1. – Kim Basinger, LA Confidental, 1997. Sudden global fame at 25 as a Bond girl – in GoldenEye, 1995 – proved suffocating for the Swedish ex-model and pop singer. She quit showbiz and started a family. “People say I turned down an Oscar but that’s how Kim played it. With me, it might not have been such a good film.”
2. – Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Mask of Zorro, 1998. Penelope Cruz, Swedish model Scorupco and singer Shakira passed after director Robertg Rodriguez and Salma Hayek (hisElena choice) were elbowed out of a much tougher rendition by Columbia… closer to his El Mariachifranchise,also played by Antonio Banderas (and Hayek). Producer Steven Spielberg found Catherine in the 1996 TV mini-series take of Titanic. Izabella’s 007-maker, Martin Campbell, called and she visited Mexico, rehearsed dancing with Antonio Banderas, even dyed her blonde tresses black – “I looked a joke!” Back in Sweden she kept having the same nightmare – “of my agent saying: “I’m dropping you – as you won’t work anymore” Her family gave her a solid base to start from again – in Sweden’s The Diver, 1999.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 2