One was a marketing genius who inspired housewives to earn their own money through Tupperware parties; the other was the shrewd inventor of the self-wringing mop and space-saving clothes hangers. Brownie Wise and Joy Mangano were both trailblazing businesswomen who reached the top of their professions through hard work, talent and charisma.
Their unusual life stories are being brought to the big screen in separate films, already being billed as the battle of the domestic goddesses, with two of the most respected actresses in Hollywood playing the roles.
Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Lawrence will be competing to see who can best portray these real-life heroines. Lawrence is in Boston filming Joy, a comedy-drama that charts the meteoric career of Mangano, a single mother of three, who has patented more than 100 inventions, including her famous mop.
Already there have been reports of tension between the Hunger Games actress and the film’s director, David O Russell, over the way the inspiring story should be told. “He was screaming at her, she was screaming at him,” an eyewitness told the New York Post, saying that the air rang with profanities. Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein was also reportedly asked to leave because his presence was a distraction.
The 24-year-old Oscar winner went on Facebook last week to deny the reports. “This movie is going great and I’m having a blast making it!” she wrote.
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