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UPDATED WEDNESDAY AM: Bette Midler has released this statement about exiting HBO’s Phil Spector biopic because of a herniated disc that may need surgery: “I am heartbroken to be forced to leave this terrific project, working with David Mamet & Al Pacino was a dream of mine; but the pain I am in has made my participation impossible. My heartfelt thanks to everyone for their kind understanding.”
EXCLUSIVE, TUESDAY PM: Today HBO Films’ Phil Spector biopic suspended production when co-star Bette Midler did not appear on set to begin filming scenes. The movie had been shooting for six days and Midler had appeared on three of them. Sources tell me she has a herniated disc and pulled out because of “doctor’s orders.” Two hours after call writer/director David Mamet addressed the crew saying that HBO and the insurance company were looking at recasting the part. HBO has confirmed to me it will. Midler had been about to play Linda Kenney Baden, a defense attorney who represented the music producer Spector (played by Al Pacino) during his first trial for murder. Barry Levinson is executive producing the film, which revolves around the relationship between Spector and Baden.
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That’s a shame, since Midler is a force to be reckoned with acting-wise. Hope she gets better soon.
It’s a nice excuse, but the crew knows otherwise…
It was a tough three days for ol’ Bette.
Montreal Tall there always has to be one nasty comment from one nasty person and yours is it if you have nothing nice to say please keep your Nasty mouth shut if you had some class you would know that your comments are out of line its apparent that your a low life know it all drama queen with no class please dont give me some BS excuse that your on the set or whatever your comments are not needed
that is very terrible are you her doctor?. awe should always say nice things about each other or be silent.
As they say, fishy.
Annnnnnnd… the dog ate my homework. Yes, on the night before it was due.
You calling me a liar?
That’s crazy! Good for her though…
Well, she is 65, but it would have been nice if she had called Mamet to tell him she was having trouble instead of leaving everyone standing around.
Kathy bates is a good replacement for midler in that role
Or possibly Marsha Mason.
Yes, Yes! Have loved Marsha since Goodbye Girl.
I was just watching Sister Act. Man does that movie seem like it would have been great with Midler. In some alternate universe…
Actually, back when the film first came out, I understand that the screenwriter originally wrote it with Bette Midler in mind … After the script then went through the meat grinder of add’l writers and then cast with Whoopi Goldberg, that original writer — Paul Rudnick — had his credited name replaced with the pseudonym “Joseph Howard.”
Kathy Bates won’t be any option with Harry’s Law starting production on Season 2.
Maybe she read Mamet’s new book – a madman’s diatribe against every sympathetic and/or generous instinct known to man (or, if you prefer, liberalism) – and decided she didn’t want to be the same room with him.
Bette Midler is way past her prime and hasn’t had a decent role in decades. I doubt she pulled out because of David Mamet’s rational conversion to conservatism. The predecessor to his new book, “The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture” was a Village Voice essay from 2008 titled, “Why I Am No Longer a Brain-Dead Liberal.” He is regarded as a brilliant writer and pulling out of the production is totally her loss. It won’t be hard to find a better actress to take on that role.
Nice plug, Dave.
Oh, oh, when right wing nuts inject politics into a Tom Hanks/Julia Roberts discussion it’s all sighs and get real. But it’s okay to turn a story about an actress missing a call into a heroine fighting for progress just because Mamet stopped being a beatnik?!
Really? That’s all you got?
Wow. You totally wasted Mamet!
No kidding. That book reveals Mamet to be evil.
Uh ….brilliant.
SHE’S A NIGHTMARE. I had a wonderful client who worked with her once years ago, he adored her – by the end of the job, he felt she was a lunatic, evil, monster who wrecked havoc to and fro – I’m just sayin’…
Sorry to hear that Bette Midler has decided to throw her career back out the window.
Tyne Daly? On broadway now tho. Patti LuPone? Glenn Close?
If not kathy bates then candice bergen would be great for that role
Yes, if only Candice Bergen could act . . .
There’s something odd about this. Odd nothing was picked up in the pre-production insurance physical.
Isn’t this the “Spector-is-Innocent” movie? If so, well there’s another reason…
David Mamet should cast Ann Coulter in Midler’s part. Not only is he a raving right-wing lunatic, a Palin groupie and Beck’s water delivery boy, but he also recently announced that Specter is innocent. Period. No arguments, no explanations. Because he is Mamet… Good for Midler.
Maybe she has a herniated disc and can’t work.
There are many talented actors out there who can take her place.
I am looking forward to this movie.
Good for Midler. Mamet is a maniac, and so is Spector. Who wants to touch that awful project?
Bette is pro all the way — she must’ve been in serious conflict to bail. Tovah Feldshuh? Unlikely? Yeah, sure but she’s pretty damned great btw.
Bette needs to take more acting roles. She’s an on-screen dynamo.
A dynamo? You can’t be serious. Her recent roles included a small part in the wretched remake of the George Cukor classic, “The Women,” a small part in the forgettable remake of “The Stepford Wives,” the failed television series, “Bette,” plus other less-than-memorable roles in “Isn’t She Great,” “Drowning Mona,” and “That Old Feeling.” You have to go all the way back to 1996 to find the marginally entertaining, “The First Wives Club.” Before that it was another run of box office snore fests including, “Hocus Pocus,” “For the Boys,” “Scenes From a Mall,” and “Stella.” You have to go all the way back to the 1980s to find and decent roles. She’s nothing but a big-mouthed, has-been Las Vegas performer at this point in her career.
Hmmmm…Jessica Lange could do it. At least she would show up. Bad form Bette. Maybe this is why she hasn’t been in a film since 2008.
It might also have something to do with that Las Vegas show she was performing for those two years.
Sympathetic? Generous? Don’t you mean leeches? How about thieves? Or anarchists? Maybe you mean boorish. Or is it elitism? No, I got it, you meant imbecilic. Wait, wait it’s morons. These are all adjectives to describe liberalism.
If you had your way I’m sure, you wouldn’t even be able to say that on here. Or anywhere for that matter. What kind of society do you get when everyone’s been made a muted slave without freedom? Oh wait, I think I know…. Good thing I won’t be living in your country if and when you nutjobs finally take over. Your brand of “conservatism” spreads like a plague…. I don’t even understand how politics find their way into these types of articles anyway. What does this have to do with Bette Midler? The call and response between the two sides would be amusing if it wasn’t so sad.
Elizabeth Perkins? Think “weeds”
Maybe she finally sat down and read the script.
This movie should never be made except for Len Amato’s outdated crushes on Pacino and Mamet. Amato is so 1980′s.