The “Jackie” Camelot myth was teased out this week by Natalie Portman, who will be playing former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the new film, which hits theaters in December.
Portman revealed in a Tuesday NBC "Today" show interview how Jackie Kennedy created the “Camelot” myth after her husband's death and not before, as commonly thought.
“Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot,” Kennedy infamously said in an interview with Life magazine a week after the assassination. “There will be great presidents again. But there will never be another Camelot.”
“Not only did she cement it, but she came up with the term itself,” Portman said of the former first lady comparing her and her husband’s tenure in the White House to King Arthur’s. “Which is so wild, to name yourself as the queen and king of this nation; it’s not a royal government, not a monarchy.”
Jackie Kennedy became widely known for her bold move following her husband’s assassination in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963. President Kennedy was shot as he and his wife rode in a motorcade.
Despite his blood covering Jackie’s classic pink Chanel suit, she insisted on keeping it on following her husband’s assassination.
“She had the presence of mind to say, ‘I’m going to stay in this dress, because my image is important right now,’” said Portman. “'It’s important for people to see what this looks like.’ And so they were offering to take off this bloody dress, this bloody suit, and she said, ‘No, everyone should see what this is.’”
Jacqueline died in 1994, but is known today as “one of the most famous, photographed women in the world,” according to the New York Post.
The new biopic “Jackie,” by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain, stars Portman in the lead role as it places a focus on the days that followed Kennedy’s assassination.
“It seemed as if the world had tilted off its axis,” screenwriter Noah Oppenheim, recounting the effects of Kennedy’s assassination, told The Boston Globe. In referring to Kennedy’s inner circle, Oppenheim said, “They didn’t know if it was the first shot in the coup. They had no idea what was going on.”
“Jackie” will debut in select cities starting Dec. 2.
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