Alright, so I know this sort of thing is not going to appeal to very many people, but I thought I'd mention this.
The Last Movie Stars is a 6 part documentary on the lives of actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, who were married from 1958-2008 (Paul's death).
Now the interesting thing about this is that Paul Newman had gathered a bunch of interviews from himself and others and planned to do a documentary himself -- but scrapped it. Fortunately, the transcripts of the items that were destroyed survived.
So what was done here, is Ethan Hawke gathered a bunch of his actor friends to read the parts of each character and tell the documentary through them. So Paul Newman is voiced by George Clooney, Joanne Woodward is voiced by Laura Linney, Elia Kazan is voiced by Bobby Cannavale, and so on...
I'm about halfway through the series (each episode is 50 minutes long) and it's interesting how Newman had this image of a suave, all-American, all-confident man who really was anything but that. He wasn't a particularly natural actor and in fact, his wife Joanne Woodward was far more gifted than he was. Because she stepped back to raise their kids, her acting career suffered, but somehow they managed to stick together through it. It's kind of admirable but also sad.
I will say though, Joanne was a true ride or die. She raised 3 of her own kids with Paul as well as helped raise 3 kids that Paul had from a previous marriage. And one of Paul's kids in the doc speaks about her like a saint.
Being that this is a Film Room thread, it needs to be noted that Woodward rose to fame early in The Three Faces of Eve (1957) and later got an Oscar nomination for Rachel, Rachel (1968). Newman is now recognized for being in The Long Hot Summer and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (both 1968) but didn't really become a star until The Hustler (1961) and Hud (1963).
Anyway, I thought I'd share just in case anyone is interested in this sort of thing, or watches old movies.
I thought I'd also mention that there's no shame in not winning an Oscar. When Woodward was nominated in '68, she was up against Katharine Hepburn who was amazing in The Lion In Winter with Peter O'Toole.
The Last Movie Stars is a 6 part documentary on the lives of actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, who were married from 1958-2008 (Paul's death).
Now the interesting thing about this is that Paul Newman had gathered a bunch of interviews from himself and others and planned to do a documentary himself -- but scrapped it. Fortunately, the transcripts of the items that were destroyed survived.
So what was done here, is Ethan Hawke gathered a bunch of his actor friends to read the parts of each character and tell the documentary through them. So Paul Newman is voiced by George Clooney, Joanne Woodward is voiced by Laura Linney, Elia Kazan is voiced by Bobby Cannavale, and so on...
I'm about halfway through the series (each episode is 50 minutes long) and it's interesting how Newman had this image of a suave, all-American, all-confident man who really was anything but that. He wasn't a particularly natural actor and in fact, his wife Joanne Woodward was far more gifted than he was. Because she stepped back to raise their kids, her acting career suffered, but somehow they managed to stick together through it. It's kind of admirable but also sad.
I will say though, Joanne was a true ride or die. She raised 3 of her own kids with Paul as well as helped raise 3 kids that Paul had from a previous marriage. And one of Paul's kids in the doc speaks about her like a saint.
Being that this is a Film Room thread, it needs to be noted that Woodward rose to fame early in The Three Faces of Eve (1957) and later got an Oscar nomination for Rachel, Rachel (1968). Newman is now recognized for being in The Long Hot Summer and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (both 1968) but didn't really become a star until The Hustler (1961) and Hud (1963).
Anyway, I thought I'd share just in case anyone is interested in this sort of thing, or watches old movies.
I thought I'd also mention that there's no shame in not winning an Oscar. When Woodward was nominated in '68, she was up against Katharine Hepburn who was amazing in The Lion In Winter with Peter O'Toole.