Nicole Kidman to Play Grace Kelly in Grace of Monaco? Really?

Nicole Kidman is in talks to play Grace Kelly in 'Grace of Monaco,' a smaller production helmed by 'La Vie en Rose's' director Oliver Dahan. The story takes place in 1962, when Kelly helps keep her husband - the Prince of Monaco - from being ousted. Kelly would be 33 in the story, Kidman is currently 44.

Grace Kelly was a movie star, and one of the biggest until she quit acting in 1956. That year she got married to the Prince of Monaco, to whom she stayed married until her untimely death in 1982 (car accident). She was a blond ice princess for Alfred Hitchcock, and - though fine as an actress - made more of an impression due to her looks than her talents. But she could be used well.

Kidman looks nothing like her and is way too old for the part, but - to be fair - is a much better actress. It's not worth knocking Kidman's obvious plastic surgery, but this miscasting may speak more to the lack of starlets who look like Kelly and how few are both talented and/or bankable. It's hard to say there's a better actress for the part, though in situations like this it's nice if there is a cursory resemblance. Then again, Kelly stopped making movies over half a century ago and the audience for this may have never seen one of her films. The news broke at Variety.