Superman star Henry Cavill: Training hard every day is a reward in itself

Examiner.com

Samantha Chang

, Celebrity Fitness and Health Examiner

November 2, 2011 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.

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Superman star Henry Cavill, who chiseled his athletic 6'1" frame down to 6% body fat to play Greek warrior Theseus in Immortals, lifted heavy weights and followed a strict diet to play the Man of Steel.

'It Feels Great to Be Strong & In Shape'
Hitting the gym daily to mold his physique into action-hero shape took a lot of hard work and was empowering in more ways than one.

"It’s a great feeling to be in shape and strong," Cavill, 28, tells Men's Health. "I don’t mean that in an arrogant way at all.

"But you go to the gym and train hard every day and you learn how far you can push yourself. That becomes rewarding in itself."

 

Transforming My Body Taught Me Anything Is Possible
Henry, who says he was overweight as a kid and teased as "Fat Cavill," says insecurity sometimes pushes you to better yourself.
"You get the fear every morning: Do I look good enough? And of course you do, but in your own head, you never look good enough," says Cavill, who was Twilight author Stephenie Meyer's first choice to play vampire Edward Cullen. The role eventually went to British hunk Robert Pattinson.
"The best thing I learned was that I can do it (dramatically transform my body through hard work)," says Henry. "A lot of people think they probably can’t until they actually do. When I saw pictures I would say 'Is that me?'

"You don’t quite realize. It taught me that anything is possible."

'I Didn't Want Fake Abs Drawn On Me'
Cavill, who hit the gym for several hours a day and followed a high-protein diet, was also motivated by a desire for authenticity in playing iconic action hero Superman.

"I had a big sense of pride," Henry explains. "I was like, 'No shading. I don’t want you to draw abs on me. I don’t want you to put dirt in the right places. I just want to do it myself. I want to have the body." '

Like most athletes, the former rugby player says his grueling workout regimen enabled him to push his limits.

"Maybe we were built to stress and challenge ourselves physically, emotionally and psychologically, and all the rest of it," says Cavill.

"Maybe that’s why we survived physically as a race - we evolved so (physical challenges) becomes fun."

Cavill can next be seen in the epic drama Immortals opposite Kellan Lutz. Immortals, which co-stars Freida Pinto, opens Nov. 11, 2011.

Suggested by the author:

Slideshow: Henry Cavill: Transforming my body for Superman taught me anything is possible

Slideshow: Henry Cavill: Transforming my body for Superman taught me anything is possible

     

Hugh Grant buys home for his baby and her mother - one mile from his home

For the new mother, a £1.2m home as Hugh buys Chinese actress property a mile from his

• Actor flies home for 24 hours to 'protect his baby'
• Birth of daughter has yet to be registered

By Keith Gladdis, Rebecca Evans and Colin Fernandez

Last updated at 8:18 AM on 3rd November 2011



Hugh Grant has set up the mother of his baby daughter in a £1.2million house little more than a mile from his home.

The terrace property in Fulham was bought by a cousin of the film star in July, three months before Chinese ‘actress’ Tinglan Hong gave birth.

Grant, who has been filming in Berlin, paid a surprise visit to mother and daughter last night.

Brief reunion: Hugh Grant last night visiting former lover Tinglan Hong

Arriving at around 7.30pm in a Ferrari, he said: ‘I have a 24-hour break from filming in Germany. I have come back to protect my baby.’

He left after spending an hour inside with Tinglan and the child, whose birth on September 26 has yet to be registered.

Little more than a year ago, 31-year-old Tinglan was living in a tiny rented flat in suburban New Malden, Surrey.

More...

• Fatherhood hasn't changed him: Hugh Grant spotted with burlesque artist, 21, days before visiting baby daughter
• Hugh Grant becomes a father for the first time after a fleeting affair with Chinese actress Tinglan Hong 19 years his junior
• RIGHT MINDS: AMANDA PLATELL: Hypocrisy and the tawdry self-love of Mr Grant
• Pictured: Justin Bieber fan Mariah Yeater with newborn baby she claims teen idol 'fathered'

Her new home was bought for £1,175,000 by Grant’s cousin Flora Hood, wife of Henry, the 8th Viscount Hood and Personal Lord in Waiting to the Queen.

Tinglan moved into the house soon afterwards as she prepared to give birth to 51-year-old Grant’s daughter at the private Portland Hospital in Central London.

Grant claims his relationship with Tinglan – who now drives a £40,000 Mercedes and wears designer clothes including £500 Christian Louboutin shoes – was a ‘fleeting romance’.

Expectant: A heavily-pregnant Tinglan Hong, before giving birth to Hugh Grant's baby

It has nevertheless propelled the girl brought up in the Zhejiang province of Eastern China into one of the most exclusive social sets in London.

Grant is close to cousin Flora who lives an imposing three-storey town house in Notting Hill, the backdrop to one of the star’s most famous films. Last year he donated £10,000 to Flora’s JustGiving fundraising site when she ran the London marathon. Nigella Lawson was another donor offering £200 while Camilla Soames donated £100.

Flora declined to comment last night when asked whether she had bought the house on Grant’s behalf.

Tinglan’s romantic relationship with Grant might be over but his spokesman insists the star will be a ‘supportive’ father.

'He is a bit of a sad character, and Ting seemed to be filling a void in his life'

The actor, who is estimated to be worth £40million, started dating Tinglan in January when they were seen kissing at a pub in Kensington near his £3million home. Grant is regularly seen with dates in the bars of Kensington and Chelsea but friends say he had hoped to keep the relationship secret.

Tinglan was described at the time as an actress but she is not listed on the film database IMDB and there are no traceable records of her participating in any television or film projects.

A friend said: ‘He is a bit of a sad character, and Ting seemed to be filling a void in his life – telling him all the time that he was wonderful.’

At the time they were seeing each other Tinglan was aware Grant was seeing other women.

Fatherhood: Hugh Grant arriving at the home of Hong, to see his baby

In April, the couple were photographed at a fashionable Vietnamese cocktail bar near his home but Tinglan – by then pregnant – was not drinking.

The couple appeared awkward together and in deep conversation.

When his daughter was born, Grant was in Liverpool at the Labour Party conference where he was praised by deputy leader Harriet Harman for ‘bravely speaking out’ about the News of the World hacking scandal.

Legally, the baby’s birth must be registered by next Monday. The new mother was wearing dark sunglasses when she left her new home in her silver Mercedes CLK yesterday to buy the day’s newspapers.

Friends of Tinglan in China have told how she allowed the star to call all the shots in their relationship.

One said: ‘When she was dating Hugh Grant, he was still dating other women. She knew that and she accepted it.

‘She was subservient to Hugh during their relationship. Every time they met, she would choose the most convenient place for Hugh.’

Latest squeeze: Elisa Schmidt, a German burlesque singer, was spotted with Grant in Berlin this week

Tinglan is understood to have grown up in Lishui in China’s Zhejiang province, where her mother was a successful businesswoman.

On Chinese language websites her school friends tell of a fun-loving, rebellious student who left her well-to-do family behind to seek a new life in England.

One friend said she was pretty and confident, standing out from her conservative fellow students with her ‘weird clothes’ and hair dyed in different colours.

Neighbours at Tinglan’s old flat in New Malden remember her as a girl who enjoyed a good social life.

One said: ‘Cars would turn up late at night and drop her off – you used to see Mercedes and Bentleys turning up at all hours. Once she was in her flat, you might not see her again for a couple of days.’

Hugh Grant is a major star in China, where his inoffensive romantic comedies cause no difficulties for Communist Party censors and are massively popular, particularly among women. However as news of Tinglan’s relationship with the actor spread across Chinese blogs yesterday, most fans were disapproving.

‘Elizabeth Hurley is such a fantastic woman and even she couldn’t keep hold of Hugh Grant so what chance does a plain Chinese girl have?’ wrote one blogger.

Another said: ‘Hugh is a playboy who needs his freedom. He can’t stay with one woman.’

Downton Abbey's Penelope Wilton on life and loss

The Telegraph

Penelope Wilton reveals the heartache behind her success – and the joy and tragedy in the final episode of Downton Abbey.

Penelope Wilton: 'People in distress behave in a stressful way' Photo: ANDREW CROWLEY

By Cassandra Jardine

7:30AM GMT 03 Nov 2011

As beginnings go, this one does not augur well. “I find talking about acting very boring, having to come out with platitudes about how terribly nice everyone is,” Penelope Wilton says firmly. “I would much rather just do it.”

While making this declaration of war on anyone who might wish to probe her views on her professional, let alone her private, life she flashes me a smile well-known to viewers of Downton Abbey. The mouth is wide and friendly, but it reveals a full set of teeth, giving the impression of a vulnerable, but determined, woman. As Isobel Crawley, mother of Matthew, her expressive face has frequently been called upon to show hidden mettle, often when crossing swords – or is it raised eyebrows? – with Dame Maggie Smith, who plays the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

In the first series we saw her being patronised as the middle-class cousin whose son, by fluke, stands to inherit the earldom. Initially, she appeared the embodiment of the modern professional woman in the midst of ladies too well bred to dirty their hands. But, in this autumn’s second series, she has been less sympathetic – frankly rather overbearing – in her clashes over Downton’s new role as a convalescent home.

A genuine smile of delight crosses Wilton’s face as I admit to sometimes disliking Mrs Crawley. Several people have come up to her and said something similar. It is proof, in her eyes, that she is doing her job well, because her character, like a real person, changes with circumstances. “People in distress behave in a stressful way,” she says. “They aren’t all sweetness and light. They don’t behave well when they are unhappy. That’s just what I’ve observed. And it makes for a much more interesting story than everyone turning into saints or villains.”

The “just what I’ve observed” is typical of Wilton’s defences. Her 65 years have been fraught with personal difficulties as well as every actor’s besetting nightmare: “people not wanting you”. But, whenever first-hand experience creeps into the conversation, she shies away like a frightened horse. There are aspects of her past which she finds uncomfortable to revisit.

Her flamboyant mother came from a theatrical family but was not an easy person. Her father, a barrister, was troubled, too. “He was captured in Africa and was a prisoner of war in Italy, but never spoke of it.” The second of three daughters, born in Scarborough the year after his return, Wilton’s convent boarding school in Surrey didn’t educate her so much as equip her with old-school manners with which to make a suitable marriage. Occasionally, she sounds faintly quaint when referring to London as “town” or to her late sister-in-law, the actress Anna Massey, as “a familiar” rather than a friend. But the politeness with which she pleads vulnerability as she veers away from the subject of loss would make the toughest questioner desist.

It comes up, of course, because Matthew Crawley, her son in Downton Abbey, returned from the First World War with a spinal injury. His legs, doctors said, are not the only bit of him destined not to work again, but now he seems to be getting better. Will it be sustained? Sunday’s final episode in the series offers – of course – “joy, heartache and tragedy”.

Whichever of those applies to Wilton’s on-screen son, she will pull off the requisite emotion, as she did magnificently in the episode when she returned from France (in fact, Wilton had time off for a stage role) to find her only child a shattered wreck. Without a line, and almost without moving a muscle, she conveyed such stoicism on first seeing him that it brought a tear to my eye. Recalling the death of a hamster (as Hugh Grant once said he did in order to cry) would not generate a face like that. “I’ve never lost a grown-up child, but I have known loss. I had…” she begins, then stops herself, so I shall briefly fill in.

During her first marriage, to Daniel Massey, she had a son born at 31 weeks who died. Alice, their second child, was born at 32 weeks weighing just 2lbs, but survived. Further attempts to have another child with Massey, and with her second husband, Ian Holm, failed. The heartbreak of not having the family that she longed for is far behind her now, as are her two marriages to actors 14 and 16 years older than herself – father figures, perhaps. Both had psychological problems: Massey was depressive; Holm suffered acute stage fright. On top of that, she had to deal with Massey marrying her younger sister after they divorced in 1984. Most recently she was devastated by the death of Anna Massey, whom she had known for nearly 40 years.

Her career, however, appears to have been one long discreet triumph from the moment she left drama school, although she says there was a thin patch “when I moved from daughter to mother”. In the Eighties, she became known for the television series Ever Decreasing Circles, with Richard Briers. Since then, her roll-call stretches for pages, and includes everything from The Borrowers and Shaun of the Dead, to Hamlet, Calendar Girls and Doctor Who. She particularly loves the stage, even if it means braving the walk home from Ladbroke Grove station at night: “It requires you to have an understanding of language.”

Certainly her diction is as immaculate as her appearance – black trousers and jumper, long gold chain, neatly arranged silvery hair, discreet make-up. As Isobel Crawley, she is a worthy opponent for Maggie Smith who, as the Dowager Countess, can make “Good morning” sound like a withering put-down. Off set, she says, they get on extremely well. Indeed, there’s a YouTube film of the two of them in which Wilton says that Smith was her childhood heroine, her acting role model, while the grande dame looks tearful and says how “humbled” she is by the admission.

“Maggie’s not at all grand,” explains Wilton. “She’s heaven. She’s very funny and has a good take on things. We just did a film together, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a Deborah Moggach story filmed in India this time last year. Judi Dench was on the film, too, and introduced us to the game Bananagram. She’s extremely good at it.”

As a dyslexic who didn’t learn to read until her later teens, Wilton, I imagine, was a disaster at the word game, but spelling is no longer a problem. “Maggie and I talk about the books we’ve been reading, but on Downton we are all so busy with hair and make-up that there’s little time off. I talk to everyone else, too, of course; so does she. Very few of us are like the characters we play. Michelle Dockery [Lady Mary] is not at all cold and haughty. I’m not bossy.”

Perhaps that’s because she’s going through a “happy stage”. As well she might be. Downton Abbey has turned her from an actor admired by the cognoscenti into a household name who can afford to pick and choose. “Of course it may mean that no one wishes to employ me again,” she says, unconvincingly. Even better news: this Saturday her daughter Alice, 32, who works on theatre projects, is marrying Elliott Hall, a Canadian novelist. “And that’s all I really care about.”
For the rest of us, who also care about what’s happening in Downton Abbey, I can reveal one secret. Isobel Crawley is unlikely to succumb to the flu epidemic in this weekend’s episode. Nor is she likely to be murdered by the Dowager Duchess. Penelope Wilton is turning down other work for next year. That must mean she’s in series three.

Series two of 'Downton Abbey’ will be available on DVD from November 7.

Ray Stevenson Loves Life On Ibiza

Contact Music

The Three Musketeers star Ray Stevenson loves island life on Ibiza, insisting it conjures up romantic notions of life as a pirate.

The British actor, who plays Porthos in the new movie adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel, has been at home on the fabled Mediterranean party isle for years - and he wouldn't trade it for anything.

He tells Black Book magazine, "It's like a gypsy island. Ibiza is like a port where you sail in on your boat, scrape the barnacles off, and take off again."

And he insists the place isn't all parties and nightclubs: "Most people who share that view of the island have never been. It's got the biggest clubs in the world, sure, but you don't have to be part of that scene."

Julie Waters, Helen Mirren - White Hair leads to More Acting Parts

Style Goes Strong

Should Julie Walters Dye Her Hair?

Sometimes grey hair looks better, and other times, maybe not

By: Gerit Quealy

November 2, 2011

Source: Jon Furniss/WireImage

British actress Julie Walters looks great, of course -- but would she look better if she dyed her hair?

It was the picture and the caption together that stopped me cold: Julie Walters, bubbly British actress as a cool silver sister.

I first saw Julie Walters in Educating Rita back in 1983 (yipes). Her lovely chestnut brown hair is not the first thing you noticed about her — until it's gone!

She's certainly done a lot of movies since then, from Mama Mia with Meryl Streep to Calendar Girls with Helen Mirren, not to mention a handful of Harry Potters.

But, but... You have plenty of time to look old. Julie Walters, who is 61, has lovely round features and beautiful skin. It seems to me that she'd look about 10 years younger if she dyed her hair.
I already know what Diana Jewell (author of Going Gray Looking Great) would say, so I'm not even going to ask her.

And it's true that stylist Margo Hasen does look better with gray hair.
But, well, as our colleague here, Cynthia Nellis, has said, gray hair is one of the first things that makes you look older.

But Julie says she's getting a lot more offers for work because she's left herself alone. She told the Daily Mail:

This is what 61 really looks like. I have never done Botox or had surgery and because of that I have started to get a lot of approaches that I wouldn't have expected...

A producer told me that they can't find real actresses in their 60s – I am one of very few in the business.

OK, OK, work is work, and we all need more of that these days, but... what do you think? Should Julie Walters dye her hair?

Hugh Grant becomes a father for the first time after a fleeting affair with Chinese actress Tinglan Hong 19 years his junior

Mail OnLine By Ben Todd and Keith Gladdis

Last updated at 11:58 PM on 1st November 2011

About a girl: Hugh Grant has become a father for the first time to a baby daughter with ex-girlfriend Tinglan Hong

Hugh Grant has become a father for the first time after a former girlfriend gave birth following a ‘fleeting affair’.

The actor, 51, has had a daughter with Tinglan Hong, who is 19 years his junior.

The pregnancy was not planned and the child, who has not been named, is now five weeks old.

Grant is not believed to have been present at the birth but he is said to have spent around half an hour with her the following day before heading to Scotland to play in a golf tournament.

Despite U.S. reports last night claiming that Miss Hong gave birth at the beginning of October, the Daily Mail has been told that she had the child on the afternoon of September 26.

The baby was delivered at the private Portland Hospital in central London by Caesarean section. It is believed the mother used the name ‘Sophie’ Hong during her stay at the hospital.

Grant - who previously dated Liz Hurley and Jemima Khan and has a reputation as a commitment-phobe - had a short-lived relationship with Miss Hong, who is Chinese and said to be an actress.

But they are no longer together and last night his spokesman said: 'I can confirm that Hugh Grant is the delighted father of a baby girl. He and the mother had a fleeting affair and while this was not planned, Hugh could not be happier or more supportive.

Baby bump: A heavily pregnant Tinglan Hong seen in London last month

'He and the mother have discussed everything and are on very friendly terms.'

The identity of the mother was not disclosed in the statement, nor were details of the couple’s relationship.

Team work: Miss Hong was joined on her walk by a friend

However, Miss Hong - who had been living in Merton, south London - is said to have moved close to Grant’s £3million home in Fulham, south-west London. According to Westminster Register Office, the birth had still not been registered yesterday. Legally, it has to be registered by next Monday.

Grant and Miss Hong met last year and began dating in January. Their relationship is said to have petered out soon after she fell pregnant.

Brief affair: Hugh and Miss Hong on a night out in London in April

Last month a heavily pregnant Miss Hong was photographed strolling in London in a baggy pink and white top and a cream cardigan.

On the day that Miss Hong gave birth, the actor - who rose to fame in Four Weddings And A Funeral and is estimated to be worth £40million - was at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.

He even posed for a photograph with deputy leader Harriet Harman after she congratulated him for ‘bravely speaking out’ about the phone-hacking scandal which led to the closure of the News Of The World.

Shouldn't you be with your child? Hugh was seen playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Golf Championships in St Andrews the day after his daughter was born

Following his trip to see the child, he headed to Scotland. On September 28, he teed off alongside professional David Howell at annual celebrity golf tournament The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

This was the same event at which Miss Hurley announced her engagement to cricketer Shane Warne, who proposed over dinner.

Grant spent four days at the event, although his involvement in the tournament ended after three rounds.

Due date: Hugh was spotted at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on the day he became a father

But some questioned his decision to go to the tournament so soon after the birth.

One source close to Grant was reported to have told a U.S. website last night: ‘He’s going to be a great dad! He’s beaming about his daughter. He’s not with the mum any more but he’s absolutely thrilled.’

On September 23, three days before the birth, he seemingly hinted at his impending fatherhood when he tweeted: ‘Recently, in my life, everything is beautiful! I’m happy.’

His big love: Hugh with Liz Hurley in THAT dress at the Four Weddings and a Funeral premiere in 1994

Four years ago Grant told glossy magazine Vogue he was ready to be a father, saying: ‘As much as I adore myself, I’m quite keen to find someone else to care about more. I remember reading a Warren Beatty quote when he finally had children and said what a relief it was not to be all me, me, me.’

At the beginning of last year, Grant told a Spanish TV show: ‘I have some resolutions like losing some pounds. I also need to get married and have children. I need a new house.’

And in September last year he said he ‘should settle down’ and that he wished he had children.

He also revealed he was attracted to Chinese women after a visit to the country last year where he had ‘fallen in love four times’ in 24 hours.

Long-term: Hugh dated socialite Jemima Khan for three years

Grant – who has never married -– has starred in films including About A Boy and Notting Hill.

In 1995, he starred alongside Julianne Moore in the film Nine Months, which told the story of a commitment-phobe who finds out his long-term girlfriend is pregnant.

The actor dated Miss Hurley, now 46, for 13 years before they split in 2000, five years after he was caught cheating with Hollywood prostitute Divine Brown.

He and socialite Miss Khan, now 37, then dated for three years from 2004.

The shape of things to come: Hugh is handed a baby in a scene from his film About A Boy

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2056360/Hugh-Grant-father-time-fleeting-affair-Chinese-actress-Tinglan-Hong-19-years-junior.html#ixzz1cWA4ImLz

Hugh Grant is a Dad - welcomes a baby girl

HuffPost Celbrity

UPDATE:
Hugh Grant's rep has released a statement regarding the birth of the actor's daughter, according to E! News.

"I can confirm that Hugh Grant is the delighted father of a baby girl. He and the mother had a fleeting affair and while this was not planned, Hugh could not be happier or more supportive. He and the mother have discussed everything and are on very friendly terms."

PREVIOUSLY:
It's time for Hugh Grant to break out the pink cigars! The actor welcomed a baby girl last month, Us Weekly reports.

His rep has remained mum on the news and there's no official word as who the child's mother is, but Grant, 51, was last romantically linked to Chinese actress Tinglan Hong back in April.
This is the first child for the actor, who told PARADE magazine in 2009 that he hadn't "given up hope" when it came to one day being a dad.

"Ten years ago, I wouldn't have thought about having children at all," Grant said. "But now I have so many nephews and nieces and cousins and godchildren, I like the thought."

He also mentioned settling down in late 2009, and even included marriage and kids in his New Year's resolutions for 2010.

"I have some resolutions like losing some pounds. I also need to get married and have children," he said while appearing on the Spanish TV program "El Hormiguero."

For more on Grant's baby girl, head over to Us Weekly.

Gerard Butler was shot whle filming "Machine Gun Preacher"

Contact Music

 

Gerard Butler - Gerard Butler Shot During Machine Gun Filming

28 October 2011 06:47:55 AM

 

Gerard Butler was hit so badly by a pellet while shooting 'Machine Gun Preacher' that filming had to be stopped.

Gerard Butler was shot in the face twice whilst filming 'Machine Gun Preacher'

The 41-year-old actor - who plays the lead role of Sam Childers in the real-life story - revealed that during filming of the new Marc Forster directed-film, he was shot in the face two times with a pellet.
He said: "I got shot twice filming Machine Gun Preacher. We were doing a big shootout and a pellet caught my eyebrow. I bled so bad that we stopped filming. Ten minutes later on the next shoot it happened again, in exactly the same bloody place."

Gerard's latest role follows the true tale of a man who turns his back on a violent past to became a machine gun clad liberator of refugee children in Africa.

Much like his latest character, Gerard started out as a bad boy too.

He told Empire magazine: "When I was younger I got chucked in prison a couple of times. I was a wild child, travelling the US, drink-driving and breaching the peace. I went from being incredibly self-destructive, struggling to find my place in life, to acting and getting my s**t together."
'Machine Gun Preacher' is due to hit the big screen on November 4th.

Luke Evans, director James McTeigue of 'The Raven' honor Edgar Allen Poe at Baltimore grave

BALTIMORE — The upcoming thriller, "The Raven," imagines some of Edgar Allen Poe's murder stories playing out in 19th century Baltimore and the famous American writer joining the hunt for a serial killer taking inspiration from his words.

On Friday, actor Luke Evans and director James McTeigue are visiting Poe's grave in Baltimore to draw some of their own inspiration from the city where Poe died 162 years ago. Evans and McTeigue will lay a wreath in his honor.
In the film, Evans plays a young Baltimore detective hunting for a killer who is using Poe's works as the basis for a string of murders. John Cusack plays Poe, who joins the hunt.

Evans also stars in the upcoming films, "The Three Musketeers" and "Immortals."
"The Raven" opens nationwide in March 2012.

Judi Dench - Dame Judi Dench Avoids Her Own Films

Contact Music

03 October 2011 12:07

Picture: Dame Judi Dench , Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2011 - VIP private view held at the Royal Academy Of Arts - Outside Arrivals. London, England ....

Dame Judi Dench Avoids Her Own Films

Veteran actress Dame Judi Dench refuses to watch her films to avoid smashing the "fantasy" of her self-image as a screen beauty.

The British star, 76, has been regularly starring in movies since the early 1960s and has been nominated for six Academy Awards, winning the honour for Best Supporting Actress in 1999 for her role in Shakespeare in Love.

But she's confessed she finds it impossible to watch her more recent movies because she hates seeing herself on screen.

She tells Scotland's Daily Record newspaper, "If you think you are a tall, willowy blonde of 49 and you see you are not, then it's depressing. I would rather stay in a fantasy world. I have never seen A Room With A View, never seen Chocolat, never seen The Shipping News all the way through, never seen The Important of Being Ernest."

Helen Mirren: 'The Debt' Star On Her Regrets And Shakespearean Dreams

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First Posted: 9/20/11 04:32 PM ET Updated: 9/20/11 04:32 PM ET

 

At age 66, Dame Helen Mirren shows no signs of slowing down. The woman who wowed the world while rocking a red bikini a couple of years ago has “The Debt” out in theaters now and “The Tempest” recently released on DVD. Mirren spoke to HuffPost Celebrity from New Orleans where she was tagging along while her husband, Taylor Hackford, directs a movie. HuffPost: You’re in “The Debt,” which opened in theaters last month. What drew you to the film? Helen Mirren: An interesting role in an interesting movie. It’s kind of a grown-up movie, for want of a better word. HuffPost: I love the themes it plays on memory and forgiveness. Mirren: Yes, and guilt as well. It’s very much about guilt and making mistakes when you’re young and having to pay for those mistakes when you’re older. HuffPost: Do you have any regrets? Mirren: Of course, lots of them. Usually they’re mistakes of omission. Having omitted to do something that you should have really done either through selfishness or laziness or whatever. HuffPost: You’re also in “The Tempest,” which just came out on DVD. You basically play the boy role. Mirren: Well, yes, I played the man role. Shakespeare very often had boys dressed as girls but not so often women dressed as men, but I play it as a woman. I don’t play it as a man. HuffPost: Did you take the role because you thought it would be interesting to switch things around? Mirren: No, it was an idea that I had, that that particular role could be played as a woman. It would just give a new take on the relationships in the play. Shakespeare is such an extraordinary writer -- you can do all kinds of things with him and the core of the piece stays strong, but you do get different reverberations through the play. I’ve seen “Henry V,” for example, played by a black actor which gave it a whole different kind of feeling and again in “The Tempest,” Prospero can be played as a woman. HuffPost: Did you do Shakespeare when you were younger? Mirren: I did a lot of Shakespeare. I started off with Shakespeare. I loved it. As a young actress I wanted to be a Shakespearean actress. It’s the most demanding of all the acting that you can ever get to do. HuffPost: When I interviewed Alan Cumming for “The Tempest,” he said the cast had so much fun, having hot tubs after work. Mirren: (Laughs) I don’t remember the hot tubs together. Maybe that happened when I was trying to build up my energy for the next day. But yes, it was a great experience because it was a fantastic cast and we were shooting in Hawaii -- what could be better than that? HuffPost: I would have chosen it just for that. Mirren: Yes, exactly, you’re right. Location is extremely important. HuffPost: I don’t know how actors learn their lines for Shakespeare. I would never, ever be able to do that. Mirren: Learning “The Tempest” was the hardest thing. I knew I had to learn the whole thing before I shot any film so I learned the whole play. It took me about two months of solid learning every day. You just sit down and do it. It’s time consuming, you just go over it and over it and over it. Eight-year-old children learn the Quran by heart. The human brain has the capability of doing it. It’s just a matter of knuckling down and doing it. HuffPost: When I was studying, I’d reward myself with a treat at the end of the day like a chocolate biscuit. Did you ever do that? Mirren: (Laughs) More like a vodka. HuffPost: You project such an aura of confidence in your acting. Mirren: I’m not that confident. I’m really not. I’m fraught with self-doubt and self-questioning. Maybe I’ve gotten better at hiding it or maybe I don’t ultimately care so much anymore that I don’t have any confidence, if you know what I mean. It doesn’t rack me in the way it used to. I’m resigned to it, let’s put it that way.