Tribute July 1998 Article

Belle of the Ball
The Glass Slipper Fits

Since the early days of filmaking, dozens of adaptions of the Cinderella story have made it to the big screen. From silent shorts to Walt Disney's Oscar-winning animated classic, the fairy tale penned by French scholar Charles Perrault over 300 years ago has lived on in the fantasy world of cinema.

This summer, Cinderella gets a makeover by director Andy Tennant (Fools Rush In, It Takes Two), who cast beautiful blond Drew Barrymore as the belle of the ball.

In Ever After: A Cinderella Story, Barrymore portrays Danielle, an independant young woman whose life is plagued by drudgery imposed by an evil stepmother (Anjelica Huston). Barrymore's off-screen life is no fairy tale either, having live estranged from her father (actor John Barrymore) and fought drug and alcohol abuse as a teen. But while she may havebeen sidelined by personal struggles, Barrymore was never down for long.

From her first TV commercial at the age of 11 months, Barrymore wanted to act. Her movie debut was Suddenly, Love (where she played a boy) and her first feature film was Altered States. But it was as Gertie in Steven Spielberg's 1982 blockbuster E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial that she was thrust into the spotlight at the age of seven.

It wasn't long before the self-destructive side of Hollywood stardom took control of Barrymore. Many years were spent battling substance abuse and appearing in forgettable films and TV movies.

In 1995, Barrymore returned in fine form with Boys On The Side, followed by Scream (1996) and last year's The Wedding Singer. She takes a somewhat more demure role in the family-friendly romance of Ever After, but expect her sassiness to suit Danielle's modern independant spirit.

As the stepmother Rodmilla, Academy Award-winning actress Anjelica Huston showcases the delightful wickedness tht made The Addams Family and 101 Dalmatians fun for kids of all ages. And what Cinderella tale would be comlete without Prince Charming? Ever After features British actor Dougray Scott (Twin Town) as Prince Henry, who falls for Danielle after a chance meeting, during which she convinces him she's an upper class noblewoman.

Of course, when Prince Henry comes a-courting, Rodmilla is more interested in marrying off Danielle's stepsisters, Marguerite and Jacqueline (Megan Dodds and Melanie Lynskey). In a unusual addition to the tale, Danielle gets help from the world's most famous Leonardo... da Vinci, that is.

Although Ever After was shot in Europe and features regal period costumes (courtesy of Sense and Sensibility's designer Jenny Beavan), it's a film about present-day life, with an emphasise on Danielle's self-determination and the psychological motivations behind the good and evil in everyone.

In a recent interview, Barrymore spoke about the difficulty she had with the role: "Cinderella was a challenge. This was hard for me because I wanted to abolish the old cliches, yet still have a very magical fairy tale."