On-Set Details That Show Why Myra Breckinridge Is One Of The Wildest Movies Ever Made
Myra Breckinridge is widely considered to be one of the worst movies in cinematic history. Based on a book by Gore Vidal, it tells the story of a man who becomes a woman. Unfortunately, though, critics didn’t think the film did this very well. And over the years, the cast and crew have spoken up about the chaos that took place behind the scenes. Looking back at star Raquel Welch’s life following her death in February 2023, this strange and almost career-ruining movie becomes all the more interesting.
1. Raquel Welch wanted to be taken seriously
Before <em>Myra Breckinridgeem>, Raquel Welch was most famous as the bikini-clad sex symbol of <em>One Million Years B.C. But the former weather girl and beauty queen wanted to be taken more seriously as an actress, and she was looking for a more challenging role in which to do this. Then along came <em>Myra Breckinridgeem>. And given the movie’s serious subject matter, Welch thought this could be the role that would change her career path.
“I wasn’t just a body and a face”
Welch explained to Vanity Fair in 2001 why she thought playing Myra Breckinridge was going to be perfect. “I thought if I played an erudite, articulate person who was multifaceted and who was struggling between the masculine and the feminine sides of his/her nature that this was a great opportunity to do lots of amazing things as an actress,” she said. “I was really attuned to the fact that I really needed to do something that showed that I had more ability than I was given credit for at that time — that I wasn’t just a body and a face.” Unfortunately, the film bombed.
2. A transgender woman wanted to play Myra
A transgender woman auditioned for the part of Myra Breckinridge, but ultimately she lost out to Welch. Candy Darling, a friend of famous artist Andy Warhol, badly wanted the role. But she didn’t succeed, something that she always lamented. Perhaps if the movie was being made today, things would have turned out differently.
The one that got away
In Warhol’s 1980 memoir POPism – the Warhol 60s, he wrote of his friend, “Candy suffered a big disappointment in ’69. In fact, she never got over it… Poor Candy wrote [to the casting directors] begging them to please, please reconsider. She knew that if there was ever going to be a role in Hollywood, for a drag queen, this was it.”
