‘It Was a Disaster’: Julia Roberts Quit ‘Shakespeare in Love’ After Awful Chemistry Reads and Cost the Studio $6 Million, Says Producer Ed Zwick

Gwyneth Paltrow won the Oscar for best actress thanks to her role in “Shakespeare in Love,” but it was Julia Roberts who was originally courted for the role of Viola de Lesseps. Producer Edward Zwick recently published a first-person essay for Air Mail about the the making of “Shakespeare in Love.” The director behind “Glory” and “Legends of the Fall” championed the film from the beginning, coordinating with Marc Norman on the original script and getting famed playwright Tom Stoppard to come onboard to do a re-write. Zwick also bore witness to Julia Roberts joining and abandoning the project in… Read Full Article