Cast As Brooding Leads, Rufus Sewell Says His Real Talent Is Comedy

NPR
January 28, 20178:11 AM ET
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Brooding? Just a bit. Rufus Sewell stars as American Nazi leader John Smith in The Man in the High Castle.
Liane Hentscher

People are seeing a lot of Rufus Sewell these days.

He's starring in the play Art at the Old Vic theater in London. On PBS, he's playing Lord Melbourne, Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister — and perhaps prime minister indeed, if you catch my drift.

And he's also receiving raves for his role as John Smith, the Nazi leader of America, in the alternate universe of Amazon's The Man in the High Castle, which has been renewed for a third season.

The series is increasingly loosely based on Phillip K. Dick's 1962 novel in which the Nazis win World War II, America is occupied, and many Americans seem happy with that. Sewell tells NPR's Scott Simon that recently, a fan of the show tried to give him a Nazi salute through a coffee-shop window. "And he was not, you know, the usual suspect, kind of alt-right looking fellow. He was a kind of beardy Hollywood hipster," Sewell says, "and it didn't occur to him that I might be a slightly inappropriate thing to do ... people do it to me sometimes, but luckily they don't appear to be believers."

Interview Highlights

On bringing life to John Smith

The Nazi ideology is loathsome, but people essentially are not ... Admittedly in Season 1 he seemed like a relatively one-dimensional character, and I wasn't interested until I saw episode 2, which was already written, where it became a bit more confusing — you saw him with his family — and I would describe him as a person with an alternate history inside him, you know, a person who has turned out one way, who had history gone a different way would seemingly be a different person entirely.

The way you do it, or the way I've tried to do it, is try to get as familiar as I can with what happens to people, and how they create a narrative for themselves in which they're the good guys ... and I think that's what Philip K. Dick was writing about — he was writing about what people do in order to get on.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.npr.org/2017/01/28/511886261/cast-as-brooding-leads-rufus-sewell-says-his-real-talent-is-comedy

A Royal Christening in Britain Amid a Refrain of Coos

NEW YORK TIMES

By KATRIN BENNHOLD

Published: October 23, 2013

LONDON — Some spent the night in the English rain, huddling under tarpaulins and keeping warm with flasks of tea outside St. James’s Palace. It was all to secure a good view of Prince George of Cambridge on his christening day Wednesday. The prince had not been seen in public since he was born three months ago.

Apparently it was worth it. “Aww,” the crowd cooed loudly when the prince, third in line to the throne, arrived with his parents, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, the former Kate Middleton. The sun was out and the prince was dressed in a lace and satin replica of the christening gown made for the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria in 1841. “He looks like a girl,” one delighted onlooker commented.

A royal christening has perhaps a special significance in a country that has its own church. Ever since Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church and established a more accommodating version in 1534 so he could divorce and re-wed (several times), Britain’s royals have been the guardians of the Church of England.

Prince George, in other words, will not just be king one day, he will be defender of the faith and supreme governor of the Church of England.

The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, baptized the prince, whose full name is George Alexander Louis, with water from the River Jordan in a 45-minute ceremony. Archbishop Welby said he hoped that the event would inspire more Britons to come back to church. In a video released on YouTube ahead of the service, he said Prince George would be joining two billion people around the world in the “family” of the church, adding that “the great good news is that God doesn’t care who we are.”

If tradition was on ample display in some ways, in others it was conspicuously absent.

READ MORE HERE:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/world/europe/royal-christening-draws-patient-crowds-in-london.html?_r=0


Prince George to wear replica of 172-year-old christening gown
http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2013073013840/prince-george-replica-christening-gown/

Prince William, Prince Charles, and the Queen all wore the same Honiton lace and white satin gown to mark their entrance into the Church of England. The christening of Prince Edward Albert of York (later King Edward VIII), pictured left in the arms of Queen Victoria, with the Duke of York (later King George V) and the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), demonstrates the incredible history behind the robe. On the right, Queen Elizabeth II is seen with her parents on her christening day in May 1926. Photo: © Getty Images

Fergie wants to continue Victoria's reign Date July 9, 2013 (CANBERRA TIMES)

Former British royal Sarah Ferguson hopes to persuade Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes to sign on to pen the script for a sequel to The Young Victoria.

The Duchess of York, who was previously married to Prince Andrew, served as co-producer on the 2009 Oscar-winning film, which also featured her daughter Princess Beatrice as an extra, and hopes to re-create its success with a follow-up.

Fellowes was behind the script to The Young Victoria, which chronicles the life of Britain's Queen Victoria and her romance with Prince Albert, and Ferguson wants to re-team with the writer for the new project.

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/ct-editorial/fergie-wants-to-continue-victorias-reign-20130708-2pm4e.html#ixzz2YYNEyZZa

Hugh Grant teased Billy Bob Thornton during 'Love Actually'about his Disraeli phobia By KAREN BUTLER, United Press International (UPI)

NEW YORK, April 26 (UPI) -- British actor Hugh Grant admits to taunting his "Love Actually" co-star Billy Bob Thornton about his phobia of former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

 In the 2003 romantic comedy, Grant played the prime minister of Britain, while Thornton played the president of the United States.

 Grant said he couldn't resist teasing his co-star when he heard Thornton suffered from numerous phobias, including European antique furniture and silverware, as well as images of Disraeli.

 Grant recalled his interaction with Thornton when asked by reporters in New York last week how he felt about the silly, sinister ways Queen Victoria and scientist/writer Charles Darwin are portrayed as characters in his new animated movie, "The Pirates! Band of Misfits."

 "Oh, that was a big plus. I hate those two. I've always hated those two," Grant joked.  


READ MORE:  http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2012/04/26/Grant-teased-Thornton-about-Disraeli-phobia/UPI-23351335464518/