Barely three weeks after the death of British lyrical laureate Ted Hughes, an English production company is developing a TV movie about his infamously depressed wife, poet Sylvia Plath, whose 1963 suicide at age 29 created a cult-like following for her writing. Based on the 1991 biography "Rough Magic" by Paul Alexander, the movie will need to cast a pair of impressive leads to emulate the famous literary couple. To help the producers out, we consulted the EW staff. Here are their best suggestions:
Jennifer Jason Leigh and Daniel Day Lewis The queen of moody, self-analytical intensity ("Single White Female") teams up with the king of earnest-yet-troubled heroes ("The Crucible," "The Boxer").
Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson Her knack for playing sexually troubled women ("Boogie Nights") is a good match for his broad shoulders and dead-on English accent.
Renee Zellweger and Vince Vaughn Zellweger has proved that she can play a jaded-but-alluring writer ("One True Thing"), while Vaughn has the jutting jaw line and imposing, Hughes-like height (not to mention the "Psycho" thing).
Kristin Scott Thomas and Ralph Fiennes After their portrayal of a tortured couple in the Oscar-winning "The English Patient," who better to reenact Plath and Hughes' tempestuous transatlantic marriage?
Fiona Apple and Robert DeNiro She's a master of angst-ridden lyrics and can do the sexy, self-absorbed thing like nobody's business. And he can play anyone, right?
