Tuesday Trivia: Becky Knocked Up

I’m feeling especially curious this summer, so I am introducing a new feature to FI: Tuesday Trivia. This will just be a weekly tidbit of obscure, interesting, or funny information about a random costume drama, particularly the more recent films. Let’s start with my favorite 19th-century movie of all and the inspiration for this blog’s theme, Vanity Fair.

 

If Reese Witherspoon looks particularly glowing in Vanity Fair 2004, it’s because she was pregnant with her second child during the filming. According to director Mira Nair, that’s just the effect she was looking for.

Nair recalls, “I am not a fan of underfed Los Angeles actresses so the year before we began filming, I had dinner at her home and told her husband to knock her up… and he did.

“It had a wonderful effect on her luminosity and womanliness. In those days the dresses had plunging necklines. It was the bosom that I wanted and I certainly got that.” (Source)

 LOL.

And in case it slipped past you, yes, that is Becky Sharp’s “luminous” bosom gracing FI’s header. You can see the full shot at Vanity Fair’s website, in the wallpapers, under “Downloads.”

~ by Lady Ashley on June 23, 2009.