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According to the Internet movie database IMDB.com, there hasn’t been a filmed version of Anna Karenina since 1997. So I think those of us who are reading Tolstoy’s opus to pass the time until re-accreditation (or just because it’s a great book) should turn our thoughts to casting a new version.
First up today: Anna.
In the movie that came out a decade ago, which had a largely British cast, Anna was played by Sophie Marceau, a French actress who had mostly worked in French films. But she was 40 when the movie was made, and I think that’s too old to be Anna. In my mind, Anna is at most 32; remember that was far older in Tolstoy’s time than in our own.
So I’m going to eliminate from my fictional casting call all those actresses who are 40-plus. That bars the door to Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts, both of whom turn the big 4-0 this year. Also, out: Julianne Moore, who is 46. That’s sort of a shame, although, given what she did with the role of Mrs. Cheveley in An Ideal Husband, she might be great as Princess Betsy.
To find the 30-something crowd of actresses, I turned to Wikipedia’s female movie actors and rigged a search for those born in 1970 and later (I don’t get to see many non-kid movies lately). Australian actress Cate Blanchett make the cut–though barely, since she turns 38 this year. She’s acted as a brunette before, in Charlotte Gray (remember, Anna is described as having dark curls), but the amateur director in me says she’s not right. I’m also ruling out Angelina Jolie. She has good adoptive mom credentials and she is in the target age group (she was born in 1975), but I don’t think Lara Croft and Anna Karenina mix well. Besides, she’s supposedly going to be busy with the role of Dagny Taggart in a remake of Atlas Shrugged.
Minnie Driver has the right hair for Anna, but she’s mostly known for comic roles. Hilary Swank, born in 1974, is in the right age group, but I’m not sure she could find Anna’s melancholy side.
That whittles my list down to the final three: Kate Beckinsale, Charlize Theron, Kate Winslet. I know, not an American among them. Becksinale might seem an odd choice, but according to Wikipedia, she studied Russian literature in college. Charlize Theron has had a mixed career of late, but I liked what she did in The Cider House Rules. And as for Kate Winslet, I forgave her the thankless role of Rose in Titanic after she did Neverland.
Agree? Disagree? Think I missed a great choice? Think I’ve completely lost my marbles? I’d love to hear about it.
And get your choices for Vronsky ready. He’s up next.
