Who's the star of your biopic?

The star of the new film “The King’s Speech” is Colin Firth, playing George VI of England. He doesn’t look anything like the King. He looks better. There’s probably someone on the West End Stage that does resemble George VI but not someone who can open a movie. Helena Bonham Carter plays his wife Queen Elizabeth, who also looks like someone else. Casting is 50% of a production according to Director Peter Bogdanovich and he’s probably right. I just saw “Fair Game” and Sean Penn and Naomi Watts do actually look very similar to the protagonists. But the more important question is: who do we want to play us in our biopic? I would have opted for Gordon MacRae when I was in my 20’s, Marcello Mastroianni when I was in my 40’s and then I’d have to pull a Colin Firth to impersonate me today, when I am a wreck and not screen worthy. Oh well, you can always play your story in your head a lot better than anyone else in the world. There aren’t many roles for the elderly actor. I saw “Ghost Writer” this year and Eli Wallach had a small part. He looked wretched, ill and almost at death’s door. So we can’t go there. Ed McMahon once asked Johnny Carson what he was most afraid of, and Johnny answered, “Abe Vigoda nude”. Frightening!