In Evita (1996), Madonna played the title role of Eva Perón. For a long time, Madonna had desired to play Perón and wrote to director Alan Parker to explain why she would be perfect for the part. She said later, "This is the role I was born to play. I put everything of me into this because it was much more than a role in a movie. It was exhilarating and intimidating at the same time..... And I am prouder of Evita than anything else I have done." After securing the role, she had vocal training and learned about the history of Argentina and Perón. During shooting she became ill several times due to the intense emotional effort required. However, as she told Oprah, she was also pregnant during the filming: "I was winded after every take. I had to lie on the couch every ten minutes so I could recover from dizzy spells, I was worried that I was shaking the baby around too much and that would injure it in some way." Madonna wrote in her personal diary at the time: "Ironically, this feeling of vulnerability and weakness is helping me in the movie. I'm sure Evita felt this way every day of her life once she discovered she was ill."