Ewan McGregor and Vera Farmiga have respectively turned down and exited leading roles in Madonna’s upcoming sophomore directorial effort, period drama “W.E.,” with the production now in a state of chaos.
The two thesps were being lined up to play King Edward VIII and socialite-turned-Duchess Wallis Simpson but are now no longer on board, with McGregor’s exit likely coming as less of a surprise as he was never officially on board in the first place. Farmiga, meanwhile, has reportedly left her post citing “family reasons” despite the fact she has recently announced a new pregnancy which rules her out of this and puts in doubt the likes of a leading role in indie-western “A Thousand Guns” and her own directorial debut/starring vehicle “Higher Ground” which were scheduled for later this year.
Reports from the production also note that Oscar-winning producer David Parfitt (“Shakespeare In Love”) and casting director Nina Gold have exited as well citing creative differences stemming from Madonna’s alleged meddling ways and inability to “collaborate and delegate.” If true, perhaps this played a part in why McGregor isn’t involved anymore — either way, the production does look to be in dire straits.
“W.E.” tells the parallel stories of the affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson which led to the royal’s abdication and the contemporary story of a woman, Wally Winthrop, with romantic problems of her own, in addition to an obsession with the life of the Duchess of Windsor.
Poor Abbie Cornish is now by herself seemingly still attached to star as Winthrop who, in one instance in the film, will reportedly be visited by an apparition of the Duchess of Windsor who then proceeds to rock out “with her pugs, to the Sex Pistols’ songs ‘Anarchy In The UK’ and ‘God Save The Queen.'” Christ, this sounds ridiculous — someone, please, help Madonna make this happen for entertainment’s sake.
Shooting was originally slated for this summer in London, New York and the French Riviera but, all things considered, that may no longer be a realistic start date.
