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My blog has quite a lot of posts about Samuel West (Julius Caesar, On Chesil Beach and Darkest Hour) and Charles Edwards (My Fair Lady Australian tour and Henry IX).
All's well that's Atwell
British actress Hayley Atwell stopped in Philadelphia to talk with Daily News movie critic Gary Thompson about "Brideshead Revisited" (opening today) and to talk down rumors that Miramax asked her to lose weight for the role.
"That was a misquote," said the actress, of reports that co-star Emma Thompson threatened to quit if producers stuck to a demand that Hayley trim a few pounds.
Thompson's close inspection of Atwell's curves indicated no need to lose weight, a fact confirmed by the dozens of heads that turned to watch the shapely star traverse the Swann Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Atwell, who debuted in Woody Allen's "Cassandra's Dream," said the weight-loss stories probably grew out of on-set efforts to help her fit into the period garb necessary to play Julia Flyte in "Brideshead," set in the 1930s and '40s.
"They had to tape my boobs down," she said. "That was the look back then. Very long lines, slim profiles. The reason women used cigarette holders was to elongate their arms. That was the look we were going for."
Allen, needless to say, placed no such restrictions on Atwell, cast in "Dream" as the object of desire who moves Ewan McGregor to murder. The role was a big break for the stage-trained Atwell (to be seen in the upcoming "The Duchess"), although the audition process was brutal.
"Coming from a theater background, I like to do as much preparation for a role as possible, so you can be as relaxed and as confident as you can be, knowing you have stuff to draw from. I show up at the audition, along with every bloody actress in London, and they gave us nothing. No name, no synopsis, just five lines of dialogue. It was horrendous. I came away thinking, if this is what Hollywood is like, I'm going back to theater. I don't even smoke, but I went out and bought a pack of cigarettes straight away," Atwell said.
She was stunned when her agent called a few weeks later, saying Allen wanted to meet her in New York.
"I flew over, spoke with him for half an hour, and got the part."
A decision seconded by the Swann lounge.
"He spoke to her a lot more than he did to me... I wasn't as central to the story as much as Hayley was, and he likes ladies, also..." - re. his and Hayley Atwell's experiences working with Woody Allen
"...With Woody it's just 'Say your lines and fuck off' - but he says it kindly..."
For love interest Julia Flyte, he said rising star Hayley Atwell ("Cassandra's Dream") "literally knocked my . . . socks off" at the audition: "In the scene, she's meant to smash Charles about the face a few times. I was expecting her to stop, but she went straight into it and started slapping me. I was like, 'Oh, my God! They should really give her the part. She's the best!' "
"...We checked out around midnight and happened to ride the teeny-tiny, crowded, and rather warm elevator down to the lobby with Hayley Atwell, the stunning young actress who plays Julia Flyte in the movie. The lone lady in our group chatted her up briefly about her sparkly shoes (which were gorgeous) and she was perfectly charming..."
"'...The day that I got there [Castle Howard], I realized, oh, this is how rich we are,' said Hayley Atwell, who plays seductress Julia Flyte in the Julian Jarrold-directed film. 'You inhabit the space a lot easier than if you were in the studio. You have a sense of entitelment, like it's the place you grew up in, which is very different from my own...'"
"...Hayley Atwell revealed that she donned an 'itchy bob' wig for the role. Also, Spanx. 'They were so restricting, and poor Julia is such a restricted character that it actually gave me a lot more to work with,' she insisted—surely one of the most high-brow justifications ever given for covert curve control. But not a bad one, come to think of it."
"...Atwell, who got her start in film with director Woody Allen’s 2007 flick Cassandra’s Dream thoroughly enjoyed working with Academy-Award winning actress Emma Thompson. 'She's incredibly empowering and inspiring to be around,' she said.
Atwell and Goode did not have any excuses for fellow Brit Amy Winehouse though... 'For people to look at her and judge her... ultimately she is an addict. She needs help,' Atwell told the Herald.
'It's an alternative for the summer. We had a great time making it,' Atwell said of the film."
Samuel West (pictured) and Penelope Wilton will return to the Donmar Warehouse later this year to star in Jeremy Herrin’s revival of TS Eliot’s rarely seen 1939 verse drama The Family Reunion (See News, 18 Apr 2008). The centrepiece of the Donmar’s upcoming festival celebrating the work of the 20th-century writer, the new production runs at the Donmar’s Covent Garden home from 25 November 2008 (previews from 20 November) to 10 January 2009.
After eight years absence, Harry (West) returns to the ancestral home to celebrate his mother's birthday. Tormented by a dark secret, he confides in Aunt Agatha (Wilton) only to discover that the family too have its own hidden demons...
Herrin commented: 'It’s a play for really intelligent actors. The material is very rich and intellectually demanding but also very satisfying - the actors have to have a hunger for that.' West and Wilton, said Herrin, are 'two of the smartest actors around'...
Emma Thompson prepared for her role as a matriarch in forthcoming film Brideshead Revisited by cooking "family" meals for her co-stars.
The actress plays Lady Marchmain in the new film version of the novel, and became a "mother" for the film's other actors by inviting them to her London home for dinner.
Hayley Atwell, who plays Thompson's daughter Julia, says, "She would have us round to her house and we'd stand in the kitchen as she prepared these delicious Sunday roasts. It was her way of getting us all to bond as a family for the film."
"...on the Gala red carpet are Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes for The Duchess, a Paramount Vantage biopic about Lady Georgiana Spencer, directed by Saul Dibb (Bullet Boy). Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell and Charlotte Rampling also star..."
The Duchess Saul Dibb, United Kingdom
International Premiere
Long before the concept existed, the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Spencer (Keira Knightley), was the original “It Girl” -- ravishing, glamorous and adored by an entire country. Determined to be a player in the wider affairs of the world, she helped usher in sweeping changes to England as a leader of the forward-thinking Whig Party. But even as her power and popularity grew, she was haunted by the fact that the only man in England she seemingly could not seduce was her very own husband, the Duke (Ralph Fiennes). Directed by Saul Dibb (Bullet Boy, The Line of Beauty), The Duchess is the story of an extraordinary woman who rose to fame by staying true to her passions in a world of protocol, gossip and social rules – and paid the price. Academy Award™ nominees Knightley and Fiennes head an international cast that also includes Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell and Charlotte Rampling. Based on the award-winning biography Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman, The Duchess is written by Dibb, Jeffrey Hatcher and Anders Thomas Jensen. The Duchess is a Paramount Vantage presentation.
Samuel West will direct Harley Granville Barker’s Waste, which runs at the Almeida from 25 September – 15 November 2008, with press night on 2 October. Designs are by Peter McKintosh with lighting by Guy Hoare and sound by John Leonard.
The cast includes Nancy Carroll (Amy O’Connell), Richard Cordery (Russell Blackborough), Patrick Drury (Justin O’Connell), Peter Eyre (Lord Charles Cantilupe), Will Keen (Henry Trebell), Helen Lindsay (Countess Mortimer/Bertha), Hugh Ross (Cyril Horsham) and Michael Thomas (George Farrant). Final casting will be announced shortly.
Radical politician Henry Trebell sees his personal and political lives collide. An affair with a married woman threatens Trebell’s power and passionate ideals; her insistence on a woman's right to choose brings private scandal into the public spotlight. Controversially banned by the Lord Chamberlain on its release, Waste is a rich portrait of early 20th Century society with strong resonances and relevance for today...
Doctor Who - The Doomwood Curse
CAST
Colin Baker (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charlotte Pollard), Nicky Henson (Dick Turpin), Jonathan Firth (John), Hayley Atwell (Eleanor), Trevor Cooper (Sir Ralph), Geraldine Newman (Lady Sybil), Daisy Douglas (Susan), Suzie Chard (Molly)
SYNOPSIS
Curses and tombs, revenge from beyond the grave - and Dick Turpin!
England, 1738. On the trail of a lost book, the Doctor and Charley arrive at the beautiful country estate of Sir Ralph and Lady Sybil. But all is far from idyllic. There’s a murderer on the loose, and the nearby woods are the haunt of the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin.
And that’s not all. Something else has journeyed here. Something that could destroy the very fabric of reality. The Doctor and Charley have just forty-eight hours to solve the mystery before the whole world succumbs to The Doomwood Curse.