I'm trying to think of actresses who actually LOOKED like Diana. Naomi Watts can act her butt off but she didnt look like Diana at all, wrong voice, wrong all wrong and it was distracting. Just because she's blond but that didnt cut it at all and besides she wore wigs anyway. Cate Blanchett could've pulled it off her face is more angular but hmmm... don't know!
Quiet I'm still thinking.
Leona Worcester. And yes, she's very unknown and American, but she looks a lot like her and can do a convincing Princess Diana accent. (There's a youtube clip of it somewhere.)
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1292943872/nm6305433?ref_=nmmd_md_nxt
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1276166656/nm6305433?ref_=nmmd_md_pv
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1750069248/nm6305433?ref_=nmmd_md_nxt
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm964427264/nm6305433?ref_=nmmd_md_nxt
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Leona does look a lot like Diana right down to the light freckles, round face, huge nose, and huge eyes, but her accent would have to be a genuine accent, not a fake imitation of a British accent.
shareWell, there are actually plenty of Americans and British actors and actresses that can pull off either. Daniel Day-Lewis played Abraham Lincoln, and he's English! The BBC Pride and Prejudice film from 1995 with Jennifer Ehle, who played Lizzie Bennet, is an American actress. Meryl Streep is American but has played women with many different accents and done them justice. And let's not forget, a British woman played Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and nailed the classic southern accent. The whole point of being an actor or actress is learning how to do different accents. Just sayin'! Not that I don't know what you mean, it seems like blasphemy to have an American play British royalty, but if it's for a film, and done properly, I don't think that's a bad thing.
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Well, there are actually plenty of Americans and British actors and actresses that can pull off either. Daniel Day-Lewis played Abraham Lincoln, and he's English!
The BBC Pride and Prejudice film from 1995 with Jennifer Ehle, who played Lizzie Bennett, is an American actress. Meryl Streep is American but has played women with many different accents and done them justice.
And let's not forget, a British woman played Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and nailed the classic southern accent.
The whole point of being an actor or actress is learning how to do different accents. Just sayin'!
Not that I don't know what you mean, it seems like blasphemy to have an American play British royalty, but if it's for a film, and done properly, I don't think that's a bad thing.
With somebody as unique as Diana, it is rather blasphemous to have some American playing a pale imitation of Diana.
There are PLENTY of British, Irish, or Scottish actresses who can play Diana perfectly...why go overseas to hunt an American?
I still say Kristen Scott Thomas would be an ideal selection for Diana...take a look at Kristen...same round, freckled, fair face; same straight hair; same string-straight body; same heavy brows; same gigantic nose; same huge, luminous, slightly almond shaped eyes.
Kristen and Diana do look a LOT alike and their voices and accents are very similar.
It would be pointless and ridiculous to bypass the slate of WONDERFUL British or Irish (Diana was part Irish) actresses to go overseas hunting some American who would not know Diana as well as the British do.
There is NO shortage of great British/Irish/Scottish actresses who bear quite a resemblance to Diana.
I've never thought of Princess Diana's nose as gigantic. 🤦
shareKristen Scott Thomas...no American actress should be playing Diana. Kristen has the genuine British accent, the same round face, the same large, luminous eyes, heavy brows, huge, freckled nose, the same straight hair, the same round face, almost the same slender, string-straight body, even a somewhat similar voice.
shareNaomi Watts is Australian not American.
shareNaomi did a superb acting job.
Physically, she was too short for the part. Diana was sooooooo long-legged. She wore heels regularly and was generally the tallest person in most rooms.
I think Naomi's kind, sympathetic blue eyes were a good match for Diana's.
Perhaps Charlize Theron would've been a better physical match, but Naomi was very convincing.
Kristen Scott Thomas was far too old for the part.
True, Naomi was a bit short. And Diana did have really long, too-skinny legs, which sometimes was funny because poor Diana was rather scrawny all over.
But while Diana was taller than the average woman, she was no Amazon giant; she sometimes was NOT the tallest person the room, especially with men about.
I don't think Kristen was "far too old"; with a bit of makeup, they could have made Kristen appear in her late thirties like Diana was and made her brownish freckles appear silver like Diana's freckles were.
But Charlize Theron...isn't she American? Definitely, it wouldn't be good to have any American trying to imitate Diana.
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Naomi Watts is actually British, and spent her formative years in the UK before moving to Australia.
And I thought she was perfectly cast as Diana, as mediocre as the rest of the film was. Watts has the look of a highborn British blonde beauty, and looked great in the haute couture designed to look like Diana's classic dresses.
I can't believe the OP suggested Cate Blanchett. Blanchett is a fine actress but she isn't a true classic beauty and she projects a coldness and aloof intelligence which is completely at odds with Diana's personality which was defined more by her heart than her head.
What constitutes "true classic beauty" is highly subjective. When Diane first began dating Prince Charles, journalists wrote about her large nose and chubby cheeks. When they became more familiar with her, they began to call her a classic beauty. When she lost weight, her nose appeared even larger but by then they were proclaiming her the most beautiful woman in the world.
Cate Blanchett is a superb actress. If you've ever seen her in an interview, she is intelligent, humorous, and friendly. I have no doubt she could have made a wonderful Diana, but I think Naomi Watts did a great job.
Cate Blanchett is a decent actress but she would have played the part, whereas Naomi exuded Diana's essence. And yes, Cate Blanchett is indeed intelligent, humorous and most likely friendly, but that doesn't mean she would have been ideal for the role. Moreover, she's a very vocal republican and her casting may have been contentious.
I'm not a monarchist by any means, but the fact is none of us would have known or cared about Diana if it wasn't for her marrying into the British royal family however much they may have allegedly mistreated her. She owns her public profile and her later post-divorce work as an ambassador to various charities to them.
And whilst Diana was 'never the most beautiful woman in the world' at least not in my subjective opinion, she was still a beautiful radiant woman from the very start of her fame, despite all the nit-picking of the fickle press. And also bear in mind that Naomi was playing Diana during the later, ultra-glamorous period of her life (by contrast, I think Cate Blanchett might have been better suited to playing the shy, demure pre-royal wedding Diana).
Diana actually might have still made her mark in the world and been admired worldwide even if she'd never married into the Royal family.
It would have come quite a bit later in her life, but it became apparent that she was already doing outreach work in her EARLY TEENS long before she met Charles.
I still think Kristen Scott Thomas would have been ideal for Diana, especially the Diana in her thirties.
Kristen is genuinely British and looks a lot like Diana...same round face, same large, large eyes, same huge, hooked nose, same string-straight body, same straight hair, same rather straight, thick brows.
Kristen's hair could have easily been dyed that gold-blond that Diana's thick, straight hair was and she could have worn makeup to make her rather brownish freckles lighter and more silver like Diana's freckles were.
Diana was actually not a classic beauty; she was no Brigit Bardoe imitation, but she was attractive and yes, very fashionable.
Diana's sweet, round, lightly freckled face often reminded me of a best friend's mum or aunt or an art teacher from the local secondary school...that was the kind of timeless, down-to-Earth, pleasant face she had.
Errr.. Kristin Scott Thomas is 60 years old.
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