Above: James Ivory with Madeline Potter and Vanessa Redgrave on the set of The Bostonians (From the collection of James Ivory) Ask directors and they’ll tell you there’s actress A, B, or C (it could also be actor X, Y, or Z) they’re crazy to work with some day. Vanessa Redgrave was at the head of my list, and when Merchant Ivory started to think seriously about The Bostonians—or as soon as there was a script—we got in touch with her. She was our first choice for the part of Olive Chancellor, but she turned it down. This was the spring of 1981. Since we were in London, we asked her to dinner in order to talk about it, even though we knew she felt negative about the project.