Joan Collins says she regrets turning down Oscar-nominated role to please Warren Beatty
While it may seem far-fetched in today's world for a star to turn down a role to please her man, it wasn't so a few years ago. Recently, in an interview with Town and Country Magazine, former 'Dynasty' star Joan Collins opened up about how she had to reject a role that went on to be an Oscar-nominated one. She turned it down, she said, because she was too wrapped up with the approval of men in her life.
Although it was a miss, the 85-year-old starlet said that she had absolutely no regrets in life. She did feel, however, that she should have played a heavier hand when it came to discussing the script of the 1960 film 'Sons and Lovers'. The black and white British film is an adaptation of the D. H. Lawrence's 1913 novel of the same name. It was adapted by T. E. B. Clarke and Gavin Lambert, directed by Jack Cardiff, and starred Trevor Howard, Dean Stockwell, Wendy Hiller, Mary Ure, William Lucas and Donald Pleasence.
Freddie Francis won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work using CinemaScope on 'Sons and Lovers' and the film received nominations in six additional categories and was entered into the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.
The plot follows a young man with artistic talent who lives in a close-knit, English coal-mining town during the early 20th century finds himself inhibited by his emotionally manipulative, domineering mother.
"I wanted to do it, and I don’t think it was bad," Collins told the magazine, "However, I was living with and engaged to a young actor called Warren Beatty, who said, 'This is absolute c***.' So I turned it down, and Mary Ure did it and was nominated for an Oscar. At that time I was more influenced by men." She also revealed that it wasn't the first time that he had been condescending. He had also not wanted her to be a part of 'The Road To Hong Kong', a 1962 comedy film.
She took it up anyway and although it didn't receive any awards or accolades, it was still very well received by critics. She told the magazine, "'The script was cr*p', he said — 'Why would you want to do it?' 'To get away from you', I replied. It was a sad ending, but I knew that our relationship of almost two years was doomed. Marriage to Warren would never have lasted because he simply loved the ladies too much." The two met in 1959, and they became engaged in the early-1960s, but his infidelity led to their split.
In her autobiography 'Passion for Life' she wrote, "Although I wasn’t madly in love with Warren, he and I were actually very compatible, even if he needed to have sex several times a day, which often wore me out. I once shocked my friend Joanne Woodward — who was married to Paul Newman — by saying I needed a break because the endless bonking was exhausting me. ‘Don’t!’ she warned. ‘If you have a relationship with a libidinous 22-year-old, you’d better let him. Otherwise, he’ll look for other avenues, as it were.’"
Her next big show is 'American Horror Story' which is set to premiere on September 12.