Shakespeare in Love (1998) on Netflix
In 1593 London, playwright William Shakespeare is blocked on a comedy he has promised and short of cash. Viola de Lesseps, a wealthy merchant's daughter, disguises herself as a man to audition.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.1/10244,386 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes92%
Trailer
Plot summary
London, 1593. William Shakespeare writes plays for Philip Henslowe, who runs the Rose playhouse, and Henslowe owes money to the moneylender Hugh Fennyman, so auditions begin for the comedy Shakespeare has promised, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter, which he has not yet written. Viola de Lesseps, a wealthy merchant's daughter, knows Shakespeare's plays from performances at court and arrives at the auditions dressed as a man who calls himself Thomas Kent. She wins Shakespeare's interest with a speech, then runs off when he questions her. Her parents are arranging her betrothal to Lord Wessex, an aristocrat who needs money, and Shakespeare, following Kent, slips into a ball at their house.
Cast
- Steven Beardas Makepeace - the Preacher
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Marc Norman's screenplay drew Julia Roberts to play Viola, and Edward Zwick hired Tom Stoppard to rewrite it. Roberts insisted that only Daniel Day-Lewis could play Shakespeare; he was uninterested, so she quit six weeks before shooting was to begin.
- Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein took a producer credit on the film himself, and the resulting industry firestorm produced what became known as "the Harvey Rule": to earn a Producers Guild credit, a producer must have performed a real role in making the finished film.
- Shakespeare in Love beat the heavily favoured Saving Private Ryan to win Best Picture at the 71st Academy Awards, becoming the first comedy to take the prize since Annie Hall in 1977.
- Bestselling author Faye Kellerman sued the film's writers in 1999, claiming the plot was stolen from her 1989 novel The Quality of Mercy, in which Shakespeare romances a woman who dresses as a man and tries to solve a murder.
- Kate Winslet was offered the role of Viola after the success of Titanic but turned it down to pursue independent films. Winona Ryder, Diane Lane and Robin Wright were also considered for the lead.
- The project went into turnaround, and the director was unable to persuade other studios to take up the screenplay. Cancelling the film cost Universal $6 million.
- The film was heavily reworked after the first test screenings: the scene of Shakespeare and Viola in the punt was re-shot to make it more emotional, and the ending was re-shot several times until Tom Stoppard thought of Viola suggesting their parting could inspire Shakespeare's next play.
- Prince Edward was originally to be titled Duke of Cambridge on his marriage to Sophie Rhys-Jones, but after watching the film and seeing the Earl of Wessex played by Colin Firth, he asked his mother Queen Elizabeth II for the title of Earl of Wessex instead.
