Jackie Bisset is Jackie O... Again!
Back in 1978, Jacqueline Bisset co-starred with Anthony Quinn in The Greek Tycoon, a soapy movie featuring them as Jackie and Ari Onassis facsimiles. "They said it wasn't Jackie for reasons of legality," she slyly tells TV Guide Online. "So I made no attempt to play her. I just... suggested her." Now, Bisset's playing the real deal in America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story (Sunday at 8 pm/ET on TBS).
Fortunately, she's held onto a crucial wardrobe item all these years — and it's classic Jackie O. "I actually have the sunglasses that were made for her by Halston, from when I did [Greek Tycoon]," she reveals. "I'd just given away eight pairs of them to a charity thing, but I kept two pairs for a keepsake. Then, I got the part [in America's Prince], and it felt like a real link!
"This time," she adds, "it was like playing her for the first time because I had a deeper appreciation for her. I think she was an incredibly dignified creature, with so much strength and refinement, yet so much vulnerability and humor."
Speaking of funny, Bisset and Jonathan Winters just wrapped an indie flick called Swing. She plays a swing-dancing angel! "This was fun. No more long suffering Biblical women," she laughs. "There was a period where I was playing all these saintly roles like Joan of Arc's mother and Jesus's mother. The robes are off!
"I also did Latter Days, directed by C. Jay Cox, who wrote Sweet Home Alabama," Bisset says. "I play a woman who owns a restaurant off Sunset Blvd., where young people come. And Sleepytime Gal is coming out [Jan. 21] on DVD! I'm thrilled it'll get seen with a good image. It's one of the best parts of my life."
