There was a time in the 1980s and early 1990s when Princess Diana of Wales was one of the most famous people in the world. Diana Frances Spencer came from British nobility but it was her classic beauty that struck a cord all over the world.
But on August 31, 1997, Diana was tragically killed in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, France because she was fleeing aggressive paparazzi.
Before her untimely and unexpected sudden death, however, you might be shocked to learn Princess Diana almost starred in the sequel to this early 1990s smash hit romance movie.
The most bizarre thing is how so many people think they can be a movie star – or worse, just wanting to be taken seriously as an actor with zero experience in the field. It’s almost as narcissistic as most movie stars.
Every year tens of thousands of “wannabe” actors move to Los Angeles or New York City – giving it a go in the film and television industry to see whether their future career as a big-time Hollywood player was either a premonition or a delusion.
Even famous athletes and musicians have tried to make that unsuccessful broad jump to Hollywood thinking they can be the next big thing. Howie Long, Shaquille O’Neal, Britney Spears, Mos Def, LL Cool J, 50 Cent and a slew of others all tried their hand in the business with only moderate success at best.
To be fair, Dwayne Johnson, Ice Cube, Donald Glover and maybe the most famous of all time, Will Smith, had enormous success going from their respective industry to Hollywood.
But when you hear how Princess Diana almost starred in the sequel to the 1992 box-office romance movie, “The Bodyguard,” starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston – it will likely make you do a double take at this information.
Princess Diana of Wales almost made a debut as a movie star?
That’s odder than hearing anybody else tried.
Kevin Costner revealed on People’s “Couch Surfing” to promote the second season of his Paramount Television show “Yellowstone,” and said she was interested in starring as the female lead – the connection was being orchestrated through Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
Costner noted Sarah “was really important” to the process. He said, “I always respect Sarah because she’s the one that set up the conversation between me and Diana. She was the one that set it up, and she never said, ‘Well, what about me? I’m a princess too.’ She was just so supportive of the idea.”
The “Field of Dreams” star claims Diana agreed to let him write the sequel for her first acting role, but still had some concerns.
He recalled, “I just remember her being incredibly sweet on the phone, and she asked the question, she goes, ‘Are we going to have like a kissing scene? She said it in a very respectful way. She was nervous because her life was very governed. And I said, ‘Yeah, there’s going to be a little bit of that, but we can make that OK too.’”
This isn’t the first time Costner alleged this story.
In 2012, Costner told Anderson Cooper, “Diana and I had been talking about doing ‘Bodyguard 2,’ I told her I would take care of her just the same way that I took care of Whitney.”
A studio would’ve probably required her to take extensive acting classes before Princess Diana would’ve been allowed to helm the role.
1992s “The Bodyguard,” made $411 million worldwide, which was absolutely enormous and there’s no way a studio and producers would allow her to just walk in and stink up the place, regardless of her status as Princess Diana.