Julianne Moore may have swept the Hollywood glitterati off their feet with her Oscar-winning turn in Still Alice, but the critics from Turkey's tourist board seem to have much tougher dramatic standards.
The actress, who has picked up a string of awards, including her best actress Oscar, plus a Bafta and a Golden Globe, has been dropped from a lucrative advertising campaign in Turkey on the grounds of her "poor acting".
Football stars Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and Lionel Messi all have Turkey's seal of acting approval after making adverts for the country's national airline. But Moore's credentials counted for nothing with the Turkish culture and tourism ministry.
She had been announced as the face of Turkey's tourism push in January last year. In a campaign with the tagline "Home of" Moore was to be shown flying to Turkey to revisit childhood trips to the country. Alongside the 54-year-old actress, four acclaimed photographers, including Steve McCurry, known for his Afghan Girl photograph on the cover of National Geographic, were to work on the project.
The advert was filmed in Hollywood and was expected to be screened internationally. Yet, after seeing the material, tourism officials demanded it be reshot. When Moore refused to participate further, the entire $4m project was shelved. The tourism ministry declined to comment on the video, but insiders at the tourism board told Hurriyet Daily News that the campaign had been dropped because of Moore's "poor acting".
Many in Turkey had opposed hiring her from the start, with some high-profile figures criticising her "depressive persona".
Nationalist MP Ruhsar Demirel asked Family and Social Affairs Minister Aysenur Islam whether it was "reasonable" to promote Turkey "with the body of such names and women".
Emre Yucel, a partner in the advertising agency Iconisus & I Mean It, which was in charge of the campaign, said last year that Moore was a good choice to appeal to middle-aged Britons and Americans. "I can't understand why she is not liked here," he said.
Only the officials at the Turkish tourism ministry have seen the advert footage.
Turkish Airlines has long used endorsements by sportsmen, for whom poor acting is no barrier. This has included adverts with FC Barcelona, and one in which Lionel Messi is pursued around the world by Chelsea's Didier Drogba.
Another showed Manchester United stars in a kickabout in a plane cabin, and Wayne Rooney in a safety film.
