Benedict Cumberbatch, the thinking man's alpha wolf

LA TIMES
By REBECCA KEEGAN
August 9, 2014

Benedict Cumberbatch at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego during Comic-Con on July 24, 2014. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

During his first trip to Comic-Con in July, Benedict Cumberbatch stopped to chat about his many brainy characters, from the detective he plays on the BBC's "Sherlock" and the World War II codebreaker Alan Turing, whom he portrays in the upcoming movie "The Imitation Game," to Hamlet and an animated wolf.

You're here for "Penguins of Madagascar," an animated movie in which you voice a wolf who looks like he's the brains of the operation. Have I got it just about right?

Kind of. He's the leader, the alpha wolf of the pack, so to speak, and does things in a polar opposite way, pun intended, to the penguins.

I noticed you're often playing really smart guys — Sherlock, Julian Assange, Alan Turing in this movie coming up, the famous codebreaker, and I wonder, do you have a go-to, 'I'm a genius thinking really hard' …

... Smart face?

Yeah.

Definitely. [Cumberbatch furrows his brow and rests his chin in his hand]

No, it changes. It's about the character. I've been very, very fortunate that there's something going on behind my eyes so that it looks like I'm ... encompassing the brilliance of their minds and ability to concentrate. But you know I have a very superficial, skin-thin understanding of the science. ... It's just about finding the humanity in all of that. Brilliant people have private moments of self-doubt and things which we could all relate to, but they also have these extraordinary moments of discovery or pioneering brilliance that pushes the envelope in how we view the world. I try not to pull faces — if I do, it has to be something with the character.

Darn, so you're not really just thinking about what you're having for lunch?

Yeah, exactly — "Why did I eat that cheeseburger? I should have stuck to the salad." Actors often have that kind of a feeling, especially on stage when you're struggling through the weirdness of your day and you're doing the play for the umpteenth time in a long run, that's very often something that happens: Your mind drifts and you think, "I forgot to buy the cheese in the supermarket!" You have to be careful of those mundanities creeping in because they can play havoc with your concentration.

Speaking of the stage, you're going to be playing Hamlet in London next year. What does that particular role mean to you?

A lot. It's something that's been in my life for a long time. I was offered it at school and turned it down to do my "A" levels and try and get some decent grades. ... I'm of an age now where I think it's now or never ,and I've found the right director ... this brilliant female director called Lindsey Turner, who's just a phenomenon. I think she's the greatest director of her generation, I'll be that bold, and she's a good friend and great collaborator. We've been talking about it for over a year already, and we don't even start rehearsals until next June.

Most actors, [Hamlet] appeals to them initially because it feels like an everyman part, which it is, to an extent, you have to bring a lot of yourself to it. ... The other appeal is the amount of direct communication you have with your audience. There's such a large portion of it where you become very intimate. You should care about him a lot, but he should make you laugh as well as feel things.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-mn-ca-cumberbatch-conversation-20140810-story.html

Superman actor Cavill joins wildlife trust

BBC NEWS
August 8, 2014



Superman actor and Jersey native Henry Cavill says he is "enormously proud" to be an ambassador for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

The actor, currently on a break from filming Batman v Superman, said he visited the wildlife park as a child.

He said trust staff do the "seemingly impossible" and he was humbled to help.

Durrell was founded as a conservation charity over 50 years ago by author and naturalist Gerald Durrell.

'Superhuman'

Speaking at the park, Mr Cavill said: "What they do is close to my heart and something that deserves close attention.

"I feel that saving the diversity of life on our planet will be seen as increasingly important in the not-too-distant future."

READ MORE HERE: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-28688408

7 Questions With … Sean Bean of TNT’s Legends

CHANNEL GUIDE
By Kellie Freeze
Thursday, August 7, 2014 3:07 pm



I had a phone number and I was afraid to dial it. That’s how I felt before I interviewed Sean Bean. He’s well known for playing tough and intimidating characters like Ned Stark in Game of Thrones and Boromir in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and even as the bad guys in Patriot Games and GoldenEye, he’s as much known for his intensity as he is for his often spectacular death scenes. So when it came time to call him on the phone to talk about his new TNT series, Legends, I’ll admit I was a wee bit nervous. And excited.

When Sean answered his phone, instead of a growl, his greeting of “Hello Kellie,” was more like a purr. I was instantly smitten. There is something about his voice that is both powerful and terrifying and utterly, utterly sexy. And charming. I was amazed by how funny he is and how often Sean laughed during our interview. I’d like to think that it’s because I’m that delightful, but I suspect it’s because Sean isn’t as scary as he appears on screen. That’s probably why he’s a terrific actor, and if you think about the words I’ve used to describe him: tough, intimidating, intense, powerful, funny, sexy, you’ll know why he’s perfectly suited to play multiple characters in TNT’s thriller, Legends. Bean can play a variety of diverse characters because he’s a multi-faceted person.

I have seen the series’ first two episode and they’re even more riveting than the show’s trailers. I can’t wait for more episodes. The entire cast is fantastic, but Sean Bean is mesmerizing and it’s going to be a delicious and torturous treat to wait a week between episodes, as I’ve gotten a bit spoiled by binge TV watching. Sean hadn’t yet watched any of Legends’ completed episodes so he peppered me with questions about what made the final cut and what hadn’t.

Then I asked Sean our 7 Questions and found his answers the exact opposite of what I expected. Perhaps you’ll agree that you may know Sean Bean the actor, but you hardly know Sean Bean the man.

1. You’re at a magazine rack and can only pick three titles. Which ones do you choose?

I don’t read many magazines. I read Gardeners’ World Magazine. It’s a British magazine. It sounds rather mundane, but it’s my favorite. (Laughs) Oh God, there’s plenty. I suppose, Sheffield United — they’re my football team, I love their weekly magazine. I also read The Guardian.

2. If your TV carried just three shows or networks, what would they be?
I like Discovery and National Geographic. I love Pawn Stars, I’ve been watching a lot of television and I like Mountain Men on The History Channel. They’ve got a guy called Tom, an old guy, who’s a lovely chap.

3. What are three things that you have to have in your fridge or pantry?
Milk, eggs — that sounds a bit boring, doesn’t it? — And blueberries.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.channelguidemagblog.com/index.php/2014/08/07/7-questions-sean-bean-legends-tnt/

Colin Firth's in-laws thought Mr Darcy looked more 'constipated' than sexy

TELEGRAPH
By Hannah Furness, and agencies
3:08PM BST 08 Aug 2014



It was the role that set a generation of women's heart a-flutter, but it appears Colin Firth's in-laws were less enamoured with his portrayal of Mr Darcy.

Livia Firth, the actor's wife, has disclosed her family could not understand why viewers would find his appearance in Pride and Prejudice sexy, confusing British reserve for looking "constipated".

Mrs Firth, an Italian eco-campaigner, said her family had questioned whether she could really find the aloof aristocratic character attractive.

The BBC adaptation propelled Firth to fame in Britain, and was later immortalised in the Bridget Jones books, for its "wet shirt scene", which saw the young actor diving into a lake.

The scene saw him emerging dripping wet in a translucent white shirt, and set him up as a heartthrob for a generation of fans.

Mrs. Firth has now told Vanity Fair magazine her family were initially less impressed with the role, finding the attraction confusing.

The couple met filming in Cartagena, Colombia, before Pride and Prejudice aired in 1995. Mrs Firth, now 45, told the magazine: ‘When I met Colin he wasn’t yet Mr Darcy, and we started the courtship. ‘And then Pride and Prejudice came out, and the response from my family and all the Italians was ‘Do you really consider this guy sexy?’

‘Italians can’t deal with English restraint. They think the reserve of an Englishman is constipated.’

READ MORE HERE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11021770/Colin-Firths-in-laws-thought-Mr-Darcy-looked-more-constipated-than-sexy.html

Tom Hiddleston tweets group picture from the set of High-Rise

RADIO TIMES
Emma Daly
11:49 AM, 07 August 2014



The film, adapted from J. G. Ballard’s dystopian novel, sees a group of residents in a futuristic apartment block turn on each other after they’re self-contained amenities cut them off from society.

Hiddleston plays the part of Dr. Robert Laing, an instructor at a local medical school, who becomes embroiled in the suddenly tribal environment of the block.

By the looks of things, Hiddleston (Thor, Only Lovers Left Alive) will be donning sharp-looking suits for the part, complete with neatly styled hair.

Luke Evans (The Hobbit, Dracula Untold), seen sporting a rather dashing moustache, takes on the role of television documentary producer Richard Wilder. While Laing lives up on the twenty fifth floor, Wilder lives on the second. As more groups and gangs develop, where you live in the block becomes of vital importance.

Put it this way, they probably won’t be huddling up close for selfies.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-08-07/tom-hiddleston-tweets-group-picture-from-the-set-of-high-rise

Colin Firth’s ‘Kingsman’ to Battle ‘Fifty Shades’ on Valentine’s Day

VARIETY
Brent Lang
Senior Film and Media Reporter
@BrentALang

Colin Firth at his most buttoned up will jockey with a whip-wielding Christian Grey for moviegoers’ hearts on Valentine’s Day.

“Kingsman: The Secret Service” will shift from Oct. 24, 2014 to Feb. 13, 2015, 20th Century Fox said Wednesday. In its new spot, the spy film will go head-to-head with “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

The film, which allows Firth to pack heat along with his stiff upper lip, will theoretically appeal to men, whereas “Grey” and its storyline involving a member of the 1% getting his kink on, is targeting women.

An extended look at “Kingsman” earned a rapturous response from theater owners at CinemaCon. Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine and newcomer Taron Egerton co-star alongside Firth, who, in the footage screened at the annual exhibition trade show, turns an umbrella into a lethal weapon and generally comes across as a bad-ass George Smiley.

In its old release slot, “Kingsman’s” main competition would have come from the big screen version of the board game “Ouija.”


READ MORE HERE:http://variety.com/2014/film/news/colin-firth-kingsman-fifty-shades-1201277000/ 

Benedict Cumberbatch, Michelle Dockery among Vanity Fair's International Best Dressed List

ZAP2IT
By Terri Schwartz
Aug 06th, 2014

When it comes to some of the most fashionable TV stars alive, it's no contest who is at the top of the list -- and Vanity Fair knows it. In the magazine's annual International Best Dressed List, some very recognizable and deserving faces like "Sherlock's" Benedict Cumberbatch and "Downton Abbey's" Michelle Dockery were honored.

That's why it's pretty adorable that Dockery says her favorite item of clothing is jeans and her favorite shoes are flats ("French Sole quilted flats," at that) when fans are so used to seeing her dress to the nines.

For Cumberbatch, his favorite item of clothing is a blue Ernest Alexander shirt and favorite shoes are Edward Green. And to make the man in your life smell like Sherlock himself, just get him to pick up a bottle of Annick Goutal Eau de Monsieur.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/benedict_cumberbatch_michelle_dockery_vanity_fair_international_best_dressed_list-2014-08

David Tennant beats Benedict Cumberbatch in final to win RadioTimes.com Television Champion 2014

RADIO TIMES
Radio Times staff
2:28 PM, 06 August 2014



Former Doctor Who and Broadchurch star David Tennant has been crowned RadioTimes.com Television Champion 2014, beating Sherlock‘s Benedict Cumberbatch in a grand final that drew more than 2.85 million votes. In a keenly fought battle over five days, Tennant eventually emerged triumphant with 1.53m votes compared to 1.33m for Cumberbatch.

Nine million votes were cast in total across 127 individual matches in the three week long tournament that pitched Britain’s biggest television stars against one another.

A list of 128 stars was drawn up by Radio Times staff, with representatives of genres ranging from drama and comedy to current affairs and reality shows. After an initial draw (see attached chart), the stars were placed in 64 head to head polls for the public to vote in over a period of several days. Once voting closed, the loser was eliminated and the winner moved on to the next round.

Fans mobilised on Twitter and Facebook to try to get their favourites through. And many of the stars themselves weighed in, including Richard Osman, Amanda Abbington, Karen Gillan, Billie Piper, Luke Newberry, Katherine Kelly and Zawe Ashton.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-08-06/david-tennant-beats-benedict-cumberbatch-in-final-to-win-radiotimescom-television-champion-2014

Benedict Cumberbatch: Interview with Benedict’s mum, Wanda Ventham, in the TVTimes, 28th July 1979.

Every Monday morning for the past seven years a perfect single rose has arrived for Wanda Ventham. They’re from her second husband, actor Timothy Carlton—and even when he is away filming or on tour, the rose arrives.

“Tim is a great romantic, which is really why—in the end—I decided I would remarry,” Wanda told me.

They were married in April 1976, but had been together virtually since they first met in Ireland in 1972 while filming sequences for A Family At War. At the time her first marriage, the businessman James Tabernacle, was well on the way to a conclusion.

“Tim didn’t break up a marriage,” she said, “but I suppose he was what was needed to help me make the final decision. All divorces are unpleasant, but I was lucky because I had someone in my life to cushion me.

“Even so, it didn’t make it easy, and I ended up feeling really sad and with an awful sense of failure.”

But that’s all well in the past now. She and Tim have a three-year-old son, Benedict, an energetic handful who was treating the living room like a sports stadium when I saw Wanda at her Kensington flat.

“Our brains go to jelly the whole time,” she said, watching him. “He has been rather vile today, though—you’ve hit on a bad day. He has just had his adenoids and tonsils out and his temperament has gone slightly loopy in the last day or so. But even at times like this Tim is fantastic with him.”

While Carlton was being fantastic, keeping the boisterous Benedict relatively quiet in another room, I asked Wanda about her daughter by her first marriage.

“It’s smashing to have a 20-year-old daughter because our interests are so similar,” she said. “She’s an art student now, something I always wanted to be when I was a child and before I decided to become an actress.

“Tracy was 13 when Tim and I got together, but I had no misgivings about living with him. Thirteen is a vulnerable age, but she was mature enough to realise there wasn’t a happy relationship between her father and me.

“She has never taken sides, although she leans towards me. I think it’s because she has always lived with me and that is where her security and her continuity have come from.

“When I first got married my parents, and my husband’s, would have been horrified if we had decided to just live together. But now—it’s an awful thing to say, perhaps—I would encourage my daughter to live with someone at first rather than jump into marriage straight away.”

Tracy took time off from school to be at Wanda and Tim’s wedding. Her own objection seemed to be her mother’s choice of a wedding outfit—jeans, held up by braces. And she was really delighted when her step-brother arrived on the scene.

Benedict Cumberbatch with parents Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham in Sherlock

I asked Wanda (who gives what she calls “a rather flashy cameo performance” in John Osborne’s play You’re Not Watching Me, Mummy on Monday and will star in a second series of Fallen Hero later this year) what she felt was meant by the word “raunchy”. A well-known gossip columnist she has never met recently described her as “a very raunchy lady”.

“I don’t know,” Wanda said. “It sounds rather game, and I’ve always led such a domestic life. Raunchy doesn’t sound at all domesticated…”

And Wanda Ventham, who seems to be rather more disturbing than domesticated, started to make Benedict’s tea. When you have a Benedict in the house, you can’t just sit around all day looking like Wanda Ventham.

Found on PerfectBenny tumblr
http://perfectbenny.tumblr.com/post/25310748160/ladyavenal-jessa-84-interview-with

What Should We Expect in Downton Abbey Season 5? (SPOILERS)

PARADE
K.L. CONNIE WANG
August 4, 2014



At the PBS summer press tour, Downton Abbey cast members Allen Leech, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, and Michelle Dockery—who play Tom Branson, Lady Edith, Anna Bates, and Lady Mary, respectively—were on hand with executive producer Gareth Neame help promote the upcoming fifth season. What should fans expect?

It looks like the battle for Mary’s heart rages on between Lord Gillingham (Tom Cullen) and Charles Blake (Julian Ovenden). There’s no clear winner yet, but I’m #TeamBlake on this love triangle.

Free beer - the real reason Lady Edith visits farms

Lady Edith will visit Timothy Drewe, the tenant farmer who secretly takes in Edith’s baby to raise as his own. Her turning up on Drewe’s farm all the time is starting to look a bit suspicious. I wonder who at Downton will start to notice first?

Branson continues to try to balance his life upstairs with the Crawleys and his old life downstairs with the servants. Last year brought him a new love interest in Sarah Bunting, an outspoken teacher with radical political views, but when Leech talks about the Branson-Bunting pairing, it doesn’t sound too promising for the two. He says that Bunting reminds Branson of his past but that he doesn’t see a long future for them.

When asked to reveal any plot points for the upcoming season, Leech revealed to much laughter, “Well, the unicorn farm, no one expects,” to which Dockery replied, “It’s much more pleasant than the pigs.”

READ MORE HERE:  http://parade.condenast.com/319503/klconniewang/downton-abbey-season-5-to-premiere-on-pbs/

SPOILERS: Tom Hiddleston And Chris Hemsworth Hints Ragnarok Plot For Thor 3!

KDRAMA STARS
BY P Tuason | Aug 02, 2014 11:18 PM EDT



Movieweb mentions an interview Chris Hemsworth gave wherein he mentions an apocalypse happening, which fans connect to the Ragnarok.

"With the Avengers, we made it difficult to separate them each time there's some sort of conflict. It's like, where's the rest of the team? I liked that Thor has another universe to take care of and keep him occupied. I think that in the comic book, the sort of end of days, Armageddon aspect is probably the direction in which it will all head in. Where it's sort of the end of all things. There's obviously no script or anything. When I read the comic books, I thought it was an interesting way to go," says Hemsworth

In a different interview, Tom Hiddleston might have slipped a few times mentioning the Ragnarok and "Thor 3," saying:

"I think there are very interesting things that happen. In the mythology, when you get into Ragnarok, which is the "end of all things", it's not the end of the world...It's the end of time, and the universe, and space. And I think, if I am correct...Loki essentially, sets that in motion. And his motivation for doing so is intriguing and he almost becomes the incarnation of chaos, in a way...So I think that can be quite new."

He also mentions Loki's wife Sigyn:

" In the myth, he has a wife called Sigyn who protects him from a poison serpent who is dripping venom into his mouth. And she has a bowl over his mouth and of course the bowl keeps filling up and she has to empty it, and so his damnation could be interesting. I don't know...I mean, Loki is a character who's existed in popular consciousness for 3,000 years, so there are many, many iterations I could explore...It's just a question of whether audiences would want to see him again."

Stay tuned for more "Thor 3" spoilers!

READ MORE HERE: http://www.kdramastars.com/articles/31547/20140802/thor-3-spoilers-third-movie-to-include-lokis-wife-sigyn-ragnarok-plot.htm

2 New Clips From ‘Into The Storm’ – Starring Richard Armitage & Sarah Wayne Callies

FLICKS AND BITS



From Warner Bros. Pictures comes these two new clips from the tornado disaster film ‘Into the Storm.’ Opening on August 8th in the US and August 22nd in the UK, the Steven Quale-directed flick stars Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Arlen Escarpeta, Max Deacon, Nathan Kress, Jeremy Sumpter, Kyle Davis, Jon Reep and Scott Lawrence.

In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run towards the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot. Told through the eyes and lenses of professional storm chasers, thrill-seeking amateurs, and courageous townspeople, “Into the Storm” throws you directly into the eye of the storm to experience Mother Nature at her most extreme.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.flicksandbits.com/2014/08/02/2-new-clips-from-into-the-storm-starring-richard-armitage-sarah-wayne-callies/74312/

Save Sean Bean goes viral…

BRITISH WEEKLY
August 2, 2014 9:50 am·



Sean Bean has appeared in blockbuster films and TV shows as well as small independent movies, but he rarely comes out of them unscathed. Having been run off a cliff by rampaging cows, shot in the neck with a grappling hook, beheaded and quartered by horses in his 31-year acting career, the Sheffield-born actor hasn’t had much luck cheating death.

 Bean himself has acknowledged his fictional mortality, saying: “I’ve died a lot of different deaths. Maybe it’s the quality of my death people are fascinated by. I liked Lord of the Rings. Big death.”

Now, after a tongue-in-cheek plea by fans, the producers of Bean’s latest TV series, titled Legends, have launched #DontKillSeanBean on social media in order to try to keep Bean alive in his new show. The campaign has already gone viral after launching over the weekend, with T-shirts supporting the hashtag appearing at San Diego Comic-Con.

Tricia Melton, a marketing executive at TNT, the cable channel set to air the show, said: “Sean laughed out loud when we first talked to him about it and is 100 per cent behind not getting killed in Legends. He’s got a great sense of humour and is enjoying the fun the fans are having.”


READ MORE HERE: http://www.british-weekly.com/?p=15485