Keira Knightley’s fan club, in a correspondence with her agent, has learned a few things about the actress’s schedule.
They offer word that she is no longer attached to the new adaptation of King Lear, a classic play by William Shakespeare, as the entire project has been cancelled. She will also not appear in Tulip Fever, which was also canned.
She will however play the part of Lillian Palmer in London Boulevard, which is currently being shot. Finally, despite reports to the contrary, Knightley is still not confirmed for the My Fair Lady remake.
If you were hoping to see the 69 year old actor, Ian McKellen, nude in the public television screening of King Lear, then you better think again. Having already been released on DVD, King Lear featured the actor in a full-frontal nude scene. And for those who don’t know, King Lear is a screenplay originally written by Shakespeare in the 1600s.
The scene was cut completely from the upcoming TV version, but fret not as McKellen states that the removal of the scene won’t detract from the movies quality.
Ian McKellen can attribute his fame to the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
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The Guardian carries confirmation that Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins is set to play King Lear in an upcoming big-screen adaptation of the classic Shakespeare tragedy. The film will also star Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Watts and Keira Knightley as Lear’s three daughters; more big names are attached to the film – they are to be announced soon.
"The one thing that I’m staying away from is stunt casting," said director Joshua Michael Stern, "so there won’t be the American comedian, but there will be some really great actors playing smaller roles that will make a lot of sense."
Stern’s previous works have been comedy shorts; he has also scripted episodes of Law & Order and Chicago Hope. However, he insists that he won’t be meddling with the original text.
"I’m not very fond of the modern adaptations," he said. "It’s pre-Roman, Celtic, very raw. It’s a period in British history, from which Tolkien took a lot of his inspiration, where there were thatched-roof roundhouses and fortresses."
The film will begin shooting in Britain or Ireland early next year.