THE FINAL INSULT! MY MOVIE DOUBLE WAS A B-LISTER
INEVITABLY, in 2005, there was a movie done of the lives of Conrad and Barbara, which, having lived them, would, I thought, be a hacking great bore. Can’t wait to see what I look like, I thought, and then: No, I really can wait — forever. They were shooting in Toronto with Lara Flynn Boyle playing, as it turned out, a totally humourless me, who in the film never actually sits down and writes columns, only struts, sticks her foot in faces for her at-home pedicures, and sometimes takes time off to pluck eyebrows (I wish I had them to pluck). [American Vogue editor] Anna Wintour phoned almost immediately. Meryl Streep would be playing her in The Devil Wears Prada. ‘You’ve got the A-list star,’ I said. ‘Mine’s a B-list.’ Yes, she said, but both Meryl and herself were nine years younger than me, while Lara Flynn Boyle was 30 years younger. I didn’t quite see the relevance, but I think it was complimentary. I supposed this was the new status game: who’s playing you in the biopic? Made for TV or general release?