Madonna’s W.E. ‘Obsession’
In more excerpts from her cover story on Interview magazine reported by Contacmusic.com. Madonna explains how she became ”obsessed” with the script for her movie about the British royal family ‘W.E.’ admitting she has spent more than two years preparing the film, which tells the tale of Britain’s King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne to marry US divorcee Wallis Simpson.
She said: “I’ve been writing it for the last two and a half years, to tell you the truth. It’s been kind of an obsession of mine. I started writing it when I finished filming ‘Filth and Wisdom’.
“It’s set mostly in pre-World War II England-like, 1936 to 1937-and then in New York in 1998. It goes back and forth in time. I use the Sotheby’s auction in 1998 of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s estate as a device to flash backward from.”
Madonna also claims the biopic will have a large budget as it is “about a bunch of rich people”.
She told Interview magazine: “I didn’t realize it when we were writing the script, but once I started casting and planning and working with my production designer, I went, ‘Oh, f**k. I wrote a script about a bunch of rich people. That’s going to be great for the budget.’
“The Duchess has, like, 80 costume changes. She was dressed by Balenciaga and Christian Dior and Vionnet and Schiaparelli. Cartier and Van Cleef and Arpels made most of her jewellery. A lot of the actual stuff is in museum archives.”
Actress Abbie Cornish recently revealed the ‘Celebration’ hitmaker was working hard on the movie.
She said: “She’s studied every aspect of what happened with Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII.
“It’s a fascinating insight into class and romance. Madonna’s created a contemporary woman – who I will play – called Wally, who is fascinated by what happened to Mrs. Simpson.
From Contacmusic.