Dame Barbara Windsor has been asked to do a biopic numerous times over the years.
The legendary actress’ 90-minute drama ‘Babs’ based on her life is set to hit screens this weekend following months in the making, but she has admitted she’d actually been approached with the idea in the past but she turned it down for fear she’d be portrayed badly.
She explained: "It had been mentioned a few times over the years and I thought: ‘Oh I’m not sure.’ as I had all these things in my life like gangsters and I thought: ‘It’s all going to be like that.’ But when Tony Jordan [who wrote the biopic] said: ‘I want to write this for you.’ I agreed because I know him and love him and he’s always gotten me. This is the real me, it’s what people don;t know about me and what made me. Some people I know thought it should be more about my showbiz career and theatre work but that’s showing off. This is warts and all."
The biopic sees Jaime Winstone playing the young version of Barbara when she first enters the world of showbiz at the age of just 13, while Samantha Spiro portrays the older version through her ‘Carry On’ years and then right up to her time in ‘EastEnders’.
Barbara explained to Inside Soap magazine: "They are both amazing and both of them have said to me in their own little ways; ‘You’re not like everyone thinks..’ "
Although she was impressed with the way her life was explored, the 79-year-old actress – who was made a dame last year – tried to stay away because she didn’t want to poke her nose in.
She added: "It’s really weird – I had to stay away a couple of times because you’ve got to let them do it how they see it, although they’ve done extremely well. Of course, there are little things – I would go ‘Daddy didn’t have that much hair, you’ve got him too good looking.’ "
Dame Barbara Windsor asked about biopic in the past
