Our Night Out With Tom Hiddleston, Henry Cavill Emilia Fox And Natalie Dormer At The BAFTA Gala Dinner

IN STYLE

By Lucy Pavia
February 6, 2015

We hung out with some very dishy Brits in black tie last night - including Tom Hiddleston, Kit Harrington, Freddie Fox and Henry Cavill - at the very first BAFTA Gala Dinner, in aid of BAFTA's Give Something Back campaign. Freddie Fox arrived arm-in-arm with big sister Emilia, who was wearing a floor-length scarlet Temperley London dress, while a very dapper-looking Tom Hiddleston swept in and caught up with friend Edith Bowman. We also spotted Game Of Thrones stars Kit Harrington and Natalie Dormer, who was looking gorgeous in a black ballgown.

The night began with a champagne and canapé reception in the bar upstairs, before guests headed down for a three-course dinner of (delicious) smoked salmon tartare, cumin and coriander rump of lamb and chocolate tart. After dinner the live charity auction began where some of the more deep-pocketed guests bid on a range of treats.

The list of prizes included a photo shoot with top photographer Greg Williams (who had come to the event with his new girlfriend, designer Alice Temperley), a private preview screening for 60 people of the new Bond film Spectre and dinner with Colin Firth and Damien Lewis (this one went for £12 000 - sadly a little out of our budget). Also up for grabs was a private tour of Downton Abbey and a week-long retreat at a villa in Palm Springs. Tom Hiddleston gamely kicked off the action by bidding £2000 for a portrait from Greg Williams, but lost out in the end to a higher offer. By the end of the night £250 000 had been raised. That's a lot of very generous bidding.

Read more at http://www.instyle.co.uk/celebrity/news/our-night-out-with-tom-hiddleston-emilia-fox-and-natalie-dormer-at-the-bafta-gala#BmXc6WMq7QrehUWw.99

Ripper Street Season 2: 7 Actors Who Should Guest

WHATCULTURE

September 3, 2013 

By Stu Whittaker

Whitechapel is stirring.

As you may know, the second series of Ripper Street is just around the corner. Matthew Macfadyen returns as DI Edmund Reid, paired with his stalwart DS Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn) and the mysterious and talented coroner Captain Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg), who has finally hidden his sordid past as Matthew Judge…or so it seems.

The BBC Autumn Original Drama trailer gives little away but as we know, with a new series comes a myriad of new actors (encompassing both genders). David Costabile, Gale from Breaking Bad and Thomas Klebanow on The Wire, has been cast as the second Judge brother, obviously there to cause concern for Captain Jackson. Being Human’s Damien Molony enters as a new DC for H Division whilst Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones) will play a rival to Reid and co. as K Division’s Inspector Jedidiah Shine. Others gracing the show are Leanne Best (Theatre Awards UK nomination actress of The Match Box), Leverage’s Gina Bellman, Paul Kaye (Game of Thrones, 2000 Acres of Sky), Neve McIntosh (Doctor Who) and James Wilby (Maurice).

Honourable Mention
Robson Green

Okay, I don’t particularly want to see him star in Ripper Street, a reason why he isn’t on the ten and rather as an honourable mention. Robson Green is a former co-star of Jerome Flynn from the popular series Soldier Soldier, the two also had a hit song ‘Unchained Melody’ released on the back of the show. It would be great to see the chemistry between the two revived, be it with Green as a friend to H Division or a foe. His acting credentials surround a long British TV career; three seasons of Casualty, Touching Evil, Wire in the Blood and recently Being Human and Waterloo Road.

7. Peter Capaldi

I thought I’d start with the recently cast Doctor. See I had already decided to use Peter Capaldi in this list before he was made the Doctor yet I still think he would make a guest appearance if it was offered and I think an actor of his immense ability and experience of over thirty years could be influential on Ripper Street.

Capaldi has been phenomenal in his performances, especially as Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It and its spin-off film In the Loop. Capaldi has won many awards for his performance; 2010 BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance and two British Comedy Awards for Best Television Actor in 2010 and 2012.



5. Pauline Quirke

For me I found it difficult to cast possible women for Ripper Street, this is due to the content and era the story is set in, most female characters are either prostitutes, love interests or victims. Pauline Quirke would suit the show though, either as an antagonist, by this I don’t even mean a villain but rather as an abrasive character who H Division come across, a reluctant witness or working-class mother who knows something she will not unveil, per se.

I really think she would fit into the 1890′s era of Ripper Street, she has defined herself as a comedic actress yet has not shied away from roles that require her to portray a brash, dramatic side of her talents, which she does perfectly. In Broadchurch she is threatening simply in her demeanour, it is about time that H Division come across a lady of similar ilk.

1. Andrew Scott

Probably the best portrayal of a villain since Heath Ledger’s turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight, Andrew Scott created a vivid, unpredictable, charismatic, nightmare vision of Sherlock’s nemesis, Moriarty. Andrew Scott won the 2012 British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role, he is the perfect villain, heinous and yet, in a quaint way, appealing and likeable.

Scott is keen not to become typecast, though, having starred in The Fuse, a gritty BBC four-parter, playing a melancholic detective opposite Christopher Eccleston, a pitch perfect performance as Paul McCartney in ‘Lennon Naked’, an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s The Scapegoat, in which he plays a “terribly, terribly posh person with a side parting” and this year he will appear in ‘The Stag’, an Irish comedy drama about a stag weekend, with himself playing the best-man.

Andrew Scott is a veteran of all of acting’s schools, with numerous credits across stage and screen. He is the ideal candidate for a major villain for our heroes at H Division to face, a big bad to span most of a series offering a Moriarty for Ripper Street, hopefully not the same character but conveying the same bone-chilling essence.

If there is anyone I’ve missed or someone who you would prefer, let me know!


Read about all the rest at http://whatculture.com/tv/ripper-street-season-2-7-actors-who-should-guest-star.php/5#imWeiv1KuufCHo27.99 

Colin Firth, Emilia Fox in BORN EQUAL (Darcy and Georgiana - yikes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFNUegm8QK0

Dawn French to play James Corden's mum in star-studded show (THE SUN)

By ANNE RICHARDSON
Published: 28th January 2013

DAWN French will play James Corden’s MUM in a new sitcom.

The comedy veteran – famed for her partnership with Jennifer Saunders – will star in The Wrong Mans on BBC Two, which has been co-written by James and his friend Mathew Baynton.

The show will also feature of a host of other comedy talents, including The Thick Of It’s Rebecca Front, Him and Her’s Sarah Solemani and Shooting Star’s Angelos Epithemiou – aka Dan Renton Skinner.

READ MORE: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/4767223/dawn-french-to-play-james-cordens-mum-in-sitcom.html

Colin Firth - 'Pride and Prejudice': Tube Talk Gold

Published Saturday, Nov 12 2011, 4:00am EST | By Catriona Wightman | 11 comments

 

 

 

© Rex Features / Everett Collection

Oh yes. It's a bit of a classic, isn't it? The BBC has always been known for its lavish costume dramas, but the absolute stand-out has to be its 1995 adaptation of the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice. But what was it that made the miniseries quite so special? Let's cast our minds back...

Pride and Prejudice: Originally broadcast from September 24, 1995 to October 29, 1995

Say Pride and Prejudice these days, and it's hard not to think of Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. The pair have become the definitive Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, and not even the likes of Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen could steal their crowns.

Obviously, a lot of the work was already done for the BBC - Jane Austen had written a blindingly good yarn, and there's a lot of story to stick your teeth into. But Pride and Prejudice must have had something else, or why would we still be swooning over the boxset more than 15 years later?

Part of the show's success has to be down to the chemistry between its leads - Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Ehle is the perfect Elizabeth, confident and snarky but still loveable. And as for Firth, he was a revelation as Mr Darcy - grumpy as hell but also kind of attractive. He's the 19th century bad boy.



And it's at this point that we must absolutely mention the iconic moment of Pride and Prejudice - that lake scene. I'm not saying getting his shirt wet is the reason why Colin Firth is now such a huge A-list star, but let's be honest - it had an impact.

Suddenly, after starring in shows like The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (really), Colin was popping up in movies such as The English Patient. That Oscar win this year? It all began with Darcy.

That lake scene is ridiculous - Jane Austen didn't exactly write it, let's put it that way. But for some reason it just works. Funnily enough, Andrew Davies - who wrote the screenplay - intended it to be a humorous, bumbling, awkward moment. Instead, it got women across the country a little hot under the color and assured Pride and Prejudice's legendary status.



That's really the secret of Pride and Prejudice's success - it's as escapist as you can get. It's comforting. Like modern Sunday night favorite Downton Abbey, it's another world of big dresses and big houses and big carriages; a world where women faint at the slightest provocation; a world where getting a bit wet lands you in bed with a fever; a world where, crucially, love triumphs over all and there's a happy ending.

Yes, we always knew what we'd get with Pride and Prejudice. A lot of us already knew what happened because we'd read the book, but even if you hadn't, you could be certain that there wasn't going to be a massacre at the end where everyone died horribly (I haven't read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies yet, but I'm guessing it might be a bit more brutal.) Sometimes all you want is comfort blanket television, and Pride and Prejudice could provide that.

So we knew we'd get a "happily ever after" conclusion, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a bumpy ride along the way. There were refused proposals, dances, and, of course, the naughty Mr Wickham (elopement and all). Plenty, then, to enjoy. And audiences agreed - millions watched the show, the first run of the original VHS box set sold out within two hours, and awards followed (a BAFTA and an Emmy among them).



What's wonderful about Pride and Prejudice is that it hasn't dated. Watch it today - preferably with a mug of hot chocolate on a rainy day - and you'll enjoy it just as much. Part of that is because of the endless appeal of the costume drama - it's not like the references can become old-fashioned. But it's also due to the wonderful cast, the beautiful cinematography, and the fabulous writing. It's not unheard of for fans to plough through the entire run in one sitting.

And no-one can deny the impact Pride and Prejudice had more generally (and no, we're not just talking about the lake scene). It justified investment in costume drama (and, really, big drama productions in general); further adaptations followed, like the Keira Knightley vehicle or Bollywood-style Bride and Prejudice; and it was even the inspiration for Bridget Jones (which is why casting Colin Firth in the film was so darn inspired).

So go on. Go on! It's getting colder, the nights are drawing in, and Pride and Prejudice is waiting for you on DVD like a nice warm bath. Settle in and enjoy.

 

 

Digital Spy