Benedict Cumberbatch told 'not to go into acting' by leading Harrow drama teacher

 THE TELEGRAPH
By Lucy Clarke-Billings
2:51PM BST 16 Aug 2015



Benedict Cumberbatch was encouraged not to enter the ‘tough business’ of acting by his drama teacher Martin Tyrrell, according to fellow schoolboy thespian.

The Oscar-nominated actor, pictured in The Sunday Times today playing Petruchio in a school production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew at the Globe Theatre, greatly impressed in the performance.

However he was advised not to pursue a career with his “dazzling” talent, according to Alexander Gifford, who performed alongside the young Cumberbatch in the play.

Mr Gifford, now a theatre director and playwright, told The Sunday Times: “Benedict was the complete star of the acting scene at Harrow and funnily enough I remember in that show...it was like he had gone to a whole new level and had a vitality on stage and an uninhibited freedom that was dazzling.

"I do remember our drama teacher, Martin Tyrrell, advising him not to go into acting because it was such a tough business.

“We were a really rich crop of young actors. We had Laurence Fox and Patrick Kennedy, and that was down to Mr Tyrrell. Benedict stood out as being preternaturally gifted."


Read more here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11806074/Benedict-Cumberbatch-told-not-to-go-into-acting-by-leading-Harrow-drama-teacher.html

Colin Firth is a one-night Romeo, worried family man and insane executive... but only for new photo series exploring art of acting

MAIL ON LINE
By ERIN MAXWELL
PUBLISHED: 17:58 EST, 17 October 2013 | UPDATED: 00:17 EST, 18 October 2013

He has played a number of diverse roles in his career, including King George VI in The King's Speech, Mr Darcy in the BBC television adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, and Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in film Girl With A Pearl Earring.

And Colin Firth is showing off his diverse acting talent yet again this time via via photographs in new book Caught In The Act: Actors Acting.

The book, by award-winning photographer Howard Schatz sees the 53-year-old actor play a womaniser who can't remember the name of his latest conquest and a concerned father who just heard gunshots while at the mall with his family.

He's also a mad ad man who has neglected to take his medication in the book which sees actors asked to showcase their talents in a series of photos that capture their transformation into different characters.

Firth was given three radically different scenarios and asked to inhabit the characters while photographer Schatz snapped the picture.

In one of the photographs in the series, Firth was given the following rather precise instruction: 'You're a bipolar creative director of an ad agency, off your meds and trying to sell some McDonald executives on the idea of Photoshopping a Big Mac into a Rembrandt self-portrait, for a campaign you're calling "Going Dutch/Burgers and Burghers".'

In the photo, the actor goes wild eyed, staring directly at the camera with his mouth agape, giving the handsome distinguished actor a look of lunacy.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2465537/Colin-Firth-stars-new-photo-series-exploring-art-acting.html#ixzz2i54n5hfU 
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Judi Dench still gets nervous over acting

Judi Dench has revealed that she has "worse nerves" now than when she started 54 years ago.

 

 

Judi Dench admitted that she is nervous about acting

 

The Notes On Scandal actress has admitted that she "never" has confidence in her ability and always has to rely on a director.

In a recent interview with The Observer magazine she said: "I have worse nerves now, 54 years after entering this business, than when I started. I'm never confident about the work I do and I'm very, very reliant on a director."

She added: "Everything I do, there's always something that jumps up and hits me in the eye."
However, Dench further revealed that she never wants to quit acting, because she believes the learning process is far too valuable to leave behind.

She explained: "If I retire I think I should fall over. You've got to keep learning. I think everybody should take the time to recite two lines of something every day. I've also just taken up Sudoku - bloody difficult, isn't it?"

 

RTE