She played the skittish young secretary alongside Tom Cruise. The American actress is working with a dialogue coach on the script written by Richard Curtis, the British writer of Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Working Title, the British production company run by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner who have made most of Curtis's films, are making this one. Fielding herself has stayed close to the project from the outset. Unusually, she will co-produce the project.
Most authors have very little to do with film versions of their work.
Everett has bought the film rights to a book by Englishman Ian Ross, who spent several years as butler in Los Angeles. The proudly homosexual Everett, who gave an excellent performance in An Ideal Husband, is currently starring in The Next Best Thing alongside his confidant, Madonna. The pair have become the millennial odd couple, and their friendship is the most talked-about relationship in Hollywood. The Next Best Thing is about a yoga teacher, played by Madonna, and her relationship with her waggish gay friend, Everett. She has a baby by him and they form an unorthodox family.