Nicole Kidman has never been afraid to take risks as an actress - including her most recent foray onto screen, where she urinates on co-star Zac Efron for The Paperboy - but even she is taking her career into her hands with this one.
The Australian actress has taken on the almighty challenge of portraying Grace Kelly on screen, in the forthcoming Grace of Monaco.
The film does not attempt to cover the whole of Grace Kelly's dramatic life - from her privileged childhood in Philadelphia (similar to that portrayed in one of her hit films High Society) to Hollywood stardom including her position as Alfred Hitchcock's muse in films such as Rear Window, To Catch A Thief and Dial M For Murder, to a new role as a European princess before her death in a car crash aged 52.
Instead, it concentrates on one episode in her life, when she was involved with her husband Prince Rainier and France's President Charles De Gaulle's dispute over tax laws in the 1960s.
The challenge is so large because of the reverence in which Grace Kelly is still held, as an icon of style, elegance and beauty. She had lost none of her appeal at the time of her death in 1982, when thousands of Monagesques wept as they filed past the coffin of their beloved Serene Highnes, in scenes that would herald the death of another princess 15 years later.
Grace Kelly - the epitome of style and beauty in Hollywood
Kelly and Kidman, at first glance, might not seem to have that much in common. While Kidman is still going strong, combining a string of leading roles into her 40s with family life (two daughters with second husband Keith Urban, two children with former husband Tom Cruise), Grace Kelly famously gave up her position in Hollywood - at the height of her beauty and acting powers - to settle with her husband Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956, become a mother to three children and never took another screen role, preferring instead to concentrate on her Foundation and other work in Monte Carlo.
Grace Kelly and Nicole Kidman - similar styles, but can Kidman pull off the special ingredient that made Grace Kelly so popular?
But both stars have received similar plaudits for their serene, symmetrical looks as for their acting, both have won Oscars (Kelly for The Country Girl, Kidman for The Hours) and both have fascinated their fans with hints of passion behind their well-mannered, graceful exteriors.
Time will tell whether Kidman pulls it off, but Grace Kelly's legions of fans will no doubt be watching very closely.
Grace Kelly was famously a Hitchcock muse - can you name these Hitchcock films?
