MovieChat Forums > My Week with Marilyn (2011) Discussion > So disappointed with Vivien Leigh

So disappointed with Vivien Leigh

posted 13 years ago by Alpha_Raptor
79 replies | jump to latest

I was most excited when I saw that they would put Vivien Leigh in this movie. HOWEVER, now that I have seen it, I could not be more disappointed with Julia Ormond playing her! I usually like Julia but they really made her look awful. Vivien Leigh was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, even at the age of 44 when the Prince and the Showgirl was made. Not only were the looks off, just, her whole acting seemed so wrong. Ormond did not capture the essence of Vivien (of what I have read about her).

Did anyone else feel this way?

[–] MartyZt 13 years ago

I agree with you. Julia Ormond's performance was nothing like Vivien Leigh. Vivien had a bit of that quirky, eccentric personality. Julia just played it like a proper english woman. No characteristics of Vivien was shown. What about those Vivien eyes. Julia didn't have that.

[–] willjohn 11 years ago

Vivien suffered from tuberculosis in 1945 and was later diagnosed as manic depressive ( bipolar disorder). By the early 1950s she had major health problems which would have affected her appearance.

[–] Beck-40 13 years ago

Actually, you need have looked no further than IMDb.com for a picture of VL around that time. Here she is with Olivier at the premiere of "TP & TS":

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2776209408/tt0050861

Forty-three, forty-four can look pretty good nowadays, but she looked pretty rough by that age then.

[–] jac91604 13 years ago

I saw the film and I thought it was very good.

I thought Julia Ormond was fine as VL, what I find ironic is people talking about how VL looked.

Ormond is 45 and looks 55, I was shocked at how much she has aged.

Clearly a heavy smoker.

[–] LaraCroftLegacy 13 years ago

Didn't know Julia Ormond smoke

D.H.F.F
Now end of day and Iam the Reaper:Silent hill

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Prismark10 12 years ago

I rather liked Ormond's portrayal.

Its that man again!!

[–] kenneglds 13 years ago

>>> Ormond did not capture the essence of Vivien

Well, maybe that's because she's a very minor character in this movie/story. You can't expect every single minor character in a movie to be richly and fully drawn.

And while Vivien Leigh was a complex, enchanting, vastly talented, and troubled woman, I don't know if she was complex, enchanting and troubled every waking moment. So it might be forgivable if a movie in which she is only a minor character, does not capture her in that kind of nuance.

[–] BenignPillows 13 years ago

"...This is absolutely essential to understanding Olivier's state of mind at this point of time, but it is not something that the Colin character would have been privy to."

That's right, but remember the scene where Colin eavesdroppes on Olivier and Vivien watching scenes, and Vivien starts crying because Marilyn is so good? And says something like "I hope she gives you hell". Could be understandable jealousy, but could also be hinting at what VL was really like sometimes, with the bipolarity etc. Esp. when Olivier then says "One never gets too old to be humiliated by women".

What's interesting is that both VL and Marilyn suffered from serious mental disorders, VL Bipolar, Marilyn very likely Borderline Personality Disorder.

As for the acting, I think Catherine Zeta-Jones would have been great. (And not because she has Bipolar Disorder Type 2.)

_______
"The best kind of fairytale is one where you believe the people" -Irvin Kershner

[–] rod775-1 13 years ago

Not one of the actors looked like the stars they were portraying. That was the beauty of the film. I did not want to see this one because I expected them all to be doing imitations of the icons. Instead, they all became their characters. And this is ONE OF THE VERY BEST movies about show business. Hope they all many awards. Love it. Don't hesitate, go see it, NOW!

[–] sophiemops 13 years ago

I am a huge fan of Vivien Leigh, and I really think that Julia Ormond did a very good job.

As much as I love Vivien Leigh, she started to show severe aging very early on. At the time during which she is portrayed in this movie, she certainly was looking more than her age. Of course, she had already suffered a nervous breakdown, and was a manic depressive. I suspect that didn't help.

While still beautiful, she looked like a beautiful older woman, and she looked far more than her years in her later films, such as The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and Ship of Fools, in my opinion.

Photos taken in 1956 reveal her to be still beautiful, but definitely somewhat ravaged by time.

[–] alex_hulubas 13 years ago

I agree with you, Leigh didn't have those huge wrinkles on her face. I found this image, which is probably from 1956, with Leigh and Monroe:

http://collectorebooks.com/celebre/images/l0475.jpg

Also, she made Leigh look like a bore. I wouldn't expect her throwing dishes around, but even playing a minor character, if you're good, you can make an impression in just five minutes - Ormond had double and failed to deliver.

[–] marvelass 13 years ago

Vivien Leigh certainly did have wrinkles galore during the making of The Prince and the Showgirl. The image you posted looks touched up. You can't see Arthur Miller's deep lines, either. Here's a photo from that time that I posted earlier in this thread that demonstrates how haggard she had become:

http://www.mediastorehouse.com/vivian_leigh/print/1938263.html

IMO, Ormond as Leigh looks better than Leigh at this point in her life.

.

[–] iroch 13 years ago

Totally agree. I didn't like Ormond as Leigh either

[–] SicklySweet 13 years ago

I honestly had no idea she was supposed to be Vivien Leigh until now, stupidly. I also wish they had made her more like Vivien, because she certainly was a more interesting person than they made it seem here

[–] LincolnMarkV 13 years ago

Yes, indeed. Vivien (with an "e" despite the skreechings of the rude and rudely misinformed) was exquisite. Julia is not. Vivien was exquisite in GWTW and still exceptionally lovely in both "Streetcar" and "Roman Spring," when she was 50. She's also still gorgeous in "Ship of Fools." Julia Ormand wasn't ever pretty. She should play Wallis Warfield Simpson.

[–] allmappedout 13 years ago

It amazes me how old every woman made themselves look when they reached a certain age. I think it's the dumpy clothes, hats and less makeup than younger woman would have worn. These days our 43 year old celebrities are Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Lopez! That's an insane comparison! But yeah, I understand that a lifetime of smoking aged her skin a great deal. Poor Vivien, if only she'd known!

-

ignore these four words