Keira Knightley defended by directors, Begin Again director John Carney slammed

Sydney Morning Herald
May 31, 2016

Keira Knightley's former directors have come to the defense of the star after filmmaker John Carney criticized her acting.

Carney directed the Oscar-nominee in the music-themed 2013 film Begin Again, but in a revealing interview with Britain's The Independent newspaper over the weekend, he slammed Knightley for her alleged diva behaviour and lack of serious acting skills.

"Keira has an entourage that follow her everywhere so it's very hard to get any real work done," he told the publication. "And as much as I tried to make it work I think that she didn't quite come out as a guitar-playing singer-songwriter. I learned that I'll never make a film with supermodels again."

He added, "I don't want to rubbish Keira, but you know it's hard being a film actor and it requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don't think she's ready for yet and I certainly don't think she was ready for on that film."

His comments irked both fans and her former collaborators, including Mark Romanek, who directed Knightley in 2010 thriller Never Let Me Go.

He took to Twitter on Monday to defend the actress, writing, "My experience with #keiraknightley was utterly spectacular on every level. I have no clue what this guy is talking about."

He ended the post with pointed words aimed at Carney, adding, "#arrogants--thead".

My experience with #keiraknightley was utterly spectacular on every level. I have no clue what this guy is talking about. #arrogantshithead

— mark romanek (@markromanek) May 30, 2016

My recollection of #keiraknightley's "entourage" was that her mum visited the set one day for an hour or two.

— mark romanek (@markromanek) May 30, 2016

Meanwhile, Lorene Scafaria, the writer/director of Knightley's 2012 film Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, echoed Romanek's statement.

"I agree with Mark," she posted. "Keira was a joy to work w/ (with). Present & easy & really, really good at her job. Just lovely."


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Brendan Gleeson: Domnhall Gleeson, a star in his own time

THE IRISH TIMES
Tara Brady
August 30, 2013

Julian Lennon. Paul Dalglish. Cameron Douglas. It’s never easy following in your father’s footsteps when dad happens to be really, really good at his job. How is it, then, that Domhnall Gleeson, son of Brendan, makes it look so damned easy? The sometime star of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and True Grit, has, aged 30, already been exposed to squillions of movie-going punters. In sheer bums-on-seats terms, he’s a huge star.

“But they’re not going for me,” he shrugs. “It doesn’t count. Even if I signed a Harry Potter thing I don’t think you’d get anything for my autograph on Ebay.”

What if Brendan added a Mad Eye Moody signature?

“Maybe two euro. At most. But by the time you add in postage and packaging. You know.”

He’s being modest. But any film-maker who has been lucky enough to direct Domhnall Gleeson will tell you that he’s as whip-smart as he is gifted. A versatile talent, the actor has effortlessly transitioned between Hollywood gigs and home turf. He’s appeared in sci-fi (Dredd), Tolstoy (Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina), alternate history (Never Let Me Go), political drama (Shadow Dancer) and one Irish sex comedy that we know of (Sensation). He has worked with the Coen Brothers, with Charlie Brooker (for the incoming Black Mirror) and with Lenny Abrahamson (on Frank). He has sidestepped with ease between media: he was nominated for a Tony for his work on the Broadway production of Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore and he took home an IFTA for playing Bob Geldof in the TV movie When Harvey Met Bob.

He has, as the varied CV attests, no plans to settle down in Tinseltown.

“I like that home is, erm, home,” he says. “I don’t really want to be too far away. And I hate driving. So LA definitely doesn’t suit me.”



The oldest of the four Gleeson brothers, Domhnall’s fate was sealed when he went to the IFTAs, aged 16, to pick up an award on behalf of his father. An agent, impressed by his amusing speech, came a-calling and, by 19, the youngster was appearing on London’s West End in The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

“I wanted to be a writer in my teens,” he says. “And when I got an agent I thought: ‘Oh great. Extra work. I might make a bit of money’. Then I read Martin McDonagh’s script and that changed everything. It was the funniest thing I had ever read. I thought it was a masterpiece. I still think so.”

Does he remember Brendan’s transition from teaching to professional acting?

“Yes and no. From early on, I remember dad coming home with strange haircuts. I remember him dyeing his hair black. I remember him doing a Garry Hynes play and looking really menacing for about a month. Which was weird. But I don’t remember the transition. And I often think about that now. Because my parents had four kids and it must have been an intensely worrying and anxious time for them. But it was completely hidden from us.”

And was it cool knowing that dad was touched by glitz and glamour?

“That never mattered to us at all. He was always still busy being a good dad and mam was always busy being a good mam. And that’s what I remember most.”

Fittingly, father and son will soon share screen time in Calvary, John Michael McDonagh’s dark good-priest-gone-bad drama.

“I haven’t got a huge amount to do in that,” explains Gleeson the Younger. “That’s my dad’s film. He is the centre of it. There are all these local people who are taking strips off him and we are all in orbit around him. I am only in it for one scene. But it did take us to different level of working together. And it’s another level for John. It feels very, very strong.”

 READ MORE AT: http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/domnhall-gleeson-a-star-in-his-own-time-1.1509690?page=3

Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan: Never Le Met Go - movie trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az6n3owp8GM

Carey Mulligan: 'There are days when I'm terrible and can't act' (Digital Spy)

Published Wednesday, Jan 11 2012, 1:40am EST | By Jennifer Still | 1 comment

Recommend 2

 Carey Mulligan has confessed that she has only recently started to feel like an actress.

The Shame star revealed that her penchant for starring in independent films early in her career meant that she was not often recognizable in public, as many people had not seen her work.

© WENN

In an interview with Little White Lies, Mulligan explained: "I don't know, it's funny. I used to tell people that I was a geography student until I was, like, 23, because I'd say actress and they'd be like, 'Oh, what have you been in?' And I'd be like, 'You won't have seen it'.

"It was just so awkward and I hate that at Customs because I'd say 'Never Let Me Go', and they're like, 'Pfft!' Because they demand that you tell them because they're like, 'Oh, you're an actress. What have you been in?' You're like, 'You won't have seen it.' They say, 'Go on!' You say, 'They're chick flicks, you really won't have seen it'. It's awkward. I think because I didn't train, I've always felt kind of quite unqualified."

However, Mulligan insisted that pursuing her passion is not always easy, recalling: "I guess I make a living from being an actress and it is always what I've wanted to be, but there are days when I'm just terrible and I can't act. Like, there was a day in Never Let Me Go… There was a whole scene where I'm facing down the beach while Keira [Knightley] gives us a little note.

"It's a very serious scene and me and Andrew [Garfield] are meant to react emotionally. I couldn't do anything that day. I couldn't do anything. I just turned away. It looks like I'm having a moment but I'm just not… I can't think what to do. Sometimes when that happens I think, 'What on earth am I doing?' I think the most confident I feel as an actress is when I'm doing theatre."

Watch Carey Mulligan talking about her forthcoming role in The Great Gatsby with Digital Spy below:

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a359456/carey-mulligan-there-are-days-when-im-terrible-and-cant-act.html