How the movie Nicole Kidman called “the chance of a lifetime” went disastrously wrong
Any actor would believe the chance to play a Hollywood icon turned princess would be the pinnacle of their career. Nicole Kidman certainly thought so – until the whole palace went up in flames.
The nightmare began when Kidman took on what was then viewed as the coveted role of Grace Kelly in the 2014 biopic Grace of Monaco – but that was about where the luxuriousness of the experience ended. In itself, the plot seemed straightforward enough. It told the story of Kelly being tempted back to Hollywood after her marriage to Prince Rainier III, which she ultimately declined in order to invest in humanitarian work and save the sovereignty of Monaco.
Yet there was umbrage taken in certain quarters, particularly by Kelly’s children, who deplored the making of the film in any form and accused it of gross inaccuracy, given that it only spotlighted a very finite period of the actor’s life. In a nutshell, this led to a fallout of calamitous proportions – not just because of the Monaco royal family’s indignation, but also because the film’s director, Oliver Dahan, was at loggerheads with its producer, Harvey Weinstein.
Consequently, the whole thing fell to pieces. Under the wrath of his influence, Weinstein threatened to pull Grace of Monaco from US distribution only two weeks before it was set to receive its glitzy premiere at Cannes, due to the fact that Dahan was refusing to bend to the royal family’s wishes. In the end, the film premiered at the festival with a director’s cut and an even more muted reception, leading the theatrical release to be canned and its only light of day being received as a TV movie.
Of course, amid all this animosity and industry jargon, it’s somewhat easy to overlook the actors like Kidman who truly lie at the heart of it. Even as the controversy was still unfolding in 2014, it was clear that her view of the role was already tainted, as she said in an interview at the time: “I have not seen the version that’s showing at Cannes, but obviously I will. I may be seeing it opening night at Cannes. It was the chance of a lifetime to play her. I really admire her, and I think she has such otherworldly qualities. I think she has an aura about her.”
Ultimately, however, the ship of regaining glory from the part had long ago sailed. “I don’t know if I’m able to capture that, but I was honoured to have the chance to. We’ll see,” Kidman elusively added. “It’s only a six-month period of her life that we depict. It’s a fairytale. It’s not a heavy drama. It’s got beautiful costumes. It’s sumptuous.”
In truth, if the only highlight you can pick out of playing the role of a lifetime is its “beautiful costumes”, that tells you everything you need to know.
Despite the calibre of the part that once awaited her, Grace of Monaco certainly proved not to be the regal victory lap Kidman had perhaps anticipated. You can imagine it being every little girl’s dream – playing a Hollywood mega star and princess rolled into one – but there is a definite tragic poeticism in the politics of monarchy and male ego, ultimately crushing those romantic ambitions. Not every diamond is a true beauty.
