Big-budget movies or TV? It’s all the same for Rellik star Ray Stevenson

The Sunday Post
Written by Bill Gibb, 25 September 2017

Brought up in Northumberland, Ray now flies halfway round the world to share a screen with Cate Blanchett.

And as iN10 catches up with him to chat about the BBC’s gritty serial killer drama, he admits it’s not the worst acting gig around.

Northern Ireland-born Ray plays Volstagg, one of the characters in the blockbuster Thor franchise.

“He wasn’t going to be in Thor 3 but then Marvel decided to fly me down to Brisbane to shoot a scene with Cate,” explains Ray.

“It was great. My kids were on set while she was destroying every known world in the universe.

“When you fly back, you’ve no idea what planet you’re on, but it’s a high class problem to have.

“The toughest thing is what to do between jobs, to just try and be normal.”

Ray has become one of Hollywood’s favourite Brit stars and Oscar-winner Blanchett is just one luminary he’s found himself acting alongside.

One of his three forthcoming films, Final Score, sees him play Pierce Brosnan’s brother and he’s also been in movies with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.

“I’ve had the most tremendous time. I went toe-to-toe with The Rock in GI Joe: Retaliation.

“I’ve got about a quarter of a centimetre height on him, but his arms are the size of my legs!

“All credit to him. He’s completely committed himself to such a playing range and he does it with such conviction.

“And then there was Denzel Washington, a double Oscar-winner. He was a consummate actor and a very decent person.

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/big-budget-movies-or-tv-its-all-the-same-ray-stevenson/

Matthew Macfadyen (Oblonsky makeup) interview for Anna Karenina

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/anna-karenina/interview-matthew-macfadyen

Trailer Addict

Matthew Macfadyen: Darcy´s letter, a secret homage to Colin Firth.(PEMBERLY STATE OF MIND)

(Deborah Moggach, Screenwriter)

“Colin Firth I think was a bit daunting. I never talked to Matthew Macfadyen about it. I mean was a hard act to follow, he set a million, billion female bosoms heaving!! I know people watch that video again and again and again. Ours is just a different Mr. Darcy and he´s absolutely extraordinary. A lot of the people involved in the film hadn´t seen the TV adaptation so I don´t think they were inhibited or daunted as much as I was, because I´d seen it.

I gave a homage to Colin Firth secretly. When I have to write a letter, the letter that Darcy´s painting is saying that `being unable to sleep, I got up early and went out to the lake and I was just about to tear off my shirt and dive into the water when the arrival of a gamekeeper puts an end to such foolishness´. I had Matthew writing that as a little homage.

I think the two things can co-exit, that was eight years ago. There´s a whole new generation and our Darcy is MY Darcy. So he´s wonderful.”

http://pemberley-state-of-mind.tumblr.com/

MATTHEW MACFADYEN INTERVIEW FOR ANNA KARENINA (BUSS SUGAR)

http://www.buzzsugar.com/Matthew-Macfadyen-Interview-Anna-Karenina-25250361

Luke Evans - Vogue

Theatre was his first love, cinema - a more recent passion. Born in 1979, Luke Evans belongs to a new generation of actors who was quick to win over the interest of Hollywood’s biggest names. Known to cinema-goers for his role in Clash of the Titans and The Three Musketeers, he has been quickly noticed by fashion houses which see in him the ideal image of the young, bad boy full of charm. Striped T-shirts, jeans and leather jacket are the staple pieces in his wardrobe, especially the jacket given that his secret wish was to be a biker. "I love leather jackets, I always wanted to live my life in the saddle of a motorbike but my mum wasn’t very happy with that…"


Read the rest of this article and WATCH HIS BEAUTIFUL VIDEO - CLICK HERE

DURAN DURAN FORCED TO RESCHEDULE EUROPEAN SUMMER TOUR ------ THREE MUSKETEERS OPENING DATE CHANGED

http://www.duranduran.com/wordpress/2011/duran-duran-forced-to-reschedule-european-summer-tour-due-to-singer-simon-le-bons-vocal-problems/

July 1st, 2011

British rock band, Duran Duran have today announced that they are being forced to cancel their upcoming European summer tour, that was due to start on Thursday 14 July in Dublin, Ireland and run through mid September, due to lead singer Simon Le Bon’s ongoing vocal problems. Doctor’s believe that Le Bon damaged the muscles controlling his vocal chords during a show in Cannes in early May of this year, causing him to temporarily lose the top part of his range. With continued physiotherapy and a rigorous treatment plan, the singer’s medical team are certain that he will return to full health in the near future, but as the exact timing of this cannot be predicted, they are recommending moving the European dates so as to avoid disappointing fans at the last minute.

The band members are devastated at the news that the shows will not go ahead as planned and are keen to try to reschedule as many dates as possible for later in the year or early 2012. While they wait for Simon’s full recovery, they are working together in the studio, rehearsing, to assist with the rehabilitation process.
The postponement of the ‘All You Need Is Now World Tour’, in support of the band’s thirteen studio album, which was scheduled to kick off in the UK in May, marks only the second time in the band’s 30 year career that they have had to move a number of shows for any medical reason. Today’s announcement has been a particularly hard one to make, as Simon has improved dramatically since the incident in France a few weeks ago, and he feels that he’ll be back at 100% capacity shortly. What the band members do not want to continue doing, however, is moving or canceling shows at the last moment as they recognize how difficult this is for both their fans and the teams promoting the dates. With this in mind, they have agreed to move the entire European summer run and will not be putting anything back in the calendar until Le Bon is in full voice.
The full run of upcoming European concerts is listed below. The hope is to reschedule as many of these as possible, so fans should hold on to their tickets that will be valid for the new dates. Details will be available as soon as the band are able to secure venues on www.duranduran.com, together with the local promoters’ websites.

July
Thursday 14 Dublin, Ireland
Saturday 16 London, UK – iTunes Festival
Monday 18 Leipzig, Germany
Tuesday 19 Munich, Germany
Friday 22 Brenta, Italy
Saturday 23 Milan, Italy
Saturday 24 Savoia, Italy
Tuesday 26 Thessaloniki, Greece
Thursday 28 Istanbul, Turkey
Saturday 30 Tel Aviv, Israel

August
Monday 1 Ayia Napa, Cyprus
Thursday 4 Vienna, Austria
Saturday 6 Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Monday 8 Mallorca, Spain
Wednesday 10 Estepona, Spain
Friday 12 Ibiza, Spain
Saturday 13 Hamburg, Germany
Tuesday 16 Abufeira, Portugal
Saturday 20 V Festival, Stafford, UK
Sunday 21 V Festival, Chelmsford, UK
Wednesday 24 Warsaw, Poland
Friday 26 Langesund, Norway
Saturday 27 Oslo, Norway
Sunday 28 Bergen, Norway

September
Friday 2 Den Haag, Holland
Thursday 8 Copenhagen, Denmark
Saturday 10 Brussels, Belgium
Monday 12 Paris, France

Speaking from the UK today, where all of the band members met to discuss the fate of the tour, singer Simon Le Bon said “This has been an extremely difficult decision to make as the injury I seem to have sustained is an internal one and so no-one can tell me exactly how long it’s going to take to mend completely. Every day I can see an improvement and each week I recover a part of my upper range. What the doctor’s don’t want me to do, however, is risk any further damage, so they are saying I need to take some more time away from shows to get back to full strength. If we knew exactly when that might be, we wouldn’t have to let this entire run of dates go, but what we feel we can’t keep doing is moving shows piecemeal – as it’s just not fair on the fans. I am lucky that this has never happened to me before, in thirty years, and that the injury, whilst extremely frustrating is nothing more serious. I am doing everything I can to work through this and get back on track as soon as possible. We have an incredible production we’ve been working on for this tour – and the new songs are sounding great. This couldn’t have come at a worse time – but I am trying to be philosophical about my recovery as there’s nothing else I can do.”

Summit Pushes 'Three Musketeers' Back a Week to Oct. 21

Published: June 29, 2011 @ 10:59 am

By Joshua L. Weinstein

Summit Entertainment announced Wednesday that it's pushing the release of Paul W.S. Anderson's "The Three Musketeers" back one week to Oct. 21 from Oct. 14.
On Oct. 14, the adaptation would have had to face off against Fox comedy "The Big Year," as well as remakes of "Footloose" and "The Thing," from Paramount and Universal, respectively.
On Oct. 21, it will serve as counter-programming to Paramount's third "Paranormal Activity" film.
"Three Musketeers" stars Mila Jovovich, Logan Lerman, Orlando Bloom, Juno Temple, Luke Evans and Christoph Waltz.
The film was shot in Germany and is now in post-production.

RAY STEVENSON

Getty

Ray Stevenson at the premiere of “Thor” in Hollywood.

Ray Stevenson definitely has presence. First of all, the actor is 6’4”. Then, there’s the personality which is just as big and hearty. The Englishman (who now lives in of all places, Ibiza – more on that later) is gregarious and charming, while at the same time being every bit of manly man in the vein of fellow UK’ers, Sean Connery and Clive Owen.
Stevenson has come a bit late to the star party – but he’s fine with that. His most recognizable role to date was as everyman Titus Pullo, in the series “Rome” on HBO which reached an untimely demise after only two seasons. This weekend, he debuts as Volstagg in “Thor” – Marvel’s bid to open up summer with a superhero bang and tease us since later this year they’ll be offering up the likes of “X-Men First Class” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” not to mention “Spiderman” and “The Avengers” in 2012. In “Rome” we were given a birdseye view of Stevenson top to bottom; in “Thor” it’s a different story. He’s not only wrapped up in a fat suit – he’s virtually unrecognizable in a throng of red hair and matching beard. Volstagg is based on Shakespeare’s Falstaff, a jolly character and trouble maker; which is a bit ironic, as the next time we’ll see Mr. Stevenson, he’ll be playing Porthos is “The Three Musketeers”…another character known for his comedic – not to mention – mischievous ways with a love of wine, women and song. Here the actor talks about his co-star Chris Hemsworth, living outside the confines of Hollywood and the twist of fate that got him the Porthos gig with Paul W. S. Anderson.
The Wall Street Journal: You just saw the film for the first time on opening night.
Ray Stevenson: The red carpet was huge! It took an hour and a half just to get down it. And I loved the film – it reminds me of the movies I used to go see as a kid. It doesn’t set itself up to send a message or be politically correct; it’s Thor!
What are your thoughts on Mr. Thor himself?
Chris Hemsworth is just blinding. You never lose absolute belief that he’s Thor. It’s such a fine line, it could be so hammy but he plays it with such aplomb and such passion.
Plus he’s pretty.
Well, I don’t see it myself…no, he’s gorgeous and he’s the real deal.
I would imagine that you’re usually the biggest guy on the set in terms of stature.
Well I was in my fat suit!
But in this film you had someone comparable in Chris [who stands at 6’4” as well].
Plus the fact he’s ripped, lumps on lumps. That’s a man’s view – lumpy. He worked so hard to get that body. And it’s not L.A. cut – there’s nothing aggressive about it – the body had to have an epic, heir apparent persona. There’s a great theatrical quality to it.
Well this film is pretty epic.
Most films are about 10,000 feet of film. Guess how much we shot? 300 miles of film under Ken’s (Branagh) direction. A great director. I’ve got one word to sum up Ken: He’s fierce. He’s fiercely loyal to his cast and crew, and fiercely passionate and enthusiastic about a project…and furthermore, he will fiercely defend against anything that might compromise the integrity of his project.
“Rome” is the role you’ve become most famous for.
Basically it changed my life – I learned how to get out of my own way…Pullo taught me a hell of a lot. [It was like] This is where the gods put you and this is the life you’re having, rather than focusing on why I didn’t get a particular role…or focusing on the career you think you should be having and missing on the career you are having. That’s another reason I don’t live out here – [acting] it’s looked at almost as a competitive art – but it’s not a competition. Plus people don’t want to leave L.A. because they are worried about missing out on something – what are you going to bring to people you’re playing if you don’t explore? You’re bringing L.A., and end up going to the opening of a crisp packet. I’m breaking a lot of glass ceilings building a career in my 40’s and not living in L.A., but it seems to be alright. I’m a gypsy – I’m always traveling on a shoot or something. My girlfriend and I (and their two sons) live in Ibiza…
What? Who lives in Ibiza?
Somebody’s got to be there to turn the lights and the sound system off at the end of night!
You’re playing Porthos in your next film “The Three Musketeers.” Wikipedia describes him as the ‘extrovert of the group, enjoying wine, women and song.’
But he’s also a brute. Let me give you a little background on this…I was coming to the end of Thor – four months in a fat suit.
Heavy.
50 lbs. But we’d pretty much wrapped and I was getting ready to head back to Europe. One night I get the most excruciating tooth ache of I’ve ever had and they ended up having to extract it so I couldn’t fly and had to stay in L.A. for an extra week. During that time my agent called and told me there wasn’t really anything in “3 Musketeers” for me but asked if I want to come over for a general and just meet. Which we did, and then off I went…and the next day my agent called and said “What did you do? They’re offering you Porthos.” All that because of a toothache.
The costumes for the film look incredible.
Absolutely they were. One last story about this film. Our costume designer Pierre-Yves (Gayard) is a beautiful man …but a little nervous quality to him – but his work is just architecturally stunning. At one point about two thirds through the movie, he sort of gingerly approached Paul and said “I have a problem…I don’t know how I have time to get the material from Paris for the 100 nuns on the Duke of Buckingham’s ship.” And Paul says “What hundred nuns?” They check the script and there was a typo…it was supposed to be a hundred guns.

THREE MUSKETEERS IN 3D - MATTHEW MACFADYEN, RAY STEVENSON

TRAILER DEBUT FOR THREE MUSKETEERS JUNE 28 -ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT

Summit Entertainment has tweeted;

See D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis in THE THREE MUSKETEERS trailer debut on Entertainment Tonight tomorrow (7:30pm ET)! That was 15 hours ago on 28 June (GMT) so I am assuming it is going to be shown US time on 28 June!