Eva Mendes to play Callas on the big screen

And she admits it's a role she couldn't turn down - because Gosford Park screenwriter Julian Fellowes penned the script specifically for Mendes.

She tells Britain's The Independent, "Julian Fellowes wrote a script for me based on the relationship between Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis, and as Julian Fellowes wrote it for me I couldn't say no to it."