CHICAGO TRIBUME
By Emma Krupp
RedEye

David Oyelowo has grown weary of African warlords, and white saviors, and homogenized tales of a desolate, starving Africa.

“A lot of the films that we’ve seen in the past have been just that, whether it’s crowbarring a white protagonist into an African story or the lens through which African films have been made, often being white and male,” he said last week in an interview with RedEye at Chicago’s Peninsula Hotel. “It’s not that any of that is wrong, it’s just that we’ve had so much of it. And anyone who knows about eating food would know that a balanced diet is the way forward.”

Oyelowo’s new film “A United Kingdom,” in which he stars as the king of Bechuanaland in modern-day Botswana, is exactly the kind of balanced portrayal of Africa he seeks.

Directed by the Ghanian-British filmmaker Amma Asante, “A United Kingdom” tells the true story of King Seretse Khama and his white, British wife, Ruth Williams (played by the ever-lovely Rosamund Pike), whom he fell in love with and married after meeting in the U.K. Despite international uproar and exile from his country, Khama refused to divorce his wife. He later abdicated the throne and became the first democratically elected president of Botswana.

In both “A United Kingdom” and real life, the love story of Seretse and Ruth transcends genres. For a high-profile interracial couple in the 1940s and ‘50s, being in a relationship meant living a politicized existence—facing the opposition of not just a parent or a community, but entire nations. And although Oyelowo knew “A United Kingdom” could never be a mere romance film, he wanted to narrow the story’s focus on the connection between the couple

“I think love appears in different forms,” Oyelowo said. “But true love, in any form, is—in my opinion—tied to sacrifice. The desire to give without the hope of getting back is the definition of love.”

Sacrifice is obvious in “A United Kingdom,” but Oyelowo sees the influence of sacrificial love in two of his more recent roles—Martin Luther King, Jr. in “Selma” and chess coach Robert Katende in “The Queen of Katwe.” Each film shows the lengths both men are willing to go in order to create a better life for others, even if that pursuit meant putting themselves and their families in danger.

“I think that’s love,” he said. “So I’m very much drawn to those type of characters.”



http://www.chicagotribune.com/redeye/culture/ct-redeye-interview-david-oyelowo-united-kingdom-20170220-story.html

Richard Armitage kissing people. You're welcome

Jas Rangoon

Is Matthew Macfadyen attached to new MI5 Spy comic thriller Mindhorn?

CHORTLE

Julian Barratt is writing his first feature film.

The Boosh star has teamed up with comedian Simon Farnaby, best known for Horrible Histories and Yonderland, to write the comic thriller Mindhorn.

It revolves around a former MI5 spy whose eye has been replaced by an ‘optical lie detector’, which means he can literally see the truth. He now lives in the Isle of Man, where he is a crack plain-clothes detective.



BBC Films have developed the project, which is being produced by Ridley and Tony Scott’s company Scott Free in association with Boosh programme-makers Baby Cow.

Filming starts on July 27 on the Isle of Man, which has a development fund run through Pinewood Studios to attract such projects.

No casting has yet been announced, although Ripper Street and Spooks actor Matthew Macfadyen has been rumoured to be attached to the film.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2015/06/24/22725/julian_barratt_writes_a_movie

Richard Armitage Joins Pilgrimage

EMPIRE
23 March 2015  |  Written by James White  |  Source: Screen International



The story of a group of monks transporting a holy relic might not sound like the basis for an action thriller. But throw Richard Armitage, Jon Bernthal and Tom Holland into the mix, plus the possibility of trouble from barbarians on the road to Rome, and you have a good chance of a little violence ahead. That’s the basic set-up behind Pilgrimage.

Brendan Muldowney is set to start directing the film next mouth, working from a script by Jamie Hannigan. The basic story, as mentioned, finds a group of 13th century monks who must escort a monastery’s holiest relic to Rome and find their faith severely tested en route.

With assistance from the Irish Film Board and Creative Europe, Muldowney and primary producers Conor Barry and John Keville have tracked down the cash for a shoot that will take in the West Coast of Ireland and Ardennes in Belgium.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=43774

Richard Armitage’s Journey From Musicals to Middle Earth

WALL STREET JOURNAL
Dec. 4, 2014 5:35 p.m. ET



RICHARD ARMITAGE IS known for his controlled and stoic performances, so it’s rather disconcerting—and funny—to get an excited and happy yelp out of the 43-year-old British actor.

“Ah, thank God, thank you, thank you,” he says with a deep laugh when told that his diverse roles over the years, from brooding John Thornton in “North & South,” the 2004 BBC dramatization of Elizabeth Gaskell ’s novel, to British spy Lucas North in the TV series “Spooks,” to Thorin Oakenshield, leader of the dwarves in Peter Jackson ’s “The Hobbit” trilogy, make it hard to typecast him—except, perhaps, as a heartthrob.

Born in Leicester, England, and an alum of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, the New York-based actor has had a busy year. He received rave reviews in London over the summer for his spellbinding performance as the tormented John Proctor in the Old Vic’s production of Arthur Miller ’s “The Crucible.” The production was so well-received, in fact, that it’s being screened in cinemas in the U.K. and Ireland next week, and other locations world-wide in February.

Mr. Armitage says playing John Proctor in the Old Vic’s production of ‘The Crucible’ gave him resilience. TRISTRAM KENTON/THE GUARDIAN

The actor was also on the silver screen this summer, in Steven Quale ’s disaster movie “Into the Storm,” and he filmed “Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew,” which is currently in postproduction and co-stars Anna Friel. In October, he began work on “Sleepwalker” with director Elliott Lester —which Mr. Armitage says is a psychological thriller along the lines of “Memento” or the Italian film “La Doppia Ora”—and he will also be making a cameo appearance in a new film adaptation of Lewis Carroll ’s second “Alice” book, “Through the Looking Glass,” alongside Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway .

In December, Mr. Armitage—who at the age of 17 joined a circus in Budapest to get his actor’s Equity card—will be busy promoting “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” the last in the blockbuster trilogy, which premiered in London this week. “I know Peter has made an extraordinary film, because it is his last visit to Middle Earth—he will certainly do it justice,” says Mr. Armitage. “It will be a great way to end the year.”

We spoke to him about the bohemian life of an actor, joining Twitter and why he’s not cut out for musical theater.



READ MORE HERE; http://online.wsj.com/articles/richard-armitages-journey-from-musicals-to-middle-earth-1417732548

Richard Armitage Dresses Like James Bond For 'Da Man' Cover

JUST JARED
SUN, 30 NOVEMBER 2014 AT 6:20 AM

Richard Armitage is the perfect gentleman in a tuxedo on the cover of Da Man magazine’s December 2014/January 2015 issue, out on newsstands now!

Here’s what the 43-year-old English actor had to share with the mag:

On his upcoming film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: “It’s the last piece of Peter Jackson’s explorations of Tolkien’s works about Middle Earth, so expect the big finale before the curtain falls. There is a big clue in the title, but rest assured that a pretty spectacular battle is coming your way. As for my character Thorin, he is spiraling downwards but will rise again like all the best tragic heroes in literature.”

READ MORE HERE: http://www.justjared.com/2014/11/30/richard-armitage-dresses-like-james-bond-for-da-man-cover/

Ahna O’Reilly, Richard Armitage Rise To Thriller ‘Sleepwalker’

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD
by Jen Yamato
November 18, 2014 2:45pm



EXCLUSIVE: The Help’s Ahna O’Reilly and The Hobbit’s Richard Armitage are in the midst of filming Sleepwalker, a psychological thriller from writer Jack Olsen and director Elliott Lester (Nightingale). O’Reilly leads the cast as a grad student who goes to a campus sleep clinic to treat her insomnia and nightmares, but instead starts experiencing unsettling changes in her waking reality every time she wakes up. With the help of a doctor, she attempts to find her way back to normalcy by unraveling the tangled knot of her dreams, reality, and shockingly tragic past.

English actor Armitage is hot off of ruling Middle Earth under heavy beard and armor in Peter Jackson’s nearly-completed Hobbit trilogy. He stars in Sleepwalker as the handsome sleep researcher who develops a unique relationship with O’Reilly. After leading New Line’s summer disaster actioner Into The Storm, Armitage returns to theaters this December as the dwarf king Thorin in finale The Hobbit: Battle Of The Five Armies.

READ MORE HERE: http://deadline.com/2014/11/richard-armitage-ahna-oreilly-cast-sleepwalker-haley-joel-osment-1201288242/

10 Years Later, ‘North & South’ Remains the Greatest Period-Drama Miniseries of All Time

FLAVORWIRE
By Sarah Seltzer on Nov 14, 2014 12:00pm




Ten years ago tonight, the BBC premiered a four-part miniseries, North & South (not to be confused with the Patrick Swayze-starring civil war drama of the same name), adapted from Elizabeth Gaskell’s 19th-century novel of cross-class romance in the industrial North of England. The BBC didn’t harbor huge expectations for the series, coming as it did in the midst of a glorious decade of nonstop adaptations of major works by Austen, Brontë, and Dickens. But then, a few weeks later, the fourth installment of North & South ended with a tender, long-awaited kiss (now known to viewers as “The Kiss”). Immediately, so many people flooded the BBC’s online message boards that they crashed and shut down. It’s been enshrined in fangirl lore as “the infamous night that period drama fans broke (a small part of) the BBC (dot com).”

Richard Armitage, who played the brooding hero John Thornton, became a star and heartthrob — move over Colin Firth! — and the show was enshrined as a fan favorite.

I had a similar reaction to those first viewers’ when I watched North & South on DVD across the pond a few years later. I tracked down an email I sent eight years ago after a binge-watching frenzy:

“We watched the final three hours of North and South... you must must must must watch it. I literally couldn’t breathe at the end it was so good.

Literally. I literally couldn’t breathe! Yet somehow I lived! In all seriousness, what about the miniseries sends so many viewers into apoplexy the moment it ends? It’s hard to see at first: North & South has the marriage plot of an Austen adaptation but with no witty repartee, and the social strife and coughing deathbeds of a Dickens adaptation yet without any broad humor. In addition, it’s filmed in a mostly muted register of colors to signify the dark, industrial vibe of “Milton” (a stand-in for Manchester). We enter very few polished drawing rooms, witness not a single ball or country dance, and everyone speaks with accurately indecipherable Northern English accents. Over the course of four installments, quite a few main characters die of various lingering illnesses. The downtrodden working people of Milton get supplanted by even more desperate, literally starving Irish strike-breakers, and then they almost murder the strike-breakers, which is not something you see very often on TV. It’s bleaker than Bleak House.

But all these qualities make North & South so unforgettable, too. Like the best “prestige TV,” its concerns are with social justice, moral ambiguity, and individual responsibility. Everyone is rendered sympathetically, to some degree, even those who stand in opposition to each other. Surrounded by the conflicts of this complex world, we have the love story between Thornton, who transcended his modest background to become a mill owner (a boss with principles, but a boss nonetheless), and the refined, socially liberal Margaret Hale (played by a radiant Daniella Denby-Ashe), who comes from the gentler South and thinks him an oppressive brute. It’s one of the most explosive, chemistry-rich misunderstanding-laden romances that’s ever graced the small screen. Their courtship has a structure that clearly imitates Pride and Prejudice, but each step along the way is ten times as dramatic.

READ MORE HERE: http://flavorwire.com/488347/10-year-later-north-south-remains-the-greatest-period-drama-miniseries-of-all-time

Keeley Hawes: TV's toughest detective

LONDON EVENING STANDARD
STEPHEN ARMSTRONG
Published: 18 September 2014



One of the downsides to being Keeley Hawes is getting pulled over by the police. At the end of last year, for instance, she was buying a burrito in Covent Garden when a burly squad in full blue serge piled out of a riot-proofed patrol van to confront her.

‘It looked like I was a major terrorist,’ she laughs. ‘But then they said, “Can we get a picture?” They all got out their handcuffs and posed. Eventually one said, “Come on, we’re going to lose our jobs.” ’ She laughs again. ‘Having said that, this was after Ashes to Ashes and before Line of Duty. I wonder what would happen now…’

It’s easy to see why the boys in blue love Keeley — she’s been adding glamour to the force as Zoe Reynolds in Spooks, Alex ‘Bollyknickers’ Drake in Ashes to Ashes and DSI Martha Lawson in ITV’s Identity. However, as the twisted, lonely DI Lindsay Denton in Line of Duty… well, not so much.

Line of Duty is all about dodgy cops — Jed Mercurio’s internal investigations thriller follows a fictional anti-corruption unit. Denton was its target in this year’s second season, suspected of having set up her colleagues in a fatal ambush. As suspicions mounted, Denton was bogwashed and beaten up by fellow officers, thrown in jail where wardens and inmates did the same, all along protesting her innocence and uncovering even bigger scandals. In terms of water-cooler moments, Line of Duty ranks alongside The Honourable Woman and The Fall as part of the new wave of Brit TV that’s finally making US producers jealous again.

And Hawes — like Maggie Gyllenhaal and Gillian Anderson in Woman and The Fall — was a revelation. She evoked such energy and raw emotion that even the disparaging TV critic AA Gill has put her among our best actresses, alongside Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.

Today, however, she’s just a 38-year-old Londoner. We meet at an outdoor restaurant near Richmond Park on one of the last sunny days of summer. She rummages through the menu, wondering about the healthy options. ‘I’ve got a shoot in a minute,’ she explains, before quickly adding, ‘I don’t feel the pressure any more, though. I honestly don’t give a shit. Two days of dieting isn’t going to happen. I have a ten-year-old daughter and I’ve got far too much responsibility to be seen to be picking around with bits of food.’

Who knew Keeley Hawes was a laugh? Any fears of an ice queen quickly melt away as she riffs on her Marylebone upbringing — riding around her council estate on the back of her brother’s Chopper, playing run-outs, and her mum shouting, ‘Dinner!’ across the blocks. Her dad and her two older brothers are cab drivers and she grew up near the Lisson Grove Estate, in a block that’s since become luxury flats.

If her accent seems a little crisp for a cabbie’s daughter, she points out, ‘I came from Central London, I wasn’t Cockney — my mother made sure we put the Ts on the end of words, and then I went to drama school.’ She pauses. ‘I do sound slightly posher, but listen, I’ve just been working with Tom Hiddleston and I feel very, very London talking to him.’

Next up there’s The Hollow Crown, the second part of the BBC’s ambitious attempt to screen all of Shakespeare’s history plays. She’s playing Queen Elizabeth in Henry VI part 2 and Richard III, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and, terrifyingly, Judi Dench. ‘I haven’t done Shakespeare and I’ve told them I can’t do Shakespeare and they still employed me.’ She seems amazed. ‘We’re rehearsing and I feel like I’m in safe hands, but still… I mean, I’ll be doing it with Judi Dench…’

She trails off, looking genuinely worried, so I leaf through my notes, pull out the AA Gill quote comparing her to Dench and read it to her: ‘Hawes is one of a number of very good female actors we have, from Judi Dench and Maggie Smith down,’ I read. She is momentarily stunned, then her face flushes a deep, deep crimson and she stares at her hands.

‘Well, that’s ridiculous,’ she mumbles. ‘I mean, I don’t even know what to say about that…’ and then she thinks it through. ‘Although he doesn’t say exactly how far down, does he?’ and she looks up, her impish grin returning. ‘I’d say it was fairly far down — but I’d still put that in a frame…’ When it’s time for her to leave, I make a joke about her receiving an honour to match Maggie and Judi and she turns back briefly — ‘Dame Keeley…? I can’t quite hear a copper calling me that.’

Doctor Who is on BBC One Saturday night at 7.30pm


READ MORE HERE: http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/keeley-hawes-tvs-toughest-detective-9739507.html

Richard Armitage earns praise for 'standout acting' in "Into the Storm"

FANSHARE
TV NEWS / DANIELLE WRIGHT
August 18, 2014



Richard Armitage is one of the lead actors in the film "Into the Storm" and his 'standout performance' is earning him accolades from social media entertainment critics such as Digital Spy. He plays a school vice principal in the film that is now in theatres and revolves around storm trackers, thrill-seekers, and everyday townspeople who videotape and document an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes touching down in the town of Silverton.

Critics such as Digital Spy online magazine note how he distinguished himself as a "stoic, reluctant hero" and his acting performance has resulted in greater scrutiny of this talented actor who has shown an enjoyment of keeping fans 'on the hook' with anticipation.

He was recently interviewed about his upcoming projects and he decided to increase the interest in his projects by disclosing that he will be seen in a cameo role in a movie known to many but he would not disclose what movie it might be.

Immediately fans and some social media entertainment observers started speculating about what movies he might be in and at the moment fans and entertainment observers are thinking either "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" or "Spooks". 

 

He played the Nazi spy and assassin Heniz Kruger in "Captain America: The First Avenger" while others suspect he might show up in a flashback scene when the "Spooks" movie is released. 

 

The "Strike Back" star has shrewdly increased interest in his projects, past, present and future. Fans are looking back at his career to see what movies were 'hits' and have sequels and also looking at his current role on stage in the play "The Crucible" for hints as to what he may be preparing for in the future and that leads to interest in his new projects. 

READ MORE HERE:http://www.fansshare.com/news/richard-armitage-earns-praise-for-standout-acting-in-into-storm/ 

Actor Richard Armitage Joins Twitter but Won't Tweet Until His Birthday

HUFF POST
Posted: 08/22/2014 2:32 pm EDT
Updated: 08/22/2014 2:59 pm EDT

Twitter has a new celebrity member. Please welcome The Hobbit actor Richard Armitage to the Twitter-verse!

Most recently, Richard has been starring in The Crucible in London. He told me what finally got him onboard with Twitter was wanting to do more to support his charitable endeavors and to also interact with his fans who have been so supportive.

If you're waiting with bated breath for his first tweet, Richard told me he won't start tweeting until his birthday. Luckily his birthday is today so you won't have to wait too long!

(I think this is it: https://twitter.com/RCArmitage)

READ MORE HERE:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-morehouse/actor-richard-armitage-jo_b_5698000.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment&ir=Entertainment

Richard Armitage in THE CRUCIBLE

What a wonderful play.  Rich and I saw The Crucible at the Old Vic on July 14 (I think).  We had unbelievable seats - dress circle, first row, smack in the middle.  I had no idea what to expect, and was disappointed, at first, when I read on the side of the theater that it was in the round.  I hate theater in the round.  Usually I get distracted very easily - slight attention span problem there - and, I end up worrying about the actors or if they're going to fall or trip over someone's big feet.

(Actually, in this play, one had to be concerned about the sighing women in the audience with RA in the lead.  One very funny bit - when he removes his shirt to wash up - there was a drastic intake of breath causing a severe loss of breathable oxygen in the room!)

 But, I digress.  I said I hate in the round theater, but happily this was very different.  For one thing, the stage is rather foggy, so that the audience across from you looks more like other characters in the play somehow; almost as if they were sitting in judgement over the proceedings.  And the theater felt more oblong than in a round, with the rows of seats across from us facing ours, with the tiers of balcony seats reminding me of representations of the Globe theater.  Instead of sloping away, the different levels where stacked one directly over the other, giving the theater a more closed in feeling - absolutely perfect for this play.

Enough about all that! The play was wonderful, from the very first moment with the eeriness of Tituba's silent (nearly silent) walk around the stage.   Richard was really magnificent.  Even my husband, who had fallen fast asleep last year when we visited London and saw Perfect Nonsense, was captivated by the play, especially the second half which is magnificent.  The girls - oh, you just want to slap the lot of them - but, when they begin chanting in unison, it is incredibly creepy.

All of the actors were equally wonderful, with two standouts.  Richard, of course, and also Jack Ellis (I think that's his name - I was much too cheap to buy a program).  He played Deputy Governor Danforth, another person deserving a slap on the face.

The only thing that bothered me was RA's voice.  Normally it's such a soothing sound, but he sounded very hoarse here - and no wonder.  We saw the matinee show and then they did it all again for the evening show two hours after we left the theater.   Actors are wonderful.  How they can project such emotion, such heart wrenching tragedy, night after night, is amazing to me.

THE ANGLOPHILE CHANNEL

Anyway, what I really wanted to say was this.  At one moment during the play - don't ask me when because my mind froze up completely - RA exits the stage by walking up a staircase.  A staircase that led directly to where I was seated.  I watched his shadowed figure come up the steps, one at a time, very slowly - and he kept coming closer, and this dark figure kept getting larger and larger, until I thought he was going to jump over the dress circle wall I was grabbing onto in front of my seat.  I truly was smack dab in the middle, and there was a time in my life when that man would not have made it out of the theater alive.  As it was, the girl next to me began making strange hawking noises in the back of her throat.

Anyway, he did get almost eye level and then the steps head downward.  I don't think I took a breath the whole time.  All I remember is that my eyebrow began to twitch and get really, really itchy, but RA was walking straight toward me and I was afraid to move.   I finally went nuts and began gouging at my eyeball to scratch it during this very, very dramatic ascent.  He must have thought I was a looney bird.

Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg:Ripper returns to shoot gory scenes around city

HERALD.IE
BY MELANIE FINN – 06 JUNE 2014 12:00 AM



Here’s an unexpected sight - filming for series three of Ripper Street on the streets of Dublin this morning.

And this morning it was business as usual for the often-gruesome show as the cast and crew descended on the Custom House in Dublin’s north inner city.

In one scene, actress MyAnna Buring, who plays brothel madam Long Susan, is seen exiting the building showing blood-stained hands.

Also making a welcome return to the new series is Monaghan native Charlene McKenna, who plays former prostitute Rose.



mfinn@herald.ie

READ MORE HERE: http://www.herald.ie/news/ripper-returns-to-shoot-gory-scenes-around-city-30334300.html

Astrological Profile: Richard Armitage by Mirjam Schneider

FEMALE FIRST
by Lucy Walton | 7 May 2014



Richard Armitage’s Sun sign is brave, hot-blooded Leo, meaning that he’s not to be messed with. The Leo energy in his chart is increased by Venus, making him a true (and seriously sexy!) leader who easily attracts attention to himself and captures hearts at his leisure. Thanks to this influence, the British star loves creativity and art in all its forms: In fact, he used to be very passionate about music and played several instruments before he turned his attention to acting. You can’t help but notice his stately, regal presence – but mind you, he can also come across as the haughty type. His portrayal of Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit is a great example of how his magnetic charisma and intimidating looks leave people with almost no choice but to become his admiring followers.

Sometimes he may even find himself a little overwhelming, due to his tendency to send himself into a frenzy whilst delivering proof of his heroic potential. But who cares if he goes over the top? The handsome actor is just spectacular to watch when he’s losing himself and giving it his all! Although he’s a generous soul and big romantic at heart, he still likes to make sure that his authority and dignity are undisputed. While playing the arrogant John Thornton in North and South, Richard showcased his dominant and commanding side. It’s a trait which may cause him difficulty tolerating those who do not quite match his strong, impressive personality. He does have a longing for personal glory, but his chart gives away that the actor is challenged to be unselfish and to overcome his ego.

Read more: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/astrological-profile-richard-armitage-mirjam-schneider-465311.html?utm_source=ff&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=siteFeed#ixzz312BrtY6p

Ten Things To Know About The Spooks Movie

EMPIRE
WORDS PHIL DE SEMLYEN



The Spooks Movie – YES, THEY’RE MAKING A SPOOKS MOVIE! – is freshly underway on MI5’s home turf in London with running, shooting and people shouting “the package is down, the package is down!” at each other. Calling the shots on this bigger budget espionage-athon is director Bharat Nalluri. The series veteran has the tricky task of extending the show’s hour-long format into a feature-length thriller without jettisoning the character beats that made it so popular or palely imitating the James Bonds and Jason Bournes of this world. How will he do it? Well, as he explained, he’s got some aces up his sleeve. Here’s ten of them.

 1 THE CANVAS IS BIGGER
The plot sees MI5's Head of Counter-Terrorism Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) in deep when big bad Adam Qasim escapes and immediately sets about planning more atrocities. As Spooks fans will know, the penalty for that kind of blunder can be severe, especially with bureaucrats like Joint Intelligence Committee chief Oliver Mace (the returning Tim McInnerny) around. Which he is. "There's a reality to it, so it's got to land in a world that is real," director Bharat Nalluri explains of the set-up. "And the canvas is huge now."

2 IT'S THE PEARCE ULTIMATUM
There were moments in Spooks when the only people who didn't want to kill Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) seemed to be his mum and his Scotch supplier – and, for all we knew, his mum was having second thoughts. The IRA, Hamas, the KGB, the FSB, most of the Home Office... you name it, he's annoyed it. As Nalluri explains, the movie kicks off in exactly the same vein. Harry disappears off the grid in a manner even Sherlock Holmes would find impressively melodramatic. Suffice to say it involves swapping Thames House for the actual Thames in a faux-suicide that should throw his many enemies off the scent. As Harry goes all ghost protocol, a new face emerges to get to save an imperilled agency. It belongs to one 'Will Crombie', an old operative of Pearce's played by Kit 'John Schnnnooo' Harington. Can he save his erstwhile boss? We have no idea. They don't put that stuff on the press release.

9 ZOE WON'T BE COMING BACK...
Sadly for old-school Spookies, Keeley Hawes' decommissioned agent, Zoe Reynolds, will not be de-decommissioned for Spooks: The Greater Good, presumably because of the amount of paperwork involved and the fact that Hawes is now happily ensconced in BBC2 crime drama Line Of Duty. "Sadly not Zoe, no," confirms Nalluri when Empire asks if she'll return from her Chilean exile to rejoin the good fight. Maybe she met that South American guy after all.

10 ...BUT TOM MIGHT BE
Hearthrob super-spook Tom Quinn, a man with a ruinous love life and, come to think of it, career, is still a firm favourite in these parts. Matthew Macfadyen's character, the possible result of accidental gene splice of Ethan Hunt and Droopy Dog, returned at the end of season ten as a private sector operative harbouring some long-dormant loyalties to his former MI5 colleagues. Surely he'll back again for the movie? "Look, we brought Tom back in the very last episode of the last series," Nalluri straight-bats. "Make of that what you will!" Yes, then.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.empireonline.com/features/spooks-movie-ten-things

Hobbit heartthrob Richard Armitage to star in love tryst with Samantha Colley in The Crucible

MAIL ON LINE
By BAZ BAMIGBOYE
11 April, 2014



Newcomer Samantha Colley has been picked to appear with Hobbit heartthrob Richard Armitage in one of the year’s most important theatrical productions.

The 23-year-old from the West Country will form a lustful - but highly dangerous - liaison with Armitage in a new production of Arthur Miller’s classic The Crucible, which begins performances at the Old Vic Theatre on June 24.

She will play Abigail Williams, a love-struck girl who persuades god-fearing (and married)  John Proctor to ‘lapse’, and then, when he doesn’t want to ‘lapse’ any more, charts a spiteful course for revenge in 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2602559/BAZ-BAMIGBOYE-Hobbit-heartthrob-Richard-Armitage-star-love-tryst-Samantha-Colley-The-Crucible.html#ixzz2ygA3grUf 
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Rupert Penry-Jones on life in America: 'I want to make it in Hollywood, but I WON'T BEG'

MAIL ON LINE
By NICOLE LAMPERT
PUBLISHED: 17:30 EST, 7 March 2014 | UPDATED: 17:30 EST, 7 March 2014



Rupert Penry-Jones has just come back from Hollywood.

Brits are having a bit of a moment over there on critically acclaimed shows like The Americans, Suits and Masters Of Sex, and Rupert has the sort of leading man good looks and posh accent that should have them rolling out the red carpet for him.

The only problem is, well... it didn't go brilliantly.

'I went to meet up with a few people but it's put me off for another few years,' says Rupert.

'I don't like the way that place makes me feel. When you go out to California, unless you're a movie star, you feel like a failure and I don't want to feel like a failure. If they call me, of course I'd do it, but I'm not going to go banging on doors. It's too demeaning and humiliating. I do want to work on an American show; the best of their TV is the best in the world at the moment. But I'm not going to beg.'

He didn't come away from LA completely empty-handed - he won a small part in the second series of a pirate drama called Black Sails - but he seems a little underwhelmed by it.

'I like to go into a series from the beginning and this is the second series,' he shrugs. 'I don't know what's going to happen to my character but it was fun to film; I got to spend a few weeks in Cape Town with my friend Toby Stephens, who's also in it.'

Normally at this time of year Rupert, 43, whose mother is To The Manor Born's Angela Thorne and whose father Peter Penry-Jones was an actor too, would be filming Whitechapel; but that was axed by ITV at the end of last year. He admits he's still surprised and a little bit angry that the channel didn't let the gory detective drama have a fifth and final series.




READ MORE HERE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2575671/I-want-make-Hollywood-I-WONT-BEG-Rupert-Penry-Jones-life-America.html

Rupert Penry-Jones on Silk series 3: It feels like a grenade has been thrown in (SPOILERS)

RADIO TIMES
Emma Daly
5:10 PM, 07 February 2014



Spoilers follow

With illness, divided Chambers and complicated romance at the heart of the new series of Silk, there’s plenty to be getting on with away from the action of the court.

But while star Rupert Penry-Jones says the very nature of a courtroom drama means “it could go on and on” (all sorts of cases can be brought to court, after all) the cast aren’t sure what’s next after series three.

“If feels like everyone gets blasted in different directions at the end of the series,” Penry-Jones tells RadioTimes.com. “We all sort of end up going off in different ways and no one knows where the other person is, literally. So it kind of feels like maybe [writer Peter Moffat] has thrown a grenade in and blown the whole show up.

“You never know what to expect with [Moffat]. He’s kind of written himself into a place, I don’t know what he’s going to do next. We as a cast aren’t sure whether its been written in a way that this is it or whether it’s got more,” Penry-Jones adds.

The actor, who plays barrister Clive Reader, says it’s very much up to how people “react to the show”.

If given the chance to stick with Silk, Penry-Jones says he’s not making decisions until “there’s a decision to be made”.

“It depends on what Peter says he’s going to do with the next series, if there is another series. I stayed in Spooks for four years, and that was a long time.”

But for now there’s enough going on in Silk. Clive’s “not trying to shag everything that moves” and, now a QC, has “got a lot more confidence”.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-02-07/rupert-penry-jones-on-silk-series-3-it-feels-like-a-grenade-has-been-thrown-in

Richard Armitage's Dream Project is a Remake of a Sci-fi Classic

CLICK ONLINE
Movies by Daniel Anderson
19 December, 2013

RICHARD ARMITAGE'S DREAM PROJECT IS A REMAKE OF A SCI-FI CLASSIC

Richard Armitage is best known to audiences now as Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s new take on The Hobbit but he’s got another dream project in mind – and he wants someone to make it!

“I’ve got a big fantasy about remaking Metropolis. I don’t know that anyone will do it. I keep hinting to people about it…” says the English actor when we met him to talk about The Desolation of Smaug.

Fritz Lang’s 1927 film is a remarkable piece of cinema – a visionary film that could be said to have created the sci-fi genre as we know it. It’s still an incredible spectacle but Armitage is sure we could do even better today.

His version would also be about: “the haves the have nots and the aspiration to the perfection of beauty.” 

When asked who he’s like to play he goes on: “I’d play the human, I’d play some kind of grungy worker that’s trying to get to the surface. Tell me that wouldn’t be cool!”

- See more at: http://www.clickonline.com/movies/richard-armitages-dream-project-is-a-remake-of-a-sci-fi-classic/21838/#sthash.oaLWHs7C.dpuf