Apparently Altman based the character of Opal on a real person who actually did work as a reporter for the BBC at the time the film was made but the name was changed for fear of lawsuits. She wasn’t insane as one posting here suggests more like a classic example of a certain type of upper-class British twit. Does anyone know who the real life model for Opal is?
shareShe's just another parasite. She's an E! anchor, Mary Hart type, One of those live at 5 or KTLA anchors with the latest entertainement news.
Oh, we're back! (sniff sniff) (Sadder.. look sadder you're NOT comin' over)
A 3am ambulance was called to the home of (fill-in-the-blank) in Beverly Hills last nite . . .
Guess who over-dosed?
No No No We'll tell you after the break. Don't change that channel!
There's lots and lots of Opals around today. There's the Parez Hilton Opals and Ryan Seacrest Opals and The Fashion Police Opals and the Dr. Drew Pinsky Opals and the Dr. Phil and Oprah Opals.. Ohh, whole lots of'em. There wasn't so many of them in 1975 Maybe ...Rona Barrett.
Yeah, But The Break When Ya Fall On'em ~ Hank Williams Sr.
Opal was just a groupie pretending to be a reporter, so she could get some. It worked too.
shareThere's also the question of whether Opal was working for the B.B.C. at all. She says she works for "the British Broadcasting Company", which isn't quite right.
shareSmush Master & allenrogerj do have a valid point. Opel as a surrogate for the audience provides an outsider's perspective on the business of country music but she is never seen with a film crew, she never shows anyone any official credentials and complains at one point that her cameraman is never around when she needs him. Her only piece of equipment was a tape recorder. She may very well have been just a groupie trying to gain access to famous people but I one read the character of Opel was modelled on a real person working at the BBC at the time but the name had to be changed to safe guard against law-suits. I was wondering if anyone out there in IMDB land knows the name of this person on whom Opel was based?
shareShe's Joan Tewkesbury's surrogate in the film, though not obviously based on her in any literal sense.
She wouldn't be based on a real BBC reporter because she's not supposed to be a BBC reporter. This would have been spelled out explicitly in a scene not used in the finished film where Triplette confronts Opal and reveals he knows she's a fake.
"They ate Mummy! They burned Mummy and killed her and ate her!"
Thanks for the info TNC.
"When I said I wanted to be a comedian, they all laughed at me. Well, they're not laughing now!"
I can work with that, a little humility and self-parody by the almighty writer.
shareA very inept Greek chorus, is my guess.
share