The one movie Ashley Judd will always regret “not bothering” to read the script for
Despite having a mother and sister who are big names in the world of country music, Ashley Judd decided to give acting a shot.
Boy, did that decision pay off, because three-and-a-half decades into her career, she’s starred in acclaimed dramas, family comedies, block-busting franchises, and hidden gems alike, and there aren’t many actors who can say they’ve been in both Twin Peaks and Tooth Fairy – that’s range.
Unfortunately, as is always the case with famous movie stars, there are plenty of other major parts that Judd failed to land, like the time when she was in the running to play Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct 2 until Sharon Stone agreed to reprise the part.
She filmed an entire storyline for Natural Born Killers that was left out of the movie, only to be resurrected in the director’s cut, and was supposedly strongly considered for the lead part in Shakespeare in Love, which is especially uncomfortable given her troubled history with its producer, Harvey Weinstein.
Still, we can’t spend our entire lives worrying about what might have been, but if Marie Claire come calling, then you can probably spare a few minutes. The publication sat down with Judd to ask her a series of quickfire questions, including what she would be if she weren’t an actor (“an anthropologist”), what she’s really bad at (“reading the directions to electronics”), and how her perfect day would end (“sex and reading”).
When asked to give her ‘Most agonising career decision’, Judd had an answer ready in the chamber. “Not bothering to read the script for Cold Mountain,” she revealed. “I had just married.”
Released in 2003, Cold Mountain is a bulky historical drama set towards the end of the American Civil War, with Jude Law playing WP Inman, a Confederate soldier who, after suffering an injury, abandons his post and journeys home to be with the woman he loves. The film was a huge financial success and scored rave reviews across the board, earning Law a ‘Best Actor’ nod at the Oscars, while Renée Zellweger went one better and went home with the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ gong in her purse.
She might have been caught in the whirlwind of marital bliss, but Judd really should have read that script. Director Anthony Minghella had adapted Charles Frazier’s award-winning novel into one hell of a screenplay.
To make matters worse, it seems as if everyone else in Hollywood cottoned on to its potential except her. Alongside Law Zellweger, the cast of the movie also included Natalie Portman (who credits the film with helping to shape her as an actor), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone, and many, many more.
The real kick in the teeth has to be that the marriage didn’t last. Judd and her husband, former racing driver Dario Franchitti, divorced in 2013 after 12 years together. That’s pretty good going, and the split was apparently amicable, but it must have made the whole Cold Mountain debacle sting even more.
