Trivia / Vivien Leigh

• Approval of God: Although Jessica Tandy had played Blanche in the original run of A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams gave Vivien plenty of praise for her work in the film version, saying she brought to the role "everything I had intended and much that I had never dreamed of."
• Contractual Obligation Project: She had to make That Hamilton Woman to finish off her contract with Alex Kourda.
• Creator Breakdown:
  • During filming of Caesar and Cleopatra, she discovered she had been pregnant and later suffered a miscarriage when she accidentally slipped during an energetic scene. She fell into a deep depression over it, and production was delayed for five weeks.
  • She also struggled not to get Lost in Character when playing Blanche DuBois, later saying that the role "tipped me over into madness."
  • Her final film Ship of Fools was made while in the throngs of illness, and had many outbursts on set, although most of the cast and crew were sympathetic to her struggles.
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Of all her films, she felt Waterloo Bridge was her favourite.
• Dawson Casting:
  • A justified example in Gone with the Wind. She was 25 playing Scarlett at 16 in the opening, but she also plays her across several years, and their ages match by the end.
  • She was 31 in Caesar and Cleopatra, and Cleopatra was 20 at the time the movie takes place.
• Fake American: She was British but is remembered for playing two iconic Southern Belles - Scarlett O'Hara and Blanche DuBois.
• Friendship on the Set:
  • In spite of the gossip columnists reporting that her and Clark Gable were hostile on the set of Gone with the Wind, they were actually friends and found the rumours so funny that they greeted each other every day with "how are you not getting on today?"
  • And in heavy contrast to their characters in A Streetcar Named Desire, she and Marlon Brando became good friends during filming too. He admitted to having a crush on her but didn't pursue an affair out of respect for Laurence Olivier.
  • Although she initially got off on the wrong foot with Lee Marvin on Ship of Fools (complaining about his breath), they soon became unlikely good friends.
• Hostility on the Set:
  • She often quarrelled with Victor Fleming after he replaced George Cukor on Gone with the Wind over differing interpretations on how she should play the role - and she and Olivia de Havilland would often meet Cukor at night and on weekends for his advice on how to play their characters. On the same production, she often clashed with the famously prickly Leslie Howard.
  • Initially Elia Kazan disliked her while filming A Streetcar Named Desire, as he favoured Jessica Tandy instead and disliked the interpretation Vivien had picked up from playing Blanche in the West End version, as well as not thinking her much of a talent. However, as filming progressed, he became very impressed by her work ethic and the commitment she brought to the role.
  "She'd have crawled over broken glass if she thought it would help her performance."
• I Am Not Spock: As it was her breakout role, and she didn't do as many films afterwards, she is remembered best for playing Scarlett O'Hara. She was even cast in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire because Elia Kazan wanted to present it as "what if Scarlett O'Hara lost her mind?"
• Reality Subtext: Some of her roles, such as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire and Ophelia in Hamlet, struggled with mental illness; eerily paralleling her own struggle with bipolar disorder.
• Romance on the Set: Her and Laurence Olivier began an affair while filming Fire Over England, while both of them were married to other people.
• Star-Derailing Role: Caesar and Cleopatra flopped due to a Hollywood boycott of British films at the time, and the similarly badly received Anna Karenina saw her choosing to focus on stage work until her Career Resurrection in A Streetcar Named Desire.
• Star-Making Role: While she had done a few films in the UK, and would have been known as the girlfriend of Laurence Olivier, it's safe to say that she was an unknown in Hollywood by the time of Gone with the Wind. The Oscar win made everyone know who she was.
• Underage Casting: She was only 36 in A Streetcar Named Desire and wore makeup to look older.
• What Could Have Been:
  • She really lobbied for the lead role in Rebecca and did a screen test with Laurence Olivier, but was turned down for being 'too strong', and the role went to Joan Fontaine.
  • She also wanted to star in Pride and Prejudice (1940) again alongside Laurence Olivier, but the part was given to Greer Garson.
  • After Joan Crawford was fired from Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Vivien was one of the actresses asked to replace her, but she turned it down. Olivia de Havilland filled the role.
  • Katharine Hepburn was cast in the lead role for Ship of Fools, but dropped out to care for Spencer Tracy when he fell ill.