Kate Winslet in The Widow Claire

An excerpt from an interview with director Robert Altman

May 14, 2004

He even ignored them on the day of this interview. Our talk was preceded by a meeting with some studio bigwigs who will be financing his next film, to be called The Widow Clare and to star Kate Winslet as a recently bereaved wife fending off the advances of young men swarming around in a Deep South town. One of the money-men suggested that it would be nice to have a "good actor" take one of the other parts. Well, of course, responded Altman. But then the guy said that what he really meant was Brad Pitt. And Altman flatly demurred. "He might do it, but I am not going to do it with Brad Pitt, because Brad Pitt destroys the whole thing, because too many people know him. You can't just pull a name out of a hat. Cast Brad Pitt as Charlie, and to the audience he is not Charlie, he is Brad Pitt."

Source: The Independent
     Story submitted by David.

Additional Info

The Widow Claire

The script has been written by Horton Foote and will centre on a young widow during WWII with two young children who is caught between the affections of two men -- a sweet young soldier about to go to war and the town's most sought-after playboy.