Entertainment Weekly, January 9 2004

EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK

"MYSTERY' GIRL"

An ABC biopic floats its theories about the life and tragic death of Natalie Wood.

"The original thing about this film is that the acting is only one strand of a three stranded piece" says British actress, Justine Waddell (pictured with Michael Wetherly), 27, of Peter Bogdanovich's The Mystery of Natalie Wood, in which she plays the late screen icon. Airing in March, on ABC, the biopic combines original photos, interviews with such peers as West Side Story's George Chakiris, and reenactments of Wood's life and, as the title suggest, eerie death in 1981. Though Waddell nailed the American accent with the help of a dialect coach, singing was another matter. "I sang, and then they dubbed - rather like Natalie" she laughs, referring to Wood's West Side vocal stand-in. "I have my own Marni Nixon."

Missy Schwartz, Entertainment Weekly, January 9 2004