MEMPHIS -- What Hollywood is calling "the Judith Miller movie" is now filming on location here, but prepare yourselves: Some changes are being made to the story inspired by the outing of a CIA agent.
For starters, in the movie Judith Miller is no longer Judith Miller of the New York Times, but Rachel Armstrong of the Washington Capital Sun. And while the real Judith Miller may be remembered as a stylish, slightly scary reporter of 59, headed off to jail in a quilted black jacket and tortoise-frame sunglasses, in the movie she is a sizzling Kate Beckinsale, 34, dressed in a, shall we say, form-fitting skirt.
Trust us, if this Rachel Armstrong had asked I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby how to spell Valerie Plame's name, he would have taken pen in hand. (Miller famously wrote in her notebook "Valerie Flame.")
"People could say Kate is too good-looking to be a reporter," admits Rod Lurie, the writer and director of the independently financed film.
Excerpt:
How would Beckinsale describe her character? "She's a working mom. Her marriage is in a lull. Her husband is a novelist, and there are issues of professional jealousy. And this is the biggest story of her career," says Beckinsale between scenes, in a slight British accent that she loses to play Armstrong. "I think, yes, she is a good journalist," and here Beckinsale gives us a throaty laugh, "given that I've always seen you people as the enemy."
