When news broke that a "Gambit" remake was in the works, I could almost feel the collective brows raising among the legions of classic film aficionados.
Granted, said remake has Joel and Ethan Coen behind the script, fresh off their biggest box office success ever with "True Grit," as well as recent Oscar-winner Colin Firth playing Harry Tristan Dean, the role established by treasured thespian Michael Caine. But then came word that Cameron Diaz is playing Nicole Chang, a role that Shirley MacLaine made famous in the 1966 original. Diaz isn't the most obvious successor to MacLaine, sure, but maybe she doesn't need to be.
When I caught up with Diaz recently as she was rushing into the Vanity Fair Oscar party on Sunday, I asked her how prep was going on the film. Our exchange was brief, but she assured me that the "Gambit" remake is very much its own entity -- in other words, don't expect her to channel Shirley MacLaine for her upcoming performance.
You can say this about a lot of the people working in Hollywood, but for Shirley MacLaine, it's absolutely true: the woman is one of a kind. That's not meant in a backhanded way, either; she's one of the true greats, an iconic face in the industry that can't ever be fully replaced.
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