BBC Two’s upcoming docudrama The Girl, chronicles Alfred Hitchcock’s relationship with his star of The Birds, Tippi Hedren. In 1962 many people would say that Hitchcock was at the height of his career and creativity. He chose an unknown fashion model to play the main character in his most ambitious film, The Birds. Hitchcock was known for sculpting his actresses into the perfect blondes of his imagination but as he was doing this for Hedren he became obsessed with this impossible dream of winning her real love. Because of his failure to do so, it is said that it arguably destroyed both of their careers.
Hedren agreed to be interviewed by writer Gwyneth Hughes for the making of this film. In a statement Hughes said:
“It’s been the most enormous privilege to talk at length to Tippi Hedren, the last ‘Hitchcock blonde’ in the life of Britain’s most original and successful film director. At the time, in the early 1960s, the American star suffered in silence. But now, at the age of 81, her wisdom and insights have helped me to put her real life ordeal on to the screen.”
When this film was first announced I was extremely excited for it because Hitchcock is one of my all time favorite directors and getting an inside look at the directors obsessions is absolutely fascinating to me. The first image of the film has released of Toby Jones as Hitchcock and Sienna Miller as Hedren and while Miller fits the role perfectly, Jones leaves something to be desired. Don’t get me wrong, Toby Jones is a brilliant actor and I believe he will nail this role perfectly but he just doesn’t fit that iconic image of Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock’s face is so known throughout the world that obviously it would be extremely difficult to find an actor that not only looks like him but can act as well. The release of this image has some fans upset because Jones doesn’t “look the part” and while I can understand their frustration, people need to be realistic. Jones was chosen to take this role for a reason and once this film releases fans will see why. He’s a fantastic actor playing one of cinema’s greatest directors, I only see good things.
As always, thanks for reading.
