Charlize Theron and James McAvoy blow through South by Southwest with 'Atomic Blonde'

LA TIMES
Mark Olsen
March 17, 2017

 At a place like the South by Southwest film festival, movies are one thing, movie stars are quite another. And so Austin’s Paramount Theater bubbled over with energy on Sunday night when Charlize Theron took to the stage to introduce her new “Atomic Blonde” alongside director David Leitch and costar James McAvoy.

In the film, adapted from a graphic novel — “The Coldest City” by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart — Theron plays a British secret agent being sent to Berlin just ahead of the fall of the Berlin Wall to retrieve a sensitive list of clandestine contacts. The story is told in flashback, as she is debriefed by superiors played by Toby Jones and John Goodman, which renders everything the work of an unreliable narrator and provides any number of surprises along the way. The cast also includes McAvoy, Eddie Marsan and Sofia Boutella.

Read More here: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-sxsw-atomic-blonde-charlize-theron-20170313-story.html

James McAvoy and Wife Anne-Marie Duff to Divorce

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
2:29 PM PDT 5/13/2016 by The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actors James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff are ending their nearly 10-year marriage.

The couple released a joint statement Friday announcing their divorce and commitment to co-parenting their 5-year-old son.

McAvoy, 37, stars in X-Men: Apocalypse, opening later this month. Duff, 45, starred in the original U.K. version of Shameless.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/james-mcavoy-wife-anne-marie-893883

Patrick Stewart keeps a bag of James McAvoy's hair at home in his safe

THE TELEGRAPH
 Danny Boyle
12 MAY 2016 • 1:00PM

As far as keepsakes go, it is certainly among the more unusual. But when Sir Patrick Stewart asked for a bag of James McAvoy's hair, he was not joking.

The veteran - and hairless - actor, who is well-known for his off-beat humour, now keeps the younger star's locks in a safe at his home.

McAvoy, who plays the younger version of Sir Patrick's Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise, had to shave his head for the new Apocalypse film.

The 37-year-old took a video call with 75-year-old Sir Patrick while his hair has being cut ahead of filming, so he could "pass on the baldy baton".

During the FaceTime call, Sir Patrick asked if he could have some of McAvoy's hair to keep for himself.

And the director duly obliged, bagging it up and sending it to Sir Patrick, who now keeps it in a safe - which McAvoy confessed he finds "kind of creepy".



McAvoy revealed the gesture as he spoke on The Graham Norton Show about finally going bald for the new Apocalypse film.

He said: "I shaved (my head) months before to see what it would look like and turned up on the shoot with about two month's growth and they were like, 'What have you done?' and I had to have the first of 17-hour hair extensions sessions.

"When we finally shaved it off we decided to FaceTime Patrick Stewart so he could pass on the baldy baton.

"We though it was funny when he asked if he could have some of the hair, but it turns out the director bagged it up for him and he now has all my hair at home in a safe, which is kind of creepy."

Jennifer Lawrence - who plays the blue-tinged, femme fatale Mystique - last year revealed that X-Men: Apocalypse will be her last in the superhero franchise.


READ MORE HERE

Alicia Vikander, James McAvoy’s ‘Submergence’ Pre-Sold to More Than 30 Territories (EXCLUSIVE)

VARIETY
Elsa Keslassy
International Correspondent
@elsakeslassy

Major international distributors have embarked on Wim Wenders’ buzzed-about epic romance “Submergence,” which is currently shooting with Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy.

Since unveiling the project at Berlin’s EFM, up-and-coming U.K. outfit Embankment has pre-sold “Submergence” to more than 30 territories, including Lionsgate for the U.K., NFP & Warner for Germany, Mars and Selective for France, Antena 3 for Spain, Elevation for Canada and California for Latin America.

UTA Independent teamed with Backup to set up financing and is handling the U.S. sale.

The “Submergence” shoot is more than halfway complete after finishing its leg in France. It will wrap in Germany next week.

READ MORE HERE: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/alicia-vikander-james-mcavoy-submergence-sold-1201766372/

Which TV show starred Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy, Simon Pegg, David Schwimmer, James McAvoy and Andrew Scott?

DIGITAL SPY
BY TOM EAMES

.. It was Band of Brothers​ of course.

You probably remembered that Damian Lewis first made a name for himself in this excellent 2001 miniseries on HBO, but there are LOADS of other actors who popped up that you may well have forgotten.

Here's a roll call of the biggest names (most of whom are Brits playing Americans) for you to try to spot next time you binge-watch the epic Steven Spielberg-produced war series.​

MICHAEL FASSBENDER



Appeared as: ​Technical Sergeant Burton 'Pat' Christenson

Now best known for: The X-Men movies, 12 Years A Slave, Inglourious Basterds…

Number of episodes: 7

TOM HARDY



​Appeared as: ​Private John Janovec

Now best known for: The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant…

Number of episodes: 2

DAMIAN LEWIS



 Appeared as: ​​Lieutenant / Captain / Major Richard Winters

Now best known for: ​Homeland, Wolf Hall

Number of episodes: 10



READ THE REST HERE: http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/feature/a790633/band-of-brothers-cast-michael-fassbender-tom-hardy-simon-pegg-david-schwimmer/

Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy... was Starter for 10 the film that kicked off a new era for British movie stars?

WHAT'S ON
17:46, 23 JUNE 2015
BY KATHRYN WILLIAMS



It was the story of a working-class underdog in 1980s Bristol, but the star-studded cast of 2006 film Starter for 10 have become huge global stars in their own right.

The film followed student Brian Jackson (James McAvoy) as he embarked on his first year at Bristol University, battling cliched opposition from peers as he attempted to get on the popular TV show, University Challenge.

So, let's see which familiar faces got their Starter for 10 correct with the film:

James McAvoy

Now known for his role as a young Professor Charles Xavier in the X Men series, Scottish actor McAvoy was already familiar to fans of Paul Abbott's television show, Shameless, in which he co-starred with his now-wife, Anne-Marie Duff.

He's also impressed in movies such as The Last King of Scotland, Atonement and the adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel Filth.

Benedict Cumberbatch

He's our Sherlock Holmes here in Wales thanks to Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss' re-imagining of Arthur Conan Doyle's character for the BBC hit, but back in 2006 (or 1985) Cumbers was the snotty nosed team-mate of McAvoy's Brian.

Since 2010 he's been filming Sherlock in and around Wales, but he's also gained notoriety from Hollywood thanks to roles in The Imitation Game, Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy, 12 Years a Slave and as the voice of dragon Smaug in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

 Mark Gattiss

Any fan of comedy would recognise Gatiss as one of the League of Gentlemen, but it wasn't until Sherlock he became a household name.

In the 1980s movie he portrayed University Challenge host Bamber Gascoigne who puts the main characters to the test on national TV.

In Sherlock (which he co-created) Gatiss also plays the titular character's brother, Mycroft.

Gatiss also has a small recurring role in Game of Thrones.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/james-corden-benedict-cumberbatch-starter-9513113

Mark Strong and Penelope Wilton scoop top prizes at Olivier Awards 2015

RADIO TIMES
By Huw Fullerton and Kasia Delgado
Sunday 12 April 2015 at 10:28PM



Downton Abbey's Penelope Wilton and veteran film actor Mark Strong have topped the list of winners at this year's Olivier Theatre Awards, winning Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively.

Wilton was honoured for her critically-acclaimed portrayal of the mother of German lawyer Hans Litten – the man who put Hitler on the witness stand in 1931 – in Mark Hayhurst's Taken At Midnight, while Strong won his accolade for playing troubled dock worker Eddie Carbone in the revival of Arthur Miller's 1950s-set A View from the Bridge.

Other screen stars making waves at Britain's biggest theatre awards were Murder She Wrote actress Angela Lansbury, whose return after nearly 40 years to the UK stage in Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit earned her a Best Supporting Actress gong. The Inspector Lynley Mysteries' Nathaniel Parker won Best Supporting Actor for playing Henry VIII in the theatre production of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.

Still, not all the big-name nominees were so lucky – Strong beat James McAvoy, Richard Armitage and Tim Pigott-Smith in the Best Actor category, while Wilton was up against hotly-tipped Gillian Anderson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Imelda Staunton. Elsewhere, Gemma Arterton and Nicole Scherzinger were beaten to the Best Actress and Supporting Actress in a Musical by Katie Brayben and Lorna Want from Carole King-based musical Beautiful.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-04-12/mark-strong-and-penelope-wilton-scoop-top-prizes-at-olivier-awards-2015

Olivier Awards 2015: Nominations in full from Wolf Hall to Beautiful - The Carole King Musical

THE INDEPENDENT
 JESS DENHAM  Author Biography   Monday 09 March 2015



 Lesley Manville and James McAvoy have announced the nominations for this year's Olivier Awards, celebrating the best in theatre.

Memphis The Musical has picked up the most nods with nine, while Beautiful - The Carole King Musical has earned eight.

Here is the list in full:

Best Actress

Gillian Anderson, A Streetcar Named Desire

Kristin Scott Thomas, Electra

Imelda Staunton, Good People

Penelope Wilton, Taken At Midnight

Best Actor

Richard Armitage, The Crucible

James McAvoy, The Ruling Class

Tim Pigott-Smith, King Charles III

Mark Strong, A View From The Bridge

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Phoebe Fox, A View From the Bridge

The Girls playing Iris, The Nether

Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit

Lydia Wilson, King Charles III

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

David Caldar, The Nether

Richard Goulding, King Charles III

John Light, Taken At Midnight

Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies





READ MORE HERE: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/olivier-awards-2015-nominations-in-full-from-wolf-hall-to-beautiful--the-carole-king-musical-10095566.html

James McAvoy: Dominance of Rich-Kid Actors in the U.K. Is "Damaging for Society"

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
by Abid Rahman 2/10/2015 12:18am PST

James McAvoy has waded into the ongoing debate in the U.K. on the current success and dominance of privately educated actors, telling the Herald of Scotland that if the current trend continues it would be "damaging for society."

The Scottish actor, who paid his way through drama school by working in a bakery, was at pains not to criticize the success of privately educated actors, but he was worried that it wasn't representative of Britain as it is today.

"Whenever we talk about this, we have to be very very clear. There's a lot of posh actors that have been to boarding school and all that who are feeling very embattled, sort of cornered," he said, adding: "[N]obody has got anything against an actor who is posh and is doing really well."

But McAvoy was concerned that people from all walks of life are not getting the same opportunities to work in the arts, and his chief worry was about how this will become a bigger problem five or ten years from now. 

If the trends are allowed to continue, McAvoy said, "That's a frightening world to live in, because as soon as you get one tiny pocket of society creating all the arts, or culture starts to become representative not of everybody but of one tiny part, and that's not fair to begin with, but it's also damaging for society."

Private schools such as Eton and Harrow are some of the oldest and most elite in the U.K. They often produce future leaders and captains of industry, but in recent years they have begun to churn out stellar acting talent. 

The Eton-educated Eddie Redmayne (a classmate of Prince William) and Harrow-educated Benedict Cumberbatch, who are both in the running for the best actor Oscar, are perhaps the most telling examples of the dominance of "posh" actors. But there's also Dominic West (Eton, classmate of Prime Minister David Cameron), Damian Lewis (Eton), Tom Hiddleston (Eton), Henry Cavil (Stowe), Jamie Campbell Bower (Bedales), Tom Hardy (Reed), Matthew Goode (Exeter) and Dan Stevens (Tonbridge), among others.

And it's not just the guys. A whole generation of British actresses are seemingly disproportionately from so-called posh schools, including Rosamund Pike (Badminton), Alice Eve (Bedales), Juno Temple (Bedales), Carey Mulligan (Woldingham), Kate Beckinsale (Godolphin and Latymer), Imogen Poots (Latymer), Emilia Clarke (St Edward's), Emily Blunt (Hurtwood House) and Rebecca Hall (Roedean).

READ MORE HERE: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/james-mcavoy-dominance-rich-kid-772139

Watch British Actors Reenact Iconic American Movie Scenes

PEOPLE
BY WADE ROUSE @waderouse 02/04/2015 AT 07:50 PM EST

The British are coming – or as anyone in Hollywood has long known, they've already arrived!

Be it Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley or Eddie Redmayne, there has been a British invasion of American movies – and awards ceremonies – over recent years.

That fact is humorously skewered in a cheeky short film for Vanity Fair by London-born photographer Jason Bell, whose work frequently appears in that magazine. (VF's annual Hollywood issue will be available Feb. 5 in digital editions and on newsstands.)




Bell had the idea to shoot an all-U.K. edition of the magazine's annual Hollywood portfolio (whose 30-page portfolio includes 44 English icons this year) after observing that "this British invasion of Hollywood has gotten so out of hand." The short film is cleverly divided into three parts – in the style of a World War II era newsreel – with the first clip showing the Brits "Preparing for War," the second depicting their "Coming to America" to infiltrate the film industry and the final installment, "Victory is Assured."




br /> read more here: http://www.people.com/article/british-actors-benedict-cumberbatch-keira-knightley-renact-american-movies

James McAvoy is magnetic in caustic class comedy

DIGITAL SPY
By Kate GoodacreWednesday,
Jan 28 2015, 7:01pm EST

Serena Evans as Lady Claire, James McAvoy as Jack and Kathryn Drysdale as Grace

Originally penned in an era between the Profumo and Jellicoe political scandals, Peter Barnes's The Ruling Class is a caustic, uncompromising and deeply underrated character study. Anyone who may have feared that its notions of rigid hierarchy, polite expectation, jumped-up patriotism and reactionary politics would be outdated in the 21st century need not worry.

Trafalgar Transformed's artistic director Jamie Lloyd has reunited with James McAvoy for The Ruling Class following their successful reinterpretation of Macbeth at Trafalgar Studios in early 2013, and McAvoy's troubled Jack - who becomes the 14th Earl of Gurney after his father dies in an unusual accident - is a supremely skilled orator.

Diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, the 14th Earl believes he is another kind of Lord entirely, returning to the family seat after seven years away proclaiming himself to be the resurrection and the life. Jack argues his case with the skill and duplicity - deliberate or otherwise - of a politician on the Radio 4 Today program, most notably when he's trying to convince his family that his fictional wife actually exists in a bid to avoid being married off.

McAvoy clearly relishes the opportunity to work with a surreal script packed with puns, innuendo and intricate wordplay, and his silver-tongued delivery and performance oozes with the kind of easy charm that these days wins votes and election to the seat of power. He breaks the fourth wall at regular intervals with a glint in his eye, at one point quipping: "What a lovely crowd. God bless you."

Mental illness doesn't care for class or background or breeding, and for all of the mania so skilfully and physically portrayed by McAvoy, it's the quieter moments that leave the greatest impact.

When Jack laments that his greatest regret is his "many wasted years", it's sentiment that may well resonate with many who have experienced the black dog's indiscriminate grip first-hand. The 14th Earl's quiet crisis at the end of the first act as all his safety mechanisms collapse around him, his responsibilities as a husband and father really hit home, and the brutal, real world around him reveals itself, is utterly chilling. You can't help but feel for him in that moment.

Elsewhere Joshua McGuire - recently seen as John Ruskin in Mike Leigh's Mr Turner - is note-perfect as simpering, snivelling, self-serving Conservative politician Dinsdale, Jack's cousin, while Anthony O'Donnell (as communist Gurney family butler Daniel Tucker) and Elliot Levey (Jack's psychiatrist Dr Herder) also turn in magnificent performances.


Read more: http://www.digitalspy.com/celebrity/review/a624851/the-ruling-class-review-james-mcavoy-is-magnetic-in-caustic-class-comedy.html#~p2NjOlEBkshhBH#ixzz3QFSgP7fd 
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James McAvoy & Mark Ruffalo Ride Unicycles on The Graham Norton Show, Impress Meryl Streep—Watch the Video!

E!
by CORINNE HELLER
January 9, 2015



The Hulk and Professor Xavier, you have impressed the queen!

In a joint appearance on the BBC's The Graham Norton Show that aired on Friday, Meryl Streep, aka the luckiest woman ever, got to not only share a sofa with Mark Ruffalo, who plays the green superhero in The Avengers series, and X-Men actor James McAvoy, but also watch them from a prime seat as they entertained her, and the world, by riding unicycles. The Oscar-winning actress appeared astonished, and maybe a little, well, freaked out...especially when the latter star took a spill onstage.

McAvoy is set to star in a revival of the British comedy play The Ruling Class in London's West End, starting on Jan. 16. The Scottish star said on The Graham Norton Show that his character has to ride a unicycle on stage. Host Graham Norton talked about how Ruffalo, who stars in the new movie Foxcatcher, had demonstrated his unicycle-riding skills during a previous appearance on the program in 2014.

"How do you know how to do that?" Streep asked Ruffalo.

"I wanted to be a clown," the actor replied. "That was my dream."

READ MORE HERE: http://www.eonline.com/news/613119/james-mcavoy-mark-ruffalo-ride-unicycles-on-the-graham-norton-show-impress-meryl-streep-watch-the-video

Movie review: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy make 'Rigby' a worthy trip

EL PASO TIMES
By Jocelyn Noveck
The Associated Press
POSTED:   01/02/2015 12:00:00 AM MST



NEW YORK >> All the lonely people. Where do they all belong?

You won't hear that line in "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them" (more on that title in a moment), a highly absorbing if unwieldy film starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy as a couple struggling to cope — apart and together — with tragedy.

In fact, you don't hear any of that famous Beatles song. But it doesn't matter, because you'll probably be hearing it in your head. It's also an apt 12-word summary of the broader life issues the movie addresses. We're all alone, essentially, no matter how close we grow to others. We're born alone, we die alone, and in between, we cope alone. No one can cope for us.

Not that "Eleanor," written and directed by Ned Benson in his debut feature, is a total downer of a movie. It can't be, with the luminous Chastain and the appealing McAvoy heading an almost ridiculously high-quality cast. "Eleanor" is about messiness, and risk — in life and in love. But it's not all sad.

A word about the format, for those coming in cold: "Eleanor" was originally made as a pair of movies, "Her" and "Him," each a full-length film from the point of view of one character, and made to be seen in either order.



Then the Weinstein Company decided to make "Them," a more conventional approach, edited from the other two. Some who saw the first versions at festivals have objected that much has been lost. But the rest of us need to judge "Them" on its own merits. And it's an engrossing film.

Chastain plays Eleanor — yes, last name Rigby — an anthropology student who never finished her thesis. McAvoy plays Conor, a young bar owner. We meet them as they're discovering the intoxication of first love. It is indeed intoxicating; Chastain and McAvoy have a lovely chemistry.

Cut to an indeterminate time later. Eleanor is pale and troubled. We see her take a desperate act; we don't know why.

The film then follows both Eleanor's route to recovery (we're being intentionally vague here), and Conor's efforts to track her down. We learn that the two are married, and have suffered a grave setback.

Either Conor or Eleanor is onscreen at all times. Occasionally, they're together. These scenes are what we wait for: They often crackle with conflicted emotion, and, in one case, deep, unforgettable heartbreak. Chastain's Eleanor is nervous, flitty, on edge, but every so often her smile breaks the melancholy, and it boy, delivers. This movie only cements Chastain's status as one of the most compelling actors of her generation. It's hard to look away from her. And why would you?

Perhaps this enhances McAvoy's performance, for Conor can't look away from Eleanor, either. He's possessed by love, but also frustrated and mystified by it. Kudos to the Scottish actor, first for his flawless American accent, and second for finding a way to so deftly command his own space onscreen, alongside a fiery presence like Chastain's.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.elpasotimes.com/entertainment/ci_27241492/chastain-mcavoy-make-rigby-worthy-trip

James McAvoy: US doesn't get normal Brits

BELFAST TELEGRAPH
December 11, 2014

James McAvoy has explained he doesn't think his recent film Filth did well in the US because audiences there find it difficult to relate to working class people who aren't American.

The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby actor said he thought that US viewers struggled with British projects that weren't traditional costume dramas, such as the adaptation of Irvine Welsh's crime comedy novel Filth.

He said of Filth's limited success across the pond: "It's always been difficult. It's not the first time selling something that's very of its nature and very of its country.

"This isn't a bad thing by the way, but if we're selling costume dramas or we're selling that kind of thing, then they seem to go for it, but if you're selling stuff about working class people, they've got to be 'American' for them to get it, and it's always been like that.

"I can't think of too many films that have broken out there massively and become commercial hits. What we always hope is that we can make our money back in our own country, which is not often the case. We're really pleased that in the country that bought it, the people got it, and they got it big as well, which is really great."


READ MORE HERE: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/mcavoy-us-doesnt-get-normal-brits-30803776.html

Tom Hiddleston and Gillian Anderson Among Winners at Evening Standard Theatre Awards

ACESHOWBIZ
December 01, 2014 04:28:01 GMT



Tom Hiddleston and Gillian Anderson are big winners at the 2014 Evening Standard Theatre Awards. Hiddleston and Anderson were awarded with Best Actor and Best Actress award respectively at a ceremony which took place at the London Palladium on Sunday night, November 30.

The Loki depicter on "The Avengers" took home the award for his role in "Coriolanus" after beating other contenders such as Mark Strong and Ben Miles. Receiving the trophy from Helen Mirren, Hiddleston said that he was "so proud" to be honored with the award. As quoted by BBC, the 33-year-old actor described "Coriolanus" as a "bloody, brutal, angry play." He received four stitches during the gig and "had the scars to prove it."

Anderson, meanwhile, won the Best Actress award for her performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire". The actress, who currently stars on "The Fall" alongside Jamie Dornan, was quoted as saying, "I haven't done that many plays and any time I do one I feel like an imposter."

James McAvoy handed the NOOK Award for Best Play to Rona Munro's "The James Plays" while the Best Musical trophy was awarded to "The Scottsboro Boys". Benedict Cumberbatch, who attended the event with his theater director/actress fiancee Sophie Hunter, presented the lifetime achievement award to Tom Stoppard.

Read more: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00077653.html#ixzz3Kl0VE2Vq

Benedict Cumberbatch and Dame Helen Mirren lead starry cast presenting the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards

LONDON EVENING STANDARD
LOUISE JURY, CHIEF ARTS CORRESPONDENT
28 November, 2014



Stars including Dame Helen Mirren, Benedict Cumberbatch, Carey Mulligan and Eddie Redmayne will hand out the honours at the 60th London Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

It will be a night to remember as Sienna Miller, Sir Ian McKellen, American actress Anna Kendrick and Damian Lewis — the host of the 2013 ceremony — also turn out at the London Palladium on Sunday to honour fellow professionals.

Dame Helen, who was named best actress last year, will anoint this year’s best actor from among Tom Hiddleston, Ben Miles and Mark Strong.

And Idris Elba will present the Natasha Richardson Award for best actress from a line-up of five: Gillian Anderson, Helen McCrory, Tanya Moodie, Billie Piper and Kristin Scott Thomas.

The NOOK Award for best play will be presented by James McAvoy, who returns to the stage in January in The Ruling Class. And Cumberbatch, who jointly won best actor in Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein, will warm up for his stage return as Hamlet by revealing the recipient of an award given in the name of the Evening Standard’s owner, Evgeny Lebedev.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/benedict-cumberbatch-and-dame-helen-mirren-lead-starry-cast-presenting-the-london-evening-standard-theatre-awards-9889712.html

7 Benedict Cumberbatch performances you haven't seen but should

TELEGRAPH
By Guy Kelly8:00AM GMT
01 Nov 2014



He may be one of the most famous actors on the planet, with scores of fervent Cumberpeople in every port, but even Benedict Cumberbatch didn't get to where he is today without a significant amount of hard work.

Long before Sherlock, Star Trek, The Hobbit and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy made him a household name, Cumberbatch built an incredibly varied CV in film and television, playing an impressive variety of characters.

From prime ministers and physicists to policemen and parents (and that's without leaving the Ps), here are seven of the roles that made him the phenomenon he is today.

STUART: A LIFE LIVED BACKWARDS

An adaptation of Alex Masters’ 2005 biography of his friend, Stuart Shorter, Cumberbatch starred with Tom Hardy in this join production by the BBC and HBO. Cumberbatch plays writer Masters in the film, with Hardy as Shorter, a career criminal.

Hardy’s explosive performance was an early example of the muscular intensity he has become known for and earned him a BAFTA nomination in the process, while Cumberbatch was similarly lauded for a moving, restrained portrayal opposite.

STARTER FOR 10

Shining in an impressive cast of British up-and-coming talent of the time, Cumberbatch appears in this 2006 Tom Hanks-produced romantic comedy as Patrick, the captain of Bristol’s University Challenge team.

In the film Patrick is a fiercely stubborn intellectual - a market Cumberbatch has since cornered with some aplomb over the last decade - and provides many of the laughs. It also features a host of future Cumberbatch collaborators, among them James McAvoy (whose character in Atonement is framed for a crime Cumberbatch’s commits), Rebecca Hall (his wife in Parade’s End), Mark Gatiss (the writer of Sherlock, as well as playing Mycroft in the series) and Charles Dance (who appears in The Imitation Game).

HAWKING

Despite being made over ten years ago, the 2004 BBC television film Hawking is arguably still Cumberbatch’s most critically acclaimed role.

That isn’t to say his work since has been in any way a disappointment – he remains one of a small group of actors who consistently manage to please audiences and critics alike – but illustrates just how highly regarded his performance was.

The film, which charts Stephen Hawking’s early years as a PhD student at Cambridge University and was the first portrayal of the physicist’s life, was nominated for two BAFTA awards and illustrated Cumberbatch’s impressive range. Curiously, one of his biggest rivals come this awards season could be Eddie Redmayne, who has received tremendous reviews for his own portrayal of Hawking in A Theory of Everything.

FORTYSOMETHING

Looking back, it seems a more than a little absurd that Benedict Cumberbatch once played the son of Hugh Laurie and Anna Chancellor on television (his real parents are over twenty years older than either) but in 2003 he did, and somehow pulled it off.

Laurie also directed this ITV comedy drama series which saw him play Paul Slippery, a doctor hitting a mid-life crisis as his wife begins a new job as a head-hunter. Together they have three sons, the eldest of which is the precocious student Rory, played by a fresh-faced Cumberbatch.

The series hardly set ratings alight, but gave Cumberbatch a valuable chance to act in a major series with established stars, after several years of attempting to break through.

TO SEE THE OTHERS:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/11201192/7-Benedict-Cumberbatch-performances-you-havent-seen-but-should.html

Watch James McAvoy And Michael Fassbender's 'X-Men' Impressions (Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen)

ET CANADA
By DAVID HUMPHREYS
6/2/2014 at 5:07 PM ET



In order to play Professor X and Magneto in X-Men: Days of Future Past, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender had to study old footage of Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen, who play the older versions of the two characters.

As the below video demonstrates, they perhaps studied the footage a little too closely. Asked by Stewart and McKellen to share their impressions, Fassbender says "Three days as the crow flies" in a pitch perfect Gandalf voice, then launches into a word for word recreation of a speech that McKellen delivered in front of the Royal Shakespeare Company about Macbeth in 1979. McAvoy, meanwhile, says "Logan, haven't you got a lesson to teach?" in a way that makes Stewart slap his knee in disbelief.

It's easy to see why McAvoy and Fassbender decided to only loosely channel Stewart and McKellen in the film rather than do the exact imitation you see in the video. Had they taken the latter approach, Days of Future Past would have been an early contender for funniest movie of the year.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.etcanada.com/blogs/etc_98888/watch-james-mcavoy-and-michael-fassbenders-x-men-impressions/film/

'X-Men' Star James McAvoy Talks Imitating Patrick Stewart (Video)

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
9:02 AM PDT 5/19/2014 by Hilary Lewis

X-Men fans were seeing double on Monday when both the younger and older versions of Professor Xavier appeared on Good Morning America.

James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart each shared their thoughts on the other actor, with McAvoy revealing that he initially shaved his head when he learned he would be playing the younger version of Stewart's character.

"I had showed up on the first day of X-Men: First Class, and I had shaved my head because I wanted to check what it looked like about a month before we started shooting -- and it looked quite good -- and they were like, 'No, no, no, no, we want you to have long hair.' "

READ MORE HERE: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/x-men-star-james-mcavoy-705595

‘X-Men’ Premieres in New York Without Director Bryan Singer

VARIETY
Ramin Setoodeh
Film Editor, New York
@RaminSetoodeh



Bryan Singer, the director of “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” skipped the world premiere of his movie on Saturday night, following the recent filings of two lawsuits that allege he sexually abused underage boys.

But the cast of the Twentieth Century Fox summer tentpole — including Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman, Ellen Page, James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart and Michael Fassbender — packed plenty of star power into New York’s Javits Convention Center. The live-streaming premiere also invited hundreds of “X-Men” fans inside, who waved posters and action figures and shrieked as the actors posed for selfies.

When the subject of their director would come up, the red carpet attendees either deflected questions or vaguely defended him — as an artist. The studio’s chief Jim Gianopulos thanked Singer in his introductory remarks, making no mention of the scandal or his absence.

Patrick Stewart, who plays Professor Xavier, recalled how Singer created a strong foundation as a director with the first “X-Men” movie in 2000. “Well, he is a visionary,” Stewart said. “He is a serious filmmaker. He knows the craft inside out. He knows what he wants, although sometimes it could be a roundabout process to get there.”

Asked if he’s reached out to the director, Stewart responded: “We are in touch all the time, through email mostly.” How is Singer doing? “He’s great!” Stewart responded.

READ MORE HERE: http://variety.com/2014/scene/news/x-men-bryan-singer-premiere-new-york-1201177554/