The Blonde Bombshell; Monday – Tuesday, ITV, 9pm.
In the thin-obsessed world of Hollywood, most actresses starve themselves to get the roles they want.
But for Keeley Hawes’ latest role as British film legend Diana Dors, it was all about putting weight on.
Back in the ’50s and ’60s, Diana Dors was Britain’s answer to Hollywood icons Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Betty Grable.
Fifteen years after her death, her amazing and, at times, outrageous life story is being told on screen for the first time in this two- part dramatisation from ITV.
Hawes, first seen as Linda Langer in Dennis Potter’s Karaoke, plays the young Diana and to look as similar to the star as possible, she piled on a stone-and-a-half and relished every minute — and every pound — of it.
“I loved putting on all that weight, ” she laughs. “It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. I had fried breakfasts and three-course location meals every day. And every time we had a coffee break, I ate as many doughnuts as I could manage!”
While the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jennifer Aniston get thinner and thinner and are still touted as among the world’s most beautiful women, Keeley insists that a curvy body is a much sexier one.
“I felt SO much sexier with all those curves. I had spent so much time worrying about my weight as a model that to eat what I wanted was a very liberating experience,” she explains.
“People now expect you to be rake thin yet, in Diana Dors’ day, having a few extra pounds was OK.
“However, as soon as we finished filming I had to try and lose weight for my next role and that was difficult. I couldn’t believe how different the extra pounds made me look.”
As well as piling on the pounds, Keeley’s facial appearance changed as well — with spooky results.
She had her hair bleached white blonde so that her own dark colouring would not show through the wig, and her brown eyes were changed to Diana’s blue with contact lenses.
“When I was first made up as Diana it was quite scary as there was an amazing resemblance,” she says.
“It sent shivers down my spine when I saw myself in the mirror. Pat Hayley, the make-up designer on set, made up Diana years ago and knew exactly how to make me look.”
Beck actress Amanda Redman takes over the lead role from 1964, to Diana’s death at the age of 52, in 1984, in a role she wanted as soon as she put the script down.
Amanda says many people won’t know what an amazing life Diana Dors led: “I knew that Diana Dors was a brilliant actress but, until I read the script, I had no idea just how much she had been through.
“She was a woman with huge strength of character and sense of humour and as soon as I put the script down I knew I wanted to portray her.”
Diana made her screen debut aged 15 and was built up as Britain’s answer to Marilyn Monroe.
In 1956 she won acclaim for her portrayal of murderess Ruth Ellis in Yield To The Night, but threw away her early promise on a failed bid to take on Hollywood.
In her 52 years, her lurid private life, her fight against cancer and her subsequent battle with the bulge were often in the news. Despite a brief revival of her acting career in the early ’70s, she played out her last days as a regular on chat and game shows — and even appeared in the Adam and the Ants pop video for Prince Charming.
Diana married three times, first to Dennis Hamilton, played by Rupert Graves, then to Dickie Dawson (Gary Webster). Her third husband, in whose arms she died and who committed suicide a few months later, was Alan Lake (Barnaby Kay).
By Merle Brown for The Daily Record.
(Source: highbeam.com)