I’m very much an Angelina Jolie fan. I love her. That’s not news to anyone. But even I can admit that Angelina has some faults. One of those faults? She’s really not very good at accent work. I’ll admit that I didn’t think her English accent – mainly in Lara Croft – was all that bad, but her accent work in Alexander has probably gone down as one of the worst accents in film history. Part of the problems with that film is that no one really knew what Queen Olympias sounded like, so Angelina sort of made it up as she went along and the result was… very hokey. I bring this up because Angelina has apparently bought the rights to a book about Catherine the Great of Russia, likely because Angelina wants to play Catherine. Now think about Angelina doing some kind of old-timey Russian accent. You just cringed, didn’t you?

Angelina Jolie is set to play the nymphomaniac Catherine the Great in a new drama about the Russian empress’s scandalous love life. The Oscar-winner has bought the rights to British historian Simon Sebag Montefiore’s bestselling book about Catherine’s ‘secret’ and very open marriage to the flamboyant and ambitious Grigory Potemkin.

The character is something of a dream come true for Jolie, who has made no secret of her quest for meaty female roles. She played Queen Olympias in Oliver Stone’s 2004 Alexander The Great biopic and the title role in last year’s Maleficent – and has been on the lookout for another regal role ever since. Sebag Montefiore said: ‘I am thrilled that Angelina has optioned the book because it was my first book and it was very much a labour of love. Catherine is the ultimate feminist hero. I feel very safe with Angelina in charge of it.’

His book, Catherine The Great And Potemkin: The Imperial Love Affair, was published in 2000 and drew on 5,000 previously unpublished love letters between the pair. Catherine ascended the Russian throne in 1762 following a coup in which her husband, Tsar Peter III, was murdered. Potemkin was one of the conspirators and Catherine’s enemies always claimed she was involved in the Tsar’s death. The Empress – whose 27-year reign is regarded as a golden era in Russian history – was also a sexually liberated woman who embarked on affairs with countless men. Her enemies used her sexual conquests against her and branded her a nymphomaniac. But the highly educated Catherine was particularly infatuated with Potemkin, with whom she enjoyed secret trysts in the sauna of St Petersburg’s Winter Palace.

The couple, who were alleged to have married in secret, became co-rulers of the Russian Empire.

Sebag Montefiore said: ‘Catherine and Potemkin had history’s greatest love affair. They were both brilliant people who were totally equal and totally balanced. They were the great loves of each other’s lives and, in effect, they were one of the most successful political couples in the whole of history. By comparison, Antony and Cleopatra were a disaster whose relationship ended with failure and suicide.’

He added that Potemkin ‘was a wild character who ruled like a sultan. He travelled with gardens which were planted every night by thousands of serfs’.

How much Jolie’s production company paid for the rights is being kept a commercial secret, but one source described it as a ‘high five-figure sum’.

Jolie was first linked to the role of Catherine the Great in a separate movie mooted more than a decade ago, but that never materialised. And although the actress is being linked to the role in this new production, it is also possible that she might prefer to remain behind the camera as producer. She has already directed two films, including last year’s Unbroken, and she has made no secret of the fact that she is considering giving up acting.

[From The Daily Mail]

So, she might not even star. Although who would play Catherine then? Cate Blanchett? What would it look like to see a Catherine the Great film directed by Angelina and starring La Blanchett? That would be interesting. But if Angelina wants to play Catherine, I suspect she will. I’ve been looking up portraits of Grigory Potemkin to see if I can figure out who I would dream-cast in the role and I’m at a loss. Go here to see what the real Potemkin looked like. Like, Paul Giamatti would play that role in a real-world situation. And yes, I think Giamatti is sexy but I’m obviously very weird. Considering how bloated Leonardo DiCaprio is these days, he could easily play Potemkin. OMG. Jolie and DiCaprio? That would be…??????

Photos courtesy of ‘Alexander’, WENN.