“Then I was doing a small play for Granada TV, and I’d just finished writing Educating Rita. But she won the crowd over in the end, because she was such a great actress. “I remember watching her once, and she was lucky not to get bottled out the place. “Julie had been part of this guerilla group of actors who drove in a van down to hardcore, working class Liverpool pubs, and they would do a play in the middle of a bar,’’ he says. Go down that route.’”īut the only person Russell really wanted for the starring role was Walters, who he got to know when she was performing theatre in Liverpool. “A more cynical and a more commercially minded human being than myself might have said, ‘What a great idea. “And Paul Newman at the time hadn’t long finished making Butch Cassidy and The Sting. “So it wasn’t as bizarre as it might have sounded. ![]() ![]() She’s a terrific actress, and she comes from the only really white American equivalent of working-class Britain. He adds: “Actually that would have been brilliant casting, for a movie set in America. “But if it had gone down that route, then the film would have had to have been relocated to the States.” ![]() “When the film was originally in the hands of the Americans, they wanted Paul Newman and Dolly Parton,” he says. But that wasn’t the original idea, admits Russell. It was a huge success and led to the movie, where she played opposite Michael Caine as her English professor. Walters starred in the production, about a young, working-class, Liverpool hairdresser, who decides to study English Literature at the Open University. The Royal Shakespeare Company commissioned and put on the original stage version in 1980. Russell, from Liverpool, is visiting Stratford-upon-Avon this month to re-live the story of how Educating Rita first made it to the theatre. Since then she hasn’t looked back, taking starring roles in Billy Elliot, Mamma Mia and the Harry Potter series.īut Willy Russell, who wrote Educating Rita, has revealed US movie bigwigs wanted Dolly Parton for the lead. Her performance bagged an Oscar nomination. Walters came to prominence in the 1983 smash hit movie, Educating Rita. Yet to become an international movie star the Smethwick-born actress had to overcome two of the most intimidating obstacles in showbiz. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.Īny changes made can be done at any time and will become effective at the end of the trial period, allowing you to retain full access for 4 weeks, even if you downgrade or cancel.JULIE Walters is one of the most successful performers to have emerged from the West Midlands. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for $69 per month.įor cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here.Ĭhange the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. ![]() Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages.
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