NadiaComaneci.com

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Ron Howard's "Imagine Entertainment" company has secured the rights to remake MGM's 1939 classic, "Gone With the Wind."  Perhaps his biggest movie risk since "The Grinch," Howard has decided to go with an international star for the role of southern bell, Scarlett O'Hara, immortally portrayed by Vivian Leigh. But this "international star" is not whom anyone would expect.

Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian dynamo of the 1976 Olympics, now an American citizen living in Norman, Oklahoma, and married to gymnast Bart Conner, has been pegged by Howard as the female lead.  Rhett Butler, also immortalized by Clark Gable, has yet to be cast.

Miss Comaneci has never appeared in a motion picture before.  Her only acting role came as a cameo in the TV series, "Touched By an Angel."  But Howard had Nadia in mind before that 1997 appearance.

"I met Nadia in person in Atlanta just prior to the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics," explains Howard.  "She certainly has the charm needed for this role (Scarlett), and a whimsical sense of humor that I plan to bring out."

Asked whom would play opposite Nadia, Howard isn't sure yet.  "Alec Baldwin is our top choice, but there are commitment issues," Howard says. "He's got the right leading man look, and is the perfect height for Nadia," Howard laughs. He shows the classic photo of Gable and Leigh embracing. "That's the fit I'm looking for."

Asked if Nadia's husband, Bart Conner, was in the running, Howard shakes his head. "Too short."

News of Ron Howard's choice of Nadia spread fast throughout Tinsel Town, bringing a lot of shocked wonderment from studio execs.

"If it was anyone other than Howard, I would have shut the project down and fired him," says one studio head anonymously.  But others were not shy to go on record.

"This could be his 'Howard the Duck'," says Star Wars creator George Lucas. 

Steven Spielberg has a "wait and see" attitude. "Ron's work is exemplary and solid. If he believes Nadia has that kind of potential, than I'm thrilled for both of them."

Hollywood megastar, and friend of Nadia's, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was also thrilled, but surprised. "If I had known she had acting aspirations, I would have used her in my new 'Terminator 3' movie, which by the way, comes out this summer."

But it's Nadia's eastern European accent that is the centerpiece of this casting controversy.

"I knew that would be everyone's thought," says Howard. "Nadia will be spending many hours with a dialogue coach. Anyway, her soft voice has its own elegance."

Marina Sirtis, well known on the Paramount lot, is already on staff as Nadia's dialogue coach. 

"Nadia certainly has the desire to learn. And working with me is like working with a coach of a sport. It's practice, practice, practice," explains Sirtis.

"What accent?" says Schwarzenegger.

Principal filming is set to start in May and wrap up in August for a Summer 2004 release. No specific date is set.

"I'm hoping to tie the promotion with the 2004 Olympics in Greece," says Howard. "It's too bad this project wasn't going eight years ago. 'Gone With the Wind' and the Atlanta Games in Georgia would have been perfect."

But that would have been prior to Howard meeting Nadia. Who would have been Scarlett then?

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Copyright, had this been a real article, 2003 Associated Press. All rights kinda waved at this point.  This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten, or distributed (Nor shou