Tarantino: Idris Elba Not in ‘Django’ Because He’s a Brit January 6, 2013 | Posted by ABS Staff (ATLANTA BLACK STAR)

I know, we said no more Django Unchained posts. However, this isn’t so much a Django Unchained item (no critique nor praise of the film here), as much as it is a nod to several conversations and debates that you folks have had in various comment sections of this blog, relating to the casting of black British actors in roles as African-Americans (and vice-versa, or as Africans) whether on TV or film, as well as the, shall we say, “accent problem.”

So I thought it was worth sharing and elaborating on, as well as connecting it to previous conversations, regardless of where you stand on the matter.

In an interview with the U.K.’s Sun newspaper, while plugging the film across the pond, where it opens on the 18th of this month,Quentin Tarantino stated, while, Idris Elba was one of the actors he looked at for the lead role eventually played by Jamie Foxx, “he never stood a chance of getting the part,” because “he’s British.”

Tarantino said. “Yeah, Idris is British and this is an American story. I think a problem with a lot of movies that deal with this issue is they cast British actors to play the Southerners and it goes a long way to distancing the movie. They put on their gargoyle masks and they do their phoney accents and you are not telling an American story any more. They are just making hay of it, whether it be James Mason in Mandingo or Michael Caine in Hurry Sundown, they get British actors to do this.”

The first thing that I thought was, if he never really stood a chance of getting the part, why even look at him for the part in the first place…?

Although, I’ll say that while Idris did an excellent job portraying Stringer Bell in HBO’s The Wire, pulling off the accent rather well – so much that most audiences, and even many of his fellow Brits didn’t even know he was British – you might recall he did have some difficulty with his southern accent in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus last summer.

READ MORE: http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/01/06/tarantino-idris-elba-not-in-django-because-hes-a-brit/

Best Of Great Britain British Acting Royalty: Always In Demand, on Stage and in Hollywood By Yahoo! Contributor | Visit Britain – Mon, 22 Oct, 2012 8:17 PM EDT (OMG)

These days, it seems there's a hot new thing on the movie scene every other week. But it takes a lot more than a few red carpets and magazine covers to develop a lasting career: It takes quality performances in quality projects. Just ask these British thespians who've enjoyed decades-long careers with dozens of fine credits — and official recognition from the Queen — to their names.

Judi Dench

Dame Judi Dench began her professional acting career in 1957 with the Old Vic Company and subsequently established herself as a great British theatre actress. British audiences also knew her from a starring role in the long-running domestic comedy TV series "As Time Goes By."

Of course, she has since also established herself as a powerhouse of film. Dench appeared in no less than six films last year including the Oscar-nominated "My Week With Marilyn," biopic "J. Edgar" and box-office juggernaut "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides."

In November, she reprises the role of M, the head of Foreign Intelligence for Her Majesty's Secret Service, in the next 007 installment, "Skyfall."


Maggie Smith

With a career that's spanned highbrow ("Othello") to more mainstream fare ("Sister Act," "Harry Potter"), Dame Maggie Smith shows no sign of slowing down at the age of 77. The formidable actress, known for both dramatic and comedic roles, has most recently graced the small screen in her Emmy-winning role of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in "Downton Abbey."

While she's most recently brought her acting prowess to TV, let's not forget she's also a six-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner: for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" in 1969 and "California Suite in 1979. But she's probably best known to movie audiences worldwide for playing Professor McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" movies.

Helen Mirren

A revered stage and screen actress, Dame Helen Mirren isn't just acting royalty — she's played actual royalty on film. Her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 film "The Queen" earned the dynamo the Oscar for Best Actress. Off-screen, she turned heads with her stunning styles as she made the award-show circuit, looking sexy at 67.

But she was well known in England long before "The Queen" — as a television actress, having brought life to the gritty detective in the "Prime Suspect" series. From 1992 until 2006, she played a woman fighting for respect, and to nab suspects, in a police world dominated by men.

Next up, Mirren appears in a yet-to-be-titled Phil Spector biopic alongside Al Pacino and an Alfred Hitchcock biopic starring Anthony Hopkins.

READ MORE: http://ca.omg.yahoo.com/blogs/visit-britain-ca/british-acting-royalty-always-demand-stage-hollywood-001753471.html

Colin Firth: Preview: Coens-scripted con farce 'Gambit' gets UK trailer (CINEVUE)

By Daniel Green, Special Features

It's been over a year since British Oscar winner Colin Firth last graced our screens, starring as the duplicitous Bill Haydon in Tomas Alfredson's wonderful adaptation of spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). However, it looks like Firth was merely biding his time for the release of Gambit (2012), a new Coen brothers-scripted comedy from Michael Hoffman - the man behind George Clooney rom-com One Fine Day (1996) and 2009's Last Station. A first UK trailer for Hoffman's latest emerged today, giving us an initial glimpse of Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman and Stanley Tucci in action.

A remake of the 1966 film of the same name starring Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine, Gambit sees Ethan and Joel once again treading familiarly light ground, with a suggested tone not too dissimilar to either Intolerable Cruelty (2003) or (the far superior) Burn After Reading (2008). Firth plays Harry Deane, a stiff upper-lipped English art curator seeking revenge against his slave-driving boss Lionel Shahbandar (Rickman). Emerging with a plan to con Shahbandar into purchasing a fake version of Monet's Haystacks, currently in the possession of American rodeo queen PJ Puznowski (Diaz), Dean jets off to the States to claim his prize. However, when Puznowski flies over to London to seal the deal, the wheels quickly begin to fall off the cart.



READ MORE: http://www.cine-vue.com/2012/09/preview-coen-scripted-con-farce-gambit.html

Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Cameron Diaz And A Lion Feature In First Posters For 'Gambit' (THE PLAYLIST)

BY OLIVER LYTTELTON
SEPTEMBER 6, 2012 8:58 AM

Private art curator Harry Deane (Colin Firth) devises a finely-crafted scheme to con England's richest man and avid art collector, Lionel Shabandar, (Alan Rickman) into purchasing a fake Monet painting. In order to bait his buyer, he recruits a Texas rodeo queen (Cameron Diaz) to cross the pond and pose as a woman whose grandfather liberated the painting at the end of WWII.

BAFTA award winner Sir Tom Courtenay, Golden Globe winner Stanley Tucci and Academy Award© winner and veteran comedienne Cloris Leachman round out the cast.

For the second year in a row, it seems that we won't be getting a new Coen Brothers film. The directors had been especially prolific in recent years, with four films in four years between "No Country For Old Men" and "True Grit," but producer Scott Rudin confirmed a while back that it was unlikely that their latest, "Inside Llewlyn Davis," would be ready in time for release in 2012, despite the hopes of many. We suspect we won't see the film until Cannes next year at the earliest, but fans should take heart: a project that the brothers had a hand in will be surfacing over the next few months.

Years ago, as a paycheck assignment gig, the duo wrote a remake of the 1966 Michael Caine/Shirley MacLaine caper flick "Gambit," and after years in development hell, the film finally made it into production in 2011, with Michael Hoffman ("The Last Station") at the helm, and Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz and Alan Rickman in central roles. And Orange have just unveiled a pair of character posters for the film, focusing on Firth and Rickman's characters, as well as a lion who will presumably figure into the plot. 

READ MORE: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/colin-firth-alan-rickman-and-a-lion-feature-in-first-posters-for-gambit-20120906

The 100 British Actors and Actresses of All Time by The_Etiquette created 22 Jan 2011 | last updated - 23 Jan 2011

Agree with most of these, perhaps not this order however.  AND, where is Benedict Cumberbatch? Tom Hiddleston? Matthew Macfadyen?  Sir Kenneth Branagh??? and so many more...


HERE ARE THE FIRST TEN, ACCORDING TO IMDB:

1.

Laurence Olivier
Actor, Rebecca
He could speak William Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if he were "actually thinking them", said English playwright Charles Bennett, who met Laurence Olivier in 1927. One of Olivier's earliest successes as a Shakespearean actor on the London stage came in 1935 when he played "Romeo" and "Mercutio" in alternate performances of "Romeo and Juliet" with John Gielgud...

2.
Maggie Smith
Actress, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
One of the world's most famous and distinguished actresses, Dame Maggie Smith was born Margaret Natalie Smith in Essex. Her father was a teacher at Oxford University and her mother worked as a secretary. Smith has been married twice: to actor Robert Stephens and to playwright Beverley Cross. Her marriage to Stephens ended in divorce in 1974...

3.
Judi Dench
Actress, Casino Royale
Attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed with Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and at Old Vic Theatre. She is a ten-time BAFTA winner including Best Actress in a Comedy Series for A Fine Romance in which she appeared with her husband...

4.
Ian McKellen
Actor, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
On May 25th, 1939, in the town of Burnley, Lancashire, in the north of England, Ian Murray McKellen was born. His parents, Denis and Margery, soon moved with Ian and his sister Jean to the mill town of Wigan. It was in this small town that young Ian rode out World War II. He soon developed a fascination with acting and the theater...

5.
Michael Caine
Actor, The Dark Knight
Born Maurice Micklewhite in London, Michael Caine was the son of a fish-market porter and a charlady. He left school at 15 and took a series of working-class jobs before joining the British army and serving in Korea during the Korean War, where he saw combat. Upon his return to England he gravitated toward the theater and got a job as an assistant stage manager...

6.
John Gielgud
Actor, Gandhi
Sir John Gielgud is a highly distinguished and prolific performer who is considered to be one of the finest actors of his generation. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, Gielgud played his first Hamlet in 1930 and quickly established himself as one of the most eminent Shakespearean interpreters of his time...

7.
Helen Mirren
Actress, The Queen
Dame Helen Mirren was born in Queen Charlote Hospital, in North London to Kathleen Alexandrina Eva Matilda Rogers and Vasiliy Petrovich Mironov. Mirren attended St. Bernards High School for girls, where she would act in school productions. After high school, she began her acting career in theatre working in many titles, all the way up to Broadway.

8.
Michael Gambon
Actor, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
After joining the National Theatre, under the Artistic Directorship of Sir Laurence Olivier, Gambon went on to appear in a number of leading roles in plays written by Alan Ayckbourn. His career was catapulted in 1980 when he took the lead role in John Dexter's production of "Galileo". Since then...

9.
Peter Ustinov
Actor, Spartacus
Peter Ustinov was two times Academy Award-winning film actor, director, writer, journalist, and raconteur. He wrote and directed many acclaimed stage plays and led numerous international theatrical productions. He was born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov on April 16, 1921, in Swiss Cottage, London...

10.
David Niven
Actor, The Pink Panther
David Niven was named after the Saint's Day on which he was born, St. David, patron Saint of Wales. He attended Stowe School and Sandhurst Military Academy and served for two years in Malta with the Highland Light Infantry. At the outbreak of World War II, although a top-line star, he re-joined the army (Rifle Brigade).

SEE THE REST - WHAT NAMES ARE MISSING IN YOUR OPINION?
http://www.imdb.com/list/JCunN7-wkME/

Michael Caine Talks About Working On ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ With Christopher Nolan & Tom Hardy (FLICKS AND BITS)

It’s not like I’m counting or anything….OK, maybe I am, but we’re just 15 days away from the release the hugely-anticipated finale in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’ With that, Empire has posted a new interview with Sir Michael Caine – who’s marking his fifth collaboration with Nolan on the film – to talk all things ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’ Throughout Nolan’s Series, Michael Caine has portrayed Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler, guardian, father figure, and above all, friend. Over the course of ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight,’ Alfred has been an integral part of Bruce Wayne/Batman’s inner circle alongside Morgan Freeman’s Lucius Fox and Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon. Commenting on his experience working with Christopher Nolan, Michael Caine reveals, “It’s fabulous. And of course, one of the greatest talents of a director is casting. I once said to John Huston when I was working with him on The Man Who Would Be King, “what is the talent of a director?” He said “casting”, and you look at the cast of actors that Chris has got. It’s absolutely wonderful every time. And this one, Dark Knight Rises, is no exception. He’s got one of my favourite new young British actors, Tom Hardy, who I saw on television a couple of years ago and I went, “who the bloody hell is that?” And he’s proved me right.”

On the topic of the huge scope of ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ Michael Caine shed some light on his experience making it, “For me, it was incredible because the great thing about it was – and the secret of the success of this picture as opposed to those massive blockbusters out there – is the stunts and special effects are real. There is very, very little computer generated imaging in it. All these other ones you see a million people marching towards you, you know they’ve photographed ten and just kept doubling it up and up and up. In ours, when the stuntman falls off the roof, it’s a real man falling off the roof and hitting the bottom. And I think that is very important. It’s very human and I suppose the class of acting is a little better… For a start both Batman and the butler are Oscar-winners! (laughs). Gary Oldman, who’s the chief of police, nearly became one himself, do you see what I mean? So it’s a very high standard of acting, and a very high standard of reality. That’s the secret of that series, for me.”


READ MORE:http://www.flicksandbits.com/2012/07/05/michael-caine-talks-about-working-on-the-dark-knight-rises-with-christopher-nolan-tom-hardy/28078/

'Sherlock': Is Benedict Cumberbatch the best Holmes? [Poll] By Liz Kelly Nelson May 3, 2012 4:17 PM ET (zap 2 it)

Since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle penned his popular tales of amateur sleuth Sherlock Holmes in 1887, he's captured the imagination of readers. And filmmakers/TV execs anxious to translate the astute detective's annoying charm to the screen. With Sunday's (May 6) debut of "Sherlock" Season 2 on PBS, the clamor for Benedict Cumberbatch's Holmes is growing into a frenzy.

But all the buzz has Zap2it wondering -- is Cumberbatch the best Holmes ever?

The truth is the character is so appealing, there's plenty of room for concurrent Holmes projects. In addition to Cumberbatch, Holmes is also played on the big screen by Robert Downey Jr. in a pair of blockbuster Guy Ritchie movies. And though both are loved, they couldn't be more different.

In fact, the most popular Sherlocks over the years -- Cumberbatch, Downey and the nosy (What? He's a detective) Basil Rathbone each took a markedly different approach to the character. Rathbone's Holmes was cold, aloof and unerring. He also sported what became the shorthand for the legendary detective -- a tweed deerstalker cap and matching coat.

READ MORE:  http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/05/sherlock-is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-holmes-poll.html

NEW DARK KNIGHT RISES PLOT DETAILS REVEALED IN LICENSED MERCHANDISE TIE-IN (THE DAILY BLAM)

BY PIETRO FILIPPONI
PUBLISHED: MARCH 18, 2012 - 4:52PM
 in Film Movie News Collector's Corner

Scheduled for theatrical release this summer, The Dark Knight Rises is the third and final film in director Chris Nolan's Batman trilogy and stars Christian Bale, Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway.Film Cell Ltd., and official licensee of Warner Bros film products, has debuted one of their upcoming film cell plaques from The Dark Knight Rises.

Accompanying the product details is a brief synopsis for the film featuring information not yet released. As with their other licensed plaques, while the promotional artwork and the film cells themselves are subject to modification or change, the film's description is furnished by the studio:


READ THE REST:  http://www.dailyblam.com/news/2012/03/18/new-dark-knight-rises-plot-details-revealed-in-merchandise-tie-in