After I posted last week’s Wall Street Journal review of the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, in which John C. Reilly plays Stanley Kowalski, I got this e-mail from a reader of the blog who is a well-connected theater buff:
I’ve heard that when John C. Reilly was beginning the shoot of CHICAGO with his costars, the producers–Marty Richards and others–wanted to see what
they had before a foot of film was shot. So the cast–Reilly, Zeta-Jones,
Zellweger, Gere–assembled for a run-through in some performance space or
other, and took seats onstage, with the producers down below. Reilly
noticed that Zellweger was REALLY scared; he leaned over and said,
soothingly, “Don’t worry, Renee, it’s just like a play…we’re onstage and
they’re the audience.”
Zellweger looked at him, and said, quivering, “But
I’ve never been in a play!'”
If it’s not true, don’t tell me.