Eva Mendes is set to portray opera star Maria Callas in an upcoming biopic.

The actress will play the soprano in Greek Fire, based on a book about the singer's tumultuous love life.

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."

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