Shopgirl

Shopgirl (2005)

Mirabelle is a disenchanted salesgirl and aspiring artist who sells gloves and accessories at a department store. She has two men in her life: wealthy divorcée Ray Porter and struggling musician Jeremy. Mirabelle falls in love with the glamorous Ray, and her life takes a magical turn, but eventually she realizes that she must empower herself and make a choice between them.

Date of release
2005-10-21
TMDB
5.8 / 10 (291)
Runtime
1h 44m
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director
Anand Tucker

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Shopgirl
  • Filmed in: Los Angeles and California

Shopgirl is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Anand Tucker and starring Steve Martin, Claire Danes, and Jason Schwartzman. The screenplay by Martin is based on his 2000 novella. The film follows a complex love triangle between a disenchanted salesgirl, a wealthy businessman, and an aimless young man.

Production

In Steve Martin's original novella, Mirabelle was employed by Neiman Marcus. According to Evolution of a Novella: The Making of Shopgirl, a bonus feature on the DVD release, Saks Fifth Avenue actively pursued participation in the film by presenting a proposal to the producers and director and promising full cooperation with filming schedules. The gloves in the counter are not from Saks, but a boutique in Toronto, where part of the film was shot.

According to Martin's 2007 memoir Born Standing Up, there are many parallels to his own life. Early in his career, he lost a girlfriend to an older, suave gentleman resembling Ray Porter, real-life Mason Williams. Williams had a house that matches the description of Ray Porter's: it overlooked Los Angeles from roughly the same vantage point and the descriptions of the two houses are the same.

In addition, Mirabelle is partially based on artist Allyson Hollingsworth, who was a consultant for the film and had a relationship with Martin in the 1990s. Photographs and drawings attributed to Mirabelle in the film are by Hollingsworth.

Martin had Tom Hanks in mind for the role of Ray Porter at the time he was writing the screenplay, but director Anand Tucker felt that Martin was so close to the material and had such a strong understanding of the character that Martin should play the part himself. After auditioning numerous actresses, he knew Claire Danes was perfect for the role of Mirabelle as soon as she began reading lines with Martin.

The apartment building used for Mirabelle's residence is located at 1630 Griffith Park Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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