SOFIA COPPOLA GETS BACKSTAGE PASS TO VERSAILLES FOR MARIE…

(VIDEO) Marie Antoinette writer/director Sofia Coppola got full access to shoot her film in Versailles, France.

Writer director Sofia Coppola wanted to bring the life of Marie Antoinette to the masses in a way that wasn’t an historical lesson but more of fly on the Versailles wall feeling. With that in mind Sofia had backstage access to everything Versailles including the Palace where Marie reigned as Queen of France while married to Louis XVI in the 18th century.

While writing the script which shows a 14 year-old Antoinette played by Kirsten Dunst first arriving in Versailles and ultimately marrying Jason Schwartzman’s Louis XVI, Sofia said she always had her Virgin Suicides star and cousin in her mind the entire time.

“It was incredible that they gave us such access. The directors at Versailles were really encouraging of how we were making the film and liked it was being told from our point of view and they gave us access to all these areas that are usually closed off. So it was pretty impressive for us just to be there and to think that you’re filming scenes of these people’s lives in the real places where they really walked.”

Marie Antoinette opens today in theaters nationwide.rn

“I just pictured Kirsten and Jason when I was writing the script and it helps me to picture how they would react in situations. I thought Jason would bring a lot of humor and heart to the character of Louis XVI. Kirsten had the qualities that she could play the kind of bubbly fun side of Marie Antoinette but then also can be deeper and have a substance that she can have as she evolves into an adult. She has a loveable quality I thought the character needed to have.”