MovieChat Forums > The Black Dahlia (2006) Discussion > Hillary Swank (Madeline) looks nothing l...

Hillary Swank (Madeline) looks nothing like Black Dhalia (Mia Kerschner)

posted 10 years ago by Hippo9
19 replies | jump to latest

The Madeline character is supposed to be a dead ringer for the Elizabeth Short/Black Dhalia character. Yet Swank and Kerschner do not look alike. This is probably the biggest flaw in the movie as you have to suspend reality to go along with the plotline that they look identical. Hartnett's character falls for Madeline/Swank because she looks just like the Black Dhalia/kerschner who he is obsessed with. DePalma must be off his rocker to make such a critical mistake.

[–] henrimaine 8 years ago

Funny thing: after the scene where the police officer (Josh Hartnett) spots a blonde girl in the park, chases her down and takes her to the police station, I thought this blonde girl was supposed to be the one resembling Hillary Swank. The same girl also did these lesbian scenes with Elizabeth Short. The actress playing the blonde is Jemima Rooper. Google her name with Black Dahlia. You'll see that she looks quite like Hillary Swank. But apparently Elizabeth Short was still the one who was supposed to be Hillary Swanks lookalike.

[–] johnmiller (3944) 6 years ago

A very bizarre choice made in this movie! They don't even look remotely alike.

[–] Noirdame79 (99) 2 years ago

In the novel, Madeline is described as having a superficial resemblance to Elizabeth Short - by how she dresses, how she does her make-up and hair - that was the extent of it. She wasn't supposed to be Short's doppelganger.

[–] Noirdame79 (99) a year ago

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