Nearly three decades before Hamnet‘s depiction of William Shakespeare’s personal life sparked awards buzz, Oscar voters swooned over a film that showed the Bard as having some swagger.
Shakespeare in Love was set up at Universal in the early 1990s; the studio hired Edward Zwick to direct Marc Norman’s script about the playwright’s fictionalized love affair that led him to pen Romeo and Juliet. Zwick enlisted Tom Stoppard for a rewrite, and Universal accepted the scribe’s $1 million salary request once Julia Roberts was attached to star as Viola. The film had not yet found its Shakespeare when production began in 1991; Daniel Day-Lewis was Roberts’ top choice but passed. Roberts ultimately exited the project, leading Universal to shut down production despite sunk costs of $6 million.
After Zwick’s success with 1994’s Legends of the Fall, Miramax honcho Harvey Weinstein aimed to revive Shakespeare in Love. Weinstein acquired the rights but then hired John Madden to direct, with Zwick retaining a producer credit. Kate Winslet was among those considered for Viola before Gwyneth Paltrow got the gig. Landing the titular role was Joseph Fiennes, whose older brother, Ralph, had previously read for it. Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck and Judi Dench rounded out the cast. “There was a delicate path to tread between the humor — from Shakespearean wordplay to broad slapstick comedy — and the passionate love story,” editor David Gamble tells THR.
Miramax released Shakespeare in Love on Dec. 11, 1998, and it collected $289 million ($575 million today), with THR‘s review calling it “wonderfully entertaining.” Although the movie’s 13 Oscar noms led the field that year, awards pundits were still shocked when it topped Saving Private Ryan for best picture. Weinstein’s aggressive “For Your Consideration” strategy, which helped the film land seven trophies including Paltrow’s best actress win, incited debate and reinvented awards campaigning. It marked the first time an in-house publicist was hired specifically for the awards push, and producer Donna Gigliotti personally wrote 300 invitations to Academy members to attend the film’s premieres.
Shakespeare’s life gets examined in a more somber tone with Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, the current Focus Features release that stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley. As for Shakespeare in Love, Paltrow recently told THR that her Oscar win was “very overwhelming” and added, “When I look back, I can’t believe that was me.”
This story first appeared in a January stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
