? Just curious.

I, too, thought that the young Coco was brilliantly played by Barbara Bobulova. Why couldn't they have just made her up to look older? It would not have been so hard to believe that we were watching the same character. It's not like McLaine really looks like Coco...

[–] alittleprincess 16 years ago

watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3PFbUEISos

Audrey told her she should play Coco when they were doing The Children's Hour. Not for this specific Lifetime movie, but for any film that's a biopic of her life. I read that Audrey taught Shirley how Coco changed the way women's clothes were made, and Shirley to a liking to this her.