14 DAY TRIAL // Angelina Jolie is currently in Venice, Italy, shooting for “The Tourist,” a film that will also star Johnny Depp. While photos of her on set are emerging online on a daily basis, some fans are outraged she’s been chosen for a part in a film that will only go into production later this year, that of forensic investigator Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the Daily Mail reports.
Dr. Scarpetta is a popular fictional character created by US writer Patricia Cornwell, a well respected author of crime books, which are believed to have inspired some of the most famous crime series now running on TV. She has sold the rights for a long feature adaptation and, as per ongoing reports, plans are in place to make of the first film the basis of a successful and long-lived franchise. Angelina Jolie was chosen as the lead, but fans of the novels fear she might be too “exotic” for how the character was initially conceived.
“Angelina Jolie has sparked fury among the fans of Patricia Cornwell’s bestselling crime novels by being chosen to play its heroine Kay Scarpetta. Many say Jolie is ‘too glamorous’ and ‘exotic’ looking to play the screen version of the medical examiner. The character in 17 best selling books is a petite, middle-aged woman with short blonde hair – much like the 53-year-old author herself,” the Mail reports.
Mrs. Cornwell herself says Jolie was not her first choice but she was more than happy to have her when she heard she was available. “When Angelina came out of the left field last year, I was floored. Angelina had pithy things to say about what she wanted to do,” Mrs. Cornwell says of how the first meeting with Jolie went. “She was direct and goal-oriented. She waited on everyone, getting them their lunch, while her own staff was seated. She was aware intuitively how other people were feeling and wanted to make them comfortable. It was not typical for people of her stature,” the writer adds.
Fans writing on the message boards on Cornwell’s official website, though, are a far cry from seeing things her way. Most of them have read all her books and Jolie is the last person they would see play the main character, because she’s “exotic,” while the forensic specialist has “class,” is “striking” and of an athletic build. A better choice would have been Jodie Foster, they say, as per the above-mentioned publication.