Poldark-style six-packs 'smack of vanity', says Matthew Macfadyen

THE GUARDIAN
John Plunkett
@johnplunkett149
Tuesday 5 May 2015 05.47 EDT



The actor Aidan Turner’s topless scenes in Poldark were some of the most talked about TV moments of the year but the Ripper Street star Matthew Macfadyen has criticised attempts by TV and film studios to make their male stars increasingly hunky.

The former Spooks actor said the growing obsession for male actors to have a six-pack was not true to life and “smacks of vanity”.

Macfadyen, 40, was told to undergo a rigorous diet and fitness regime when he landed the role of Mr Darcy in the 2005 adaptation of Pride And Prejudice.

“You do the deal and then the personal trainer gets in touch,” he told the new issue of Radio Times.

“When I see it on screen, it immediately smacks of vanity because I know what’s happened – they’ve been doing crunches, 50,000 press-ups before breakfast and a character in a period drama wouldn’t have done that.

“Darcy would have been quite fit because he rode horses and all that stuff, but if I ripped off my shirt to show a six-pack... well, that’s a gym thing.”

The former Spooks star added: “I remember when we did Warriors [a 1999 BBC drama about the conflict in former Yugoslavia], we were shooting with squaddies from the Royal Green Jackets – they were the real thing, they’d just come back from Bosnia.



Macfadyen is set to play Georg von Trapp in a new film about the family who served as inspiration for The Sound of Music. He also stars in the drama The Enfield Haunting.

He said of his Victorian crime drama Ripper Street being axed by the BBC: “I think there was a new person and anything that wasn’t their baby was ... I don’t know, I really don’t know ... but it’s been a rocky old ride.” The drama has since been picked up by Amazon’s on-demand TV service, and will be repeated on the BBC.


READ MORE HERE:  http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/may/05/poldark-six-pack-smack-vanity-period-drama-macfadyen

Matthew Macfadyen - Getting Jiggy (everyone's favorite Matthew moment...)

Krysda - youtube

Tom's Hardy by name and hardy by nature (CAMBRIDGE NEWS)

Alice Hutton

Actor Tom Hardy might soon be bursting onto cinema screens as the villain in the new Batman movie, but he has just returned from braving icy winds in Siberia to raise £30,000 for a Cambridge homeless charity. The 34-year-old London-born actor has been a patron of Cambridge charity Flack since it was founded.

The charity, originally known as Willow Walker, provided homeless extras for the BBC dramatisation of Alexander Master’s book Stuart: A Life Backwards, which starred Hardy as Cambridge man Stuart Shorter.

The role was pivotal to the actor’s career – he was nominated for a Bafta – and he became a staunch advocate of the group, which supports the homeless in the city by publishing a listings magazine. But after a mammoth campaign to raise £45,000 for Flack in December last year, the actor signed up to cross the Siberian Steppes to boost its coffers.

He returned on February 25 with £15,235 in the bank and now he is urging the county’s residents to dig deeper and help him reach his total of £30,000. Mr Hardy, who is a recovered drug addict, said he was inspired to take on the journey by the stories of the people he met. He added: “I’m incredibly proud to be patron of Flack.


Read further:  http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/Toms-Hardy-by-name-and-hardy-by-nature-08032012.htm

The Dark Knight Rises’ Star Tom Hardy To Play Al Capone in ‘Cicero’; David Yates To Direct (Geeks of Doom)

‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Star Tom Hardy To Play Al Capone in ‘Cicero’; David Yates To Direct Posted by The Movie God | January 9th, 2012 at 11:14 pm Tom Hardy is a busy, busy man, with multiple projects on the horizon. His star grows bigger every day, and will no doubt reach even greater heights when his turn as Bane in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy-maker, The Dark Knight Rises, finally arrives. But that’s not stopping the British actor from locking up some projects for a little bit down the road, as well. Speaking to The Daily Mail, Hardy shared that he’ll be starring in a movie titled Cicero, where he’ll be playing a Prohibition-era Al Capone. The movie doesn’t even start filming until 2013-2014, but the script is currently being re-worked by director David Yates—who helmed the final four Harry Potter movies—from a draft written by Walon Green (The Wild Bunch, ER). There’s also a chance that the project will turn into a Capone trilogy, but for now they’re just focusing on that first film. In preparation for the role, Hardy has buried himself in the Warner Brothers vault watching classic gangster movies like The Public Enemy with James Cagney, The Petrified Forest with Humphrey Bogart, Little Caesar with Edward G. Robinson, The Roaring Twenties, which starred both Cagney and Bogart, and many others that deal with Prohibition. And if you don’t think a British actor can or should play Al Capone, fear not. Fellow Brit Stephen Graham also plays a young Capone (rather fantastically, I might add) on the excellent HBO series Boardwalk Empire, which is also set during Prohibition. The plain and simple fact of the matter is that Hollywood doesn’t make enough gangster flicks anymore, much the same as westerns. It’s rather confusing to think about how many of these types of movies were made back in the Golden Age of cinema that are now considered classics, yet very rarely do we see new actors and filmmakers and writers using their talents to create fresh new stories within those genres. A sad thing, indeed. Having seen (and loved) The Public Enemy and The Roaring Twenties, I have very high hopes that something along those lines will come from Tom Hardy’s work in Cicero. Next up for Hardy will be George Miller’s new chapter in the Mad Max franchise, titled Mad Max: Fury Road, which begins production in April. Are you interested in seeing Tom Hardy as Al Capone? Is it even possible to not be interested? [Source: The Daily Mail via Cinema Blend] Topics: Movies, News |   http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2012/01/09/the-dark-knight-rises-star-tom-hardy-to-play-al-capone-in-cisero-david-yates-to-direct/

Tom Hardy Flashes A Smile At ‘Iron Lady’ Premiere [PHOTOS] (Socialite Life)

January 4th, 2012

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Tom Hardy's MySpace

Tom's MySpace page photos were just a tad embarrassing. 72 Photos »

Tom Hardy attended the European premiere of The Iron Lady at The BFI Southbank today in London.

The actor looked dashing at the event. You can next see the 34-year-old actor, playing opposite Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine in This Means War, which is being released in theaters on February 17, 2012.

The actor recently urged his fans to donate to a homeless charity to save it from closure. The Bronson star is a patron of FLACK Cambridge, which helps the homeless, but the organization will fold unless it raises $70,000 by Thursday.

Hardy, who has previously suffered addiction issues, has set up an online fundraising page, and he’s calling on his followers to boost the cause. In an accompanying post, he writes, “I am appealing to you on their behalf to donate just $3 each… to help FLACK keep on doing its vital, inspiring work with homeless people. I’ve been supporting FLACK since it first started and now I’m asking you to help me to help them.”

More details on the crisis at FLACK’s website.


http://socialitelife.com/tom-hardy-flashes-a-smile-at-iron-lady-premiere-photos-01-2012

Actors of 2011: 2 - Tom Hardy (Female First)

 

26 December 2011

Another actor who has thoroughly impressed everyone in the FemaleFirst offices this year is the very lovely Tom Hardy.

Yes Hardy has taken it up a notch this year as he lead the cast in Warrior before joining the ensemble of the excellent Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy - and while it’s been a great 2011 for the actor 2012 looks set to be even bigger.

For me personally Warrior has been the best movie of the year, by some way it has to be said, it’s not all about kicking the shit out of each other it has a very human story at it’s heart.

Hardy led the cast list in the role of Tommy Riordan, ex marine and mixed martial arts fighter who is haunted by a tragic past that has put him at odds with his father and brother.

Hardy is simply magnificent in this role, really demonstrating why he is a British talent that we should all be getting super excited about.

It’s a very emotional performance as his character struggles to come to terms with the family struggles and difficulties of the past - which resulted in him being left alone to care for his dying mother.

But you can’t have a movie like this an not have some great fight scenes - and great they really are as hardy and Joel Edgerton appear to have gone above and beyond the call of duty when physically preparing for this role.

If you haven’t seen Warrior then it is a movie that you really should check out as it draws you in from start to finish - not only with some great action sequences but some really emotional relationships.

Hardy then backed that up with another great turn in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - the best ensemble movie of 2011.

Hardy plays a spy in hiding in the movie and turns to George Smiley, played by Gary Oldman, for help.

The movie was both a critical and commercial success as director Tomas Alfredson brought the John Le Carre novel to the big screen.

But 2012 looks set to send Hardy’s star rocketing further with some great projects in the pipeline.

First up he stars alongside Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon in action/comedy This Means War - which is set to hit the big screen early next year.

However the movie that we are all looking forward to next summer is The Dark Knight Rises, which sees Hardy take on the role of Bane.

From early coverage of the movie Bane looks like one mean dude as he goes head to head with Christian Bale’s Batman.

The Dark Knight Rises looks set to be one of the biggest movies of 2012 - -watch this space!!

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

 

http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/movies/Tom+Hardy-11153.html

Tom Hardy: Warrior stars say MMA is no more brutal than rugby (The National)

James Mottram                      

Dec 26, 2011

Tom Hardy, left, and Joel Edgerton in Warrior. Chuck Zlotnick

Call it "Rocky on steroids" if you like, but Warrior is a film with its testosterone levels set through the roof. We're talking not boxing but mixed martial arts (MMA), a full-on contact sport that blends a host of traditional fighting techniques, from wrestling to ju-jitsu. Put that with two of the most exciting actors of their generation, British-born Tom Hardy (Inception) and Australia's Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom), and the result is an explosive fight film that pulls no punches.

We meet in London's Soho Hotel, where Edgerton and Hardy are sitting together on a grey sofa - about the only thing soft in this room. Bulked up to 84kg for his role as Bane in the forthcoming Batman release, The Dark Knight Rises, Hardy's long-sleeved grey sweatshirt looks as though it is about to rip under the strain of his muscular frame. Dressed in a denim cap and jacket, Edgerton may not quite be as Hulk-like, but given that he earned a black belt in Shotokan karate in his teens, you wouldn't want to tangle.

Playing estranged brothers who both enter Sparta, a winner-takes-all MMA elimination tournament, these boys spent two months training in Pittsburgh - eight hours a day in the gym, learning boxing, weightlifting and ju-jitsu. "It felt good to be strong," says Edgerton, 37, who added 9kg of pure muscle. "And it felt good to learn something new. I certainly felt, by the time we were in the cage, standing there with a pair of gloves on, that you felt … at least part of you belonged.:

Not that a sense of "belonging" resonates much with their characters, particularly Hardy's Tommy. An ex-Marine and former wrestling prodigy, he returns from a tour of duty in Iraq weighed down by emotional demons, in particular his feelings towards his abusive, alcoholic father (Nick Nolte) and his brother Brendan (Edgerton), a former street brawler turned teacher who he believes abandoned him. "The fight is within Tommy," says Hardy. "He's fighting for country and for self, for reasons towards his own self-centredness and pain."

Factor in Brendan's "financial reasons" for entering Sparta - he's desperate for money to support his family - and the pain in Warrior is not just physical. "These are normal people in extreme circumstances with the backdrop of MMA," says Hardy, who gives the director Gavin O'Connor (Pride and Glory) the credit for ensuring the drama is not just in the ring.

"When you ask, what does Warrior do for the MMA world where others have failed, it's talking about it as a sport as opposed to making a kung fu movie or a martial arts movie. It's like Rocky meets Kramer vs Kramer, if you like."

Still, with real-life MMA fighter Greg Jackson on board as technical adviser, Hardy and Edgerton felt duty-bound to represent accurately a sport often maligned for its violence. "It's no more brutal than a game of rugby," argues Hardy. "If you go on to the pitch with the All Blacks, you'd know about it. And that's 90 minutes. These guys do 25 minutes, one on one."

Edgerton chips in: "Boxing allows you to keep engaging in the fight, even if you start to lose brain cells. With mixed martial arts, the moment you can no longer defend yourself, there is a clear winner."

Thrown into the cage with all manner of MMA fighters (many of whom appear in the film), Hardy, 33, even found himself facing off with Hans Marrero, one of whose sparring partners is the former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. "I had a moment where I was like 'I really don't want to be here!' I was standing there in my gloves and my shorts, and I was like 'This is really not for me!'" Edgerton concurs. "Any of those guys would probably have me seeing stars within about 20 seconds."
Get ready to rumble, as they say.

artslife@thenational.ae

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/film/warrior-stars-say-mma-is-no-more-brutal-than-rugby

The top five male performances of 2011 (Crikey)

December 22, 2011 – 2:34 pm, by Luke Buckmaster

Let the Cinetology awards ceremony begin! There were plenty of tremendous male performances throughout the year — more than enough to make the task of whittling a list down to five stand-outs (plus five honorable mentions) very difficult indeed. If you feel somebody has been cheated of a gong, be sure to leave a comment below.
So, without further adieu…

Honorable mentions

Jeff Bridges (True Grit), Christopher Plummer (Beginners), Craig Roberts (Submarine), Matthew McConaughey (The Lincoln Lawyer), Paul Giamatti (Barney’s Version).

Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)

Writer/director Jeff Nichols’ slow-burn psychological drama about a man who plummets down a rabbit down into mental illness and paranoia, obsessed by the idea that a massive storm is heading towards his family, demands a lot of its star Michael Shannon. Shannon delivers in heart-piercing spades, with a brilliantly unnerving depiction of a haunted man brought to breaking point by strange, elusive, soul-destroying internal forces.

Andy Serkis (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll)

The greatest invisible actor who ever lived — Andy Serkis, aka Gollum, King Kong and Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes — sheds his CGI veneer in director Mat Whitecross’ eclectic warts-n-all biopic of punk icon Ian Duris. As the boozy drug-addled star, Serkis rolls out a stunning amalgamation of mixed emotions, a tender, finely nuanced performance brooding underneath the streak-stained underwear. Sex & Drugs & Roll & Roll was denied a theatrical release (boo!) but arrived on DVD this year.

Nick Nolte (Warrior)

Nick Nolte as a bleary-eyed reformed alcoholic with a chequered past and a fractured family? Yup, it might sound like an obvious casting decision, but there’s no doubting the gravity Nolte brings to the role in writer/director Gavin O’Connor’s conventional but nevertheless rousing sports film. The gruff, craggy-faced vet is heartbreaking as Paddy, father and trainer of an ex-marine (Tom Hardy) who enters a mixed martial arts tournament.

Brendan Gleeson (The Guard)

Never has a racist, horny, drug taking, filthy-mouthed, milkshake-guzzling police officer been more endearing than Brendan Gleeson’s brilliantly dry incarnation of an Irish lawmaker/breaker in John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard. Gleeson delivers hilarious one-liners with an effortlessness akin to breathing and matches an affable comedic presence with a strong sense of pathos.

Daniel Henshall (Snowtown)

With a wide infectious grin and a personable demeanour John Bunting, played by Daniel Henshall, moves into the home and lives of a lower-class South Australian family and pure evil comes with him. Henshall’s is the crucial performance in Justin Kurzel’s terrifying take on Australia’s infamous ‘bodies in the barrels’ case. His ghastly, measuredly maniacal but eerily humane presence reverberates like a familiar nightmare, and will not be soon forgotten.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/cinetology/2011/12/22/the-top-five-male-performances-of-2011/

Two Veterans Battle It Out For Best Supporting Actor: THE VILLAGE VOICE

By Michael Musto

Mon., Dec. 12 2011 at 1:30 PM

​Two of the candidates for this year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar are really extraordinary old people.
Christopher Plummer shines in Mike Mills's Beginners as the father of the Mills character (played by Ewan McGregor) who comes out of the closet at 75 and really starts to live.

Plummer himself is in his '80s, has had a distinguished career on stage and screen, and was nominated once before (for supporting for The Last Station).

I'll forgive him the time he looked at me like I was a pile of crap when I asked him about The Sound of Music. (I had no idea he loathes it. Double shame on him!)

Another contender is Warrior's Nick Nolte, who also plays a father going through a crossroads--this one a recovering alcoholic who totters back into his sons' lives pleading for forgiveness and redemption.

At first, I thought "Another mumbly performance from Nolte," but his work has real grit to it, and in one particular confrontation scene with son Tom Hardy, he tears your heart out, throws it to the ground, stomps on it, and puts it back in.

Nolte, 70, has been nominated twice before, for Best Actor (The Prince of Tides, Affliction) but he has never copped the gold.

So which one will get the prize?

I'd say definitely....

Probably Plummer. Beginners is his new beginning, and besides, Nolte's Oscar mojo has been going down a bit in the last few months.

It's all in the timing!

And let's not rule out Albert Brooks, Kenneth Branagh, and Max von Sydow either.

​

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2011/12/two_veterans_ba.php