Meet The Real Simone
Is she real, is she fake? The questions are finally answeredThe movie's credits don't include her name. But Rachel Roberts, who makes her film debut playing the title character in Simone, can finally tell the world she's a flesh-and-blood star.
New Line Cinema kept Roberts under wraps for almost two years in hopes of building buzz that Simone was purely a computer concoction.
The film stars Al Pacino as a washed-up director who creates a virtual actress who the public believe is real.
The truth is, Simone is both real and computer-simulated, but the character is mostly Roberts, a Canadian model who has been on the covers of Vogue and Elle and appeared in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.
"There is a real person in there," said Roberts, only recently freed from the studio's gag order, which prevented her from disclosing she's in the film.
For months, internet movie sites have named Roberts as the actress playing Simone.
But the film's production notes exclude her and describe the character largely as a computer amalgam of voices and body parts from other Hollywood leading ladies.
Simone's voice and body were computer-enhanced with elements of other actresses but Roberts is the principal source.
The end credits list "Simone as herself", with no mention of Roberts.
While Pacino and other Simone co-stars did publicity interviews in person, Roberts pre-recorded responses that were played for reporters on a TV monitor.Concealing Roberts' identity as a marketing gimmick fit the themes of the movie, which satirises Americans' obsession with celebrities.
After Simone leaves cinemas, Roberts' name will be added to the credits when the film comes out on video, "so I'll be able to prove it was really me for posterity's sake," she said.
