Hugh Grant The Untitled Marc Lawrence Project, starring Hugh Grant, begins filming in NYC this week by CHRISTINE on APRIL 16, 2013 · (ON LOCATION VACATIONS)

The movie, which stars Hugh Grant, Marisa Tomei and Bella Heathcote, follows “Ray Michaels (Grant) who in 1998 was on top of the world — a witty, sexy Englishman in Hollywood who had just won an Academy Award for best screenplay. Fifteen years later, he’s creatively washed up, divorced and broke. With no other options, he takes a job teaching screenwriting at a small college on the East Coast. Although the idea of teaching is less than thrilling, he hopes to make some easy money and enjoy the favors of impressionable young co-eds. What he doesn’t expect to find is romance with a single mom who has gone back to school.”

If you spot the Untitled Marc Lawrence Project filming in NYC, let us know about it at olv@onlocationvacations.com!

READ MORE: http://www.onlocationvacations.com/2013/04/16/the-untitled-marc-lawrence-project-starring-hugh-grant-begins-filming-in-nyc-this-week/

Michelle Dockery out and about in New York (Mail On-line)

'I was doing Margaret Thatcher impressions aged five,' Downton Abbey beauty Michelle Dockery makes her debut on US chat show Letterman

By Nadia Mendoza

Last updated at 12:31 PM on 10th February 2012


She doesn't look much like the Iron Lady but Michelle Dockery has revealed when she was younger it was all about doing impressions of the plummy voiced former PM.

And as the star went to the Big Apple to promote British drama Downton Abbey she was given a welcome worthy of an important public figure.

The elegant brunette showcased a simply stunning figure as she made her way into the Ed Sullivan Theater to pre-record an interview for The Late Show With David Letterman yesterday in New York.

British chic: Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery visits The Late Show with David Letterman in NYC

The 30-year-old opted for casual chic by squeezing into a pair of skinny blue jeans and an androgynous red blazer with a feminine black blouse peeping through.


More Lovely pictures and Read further:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2099127/Downton-Abbey-Michelle-Dockery-looks-striking-androgynous-blazer-killer-heels.html

Golden girls: Downton Abbey stars Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery and Joanne Froggatt swap dowdy costumes for winter chic in their bid to conquer America (Mail On Line)

By Nadia Mendoza
Last updated at 4:05 PM on 16th December 2011

It seems it's not only popstars and a certain Syco boss that can crack America.

The Downton Abbey cast are hoping to conquer the US with a visit to the Big Apple, and in light of their four Golden Globe nominations yesterday, it seems their quest is within reach.

Joanne Froggatt, Elizabeth McGovern and birthday girl Michelle Dockery - who turned 30 yesterday - attended a special screening in New York to promote the second season of their drama.

Living the dream: Downton Abbey cast members Joanne Froggatt, Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern promote their series at a screening in New York

The ITV crew took part in a Q&A with the Times Center audience, before giving a taster of the upcoming series - which premiered in the UK on September 18 but will begin in the US on January 8.
Froggatt, 31, who plays head housemaid Anna in the show, certainly has a face to capture the market across the Atlantic, looking elegant with her long blonde plait draped over her shoulder.

Breaking the US: Blonde beauty Joanne looks cute as a button with plaited hair as she promotes series two

 

Elizabeth McGovern has been recognised for Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture for Television, but faces stiff competition from Kate Winslet's efforts in Mildred Pierce.

Following her simple, yet chic lead, co-star McGovern also opted for an all-black ensemble, defying her 50 years with a glowing complexion and a pair of suede ruby slippers.

Dockery, who plays McGovern's onscreen daughter Lady Mary Crawley, completed the trio of dark shades, but added a feminine touch with a delicate lace collar and a pair of gold hoop earrings.

Deserving of their nominations: Birthday girl Michelle Dockery, who turned 30 yesterday, looked elated that the ITV drama has received four nods at the Golden Globes

Frumpy: Joanne Froggatt poses in her costume as she plays the role of Anna

The cast discussed their excitement over being nominated for four Golden Globe awards.
Michelle Dockery admitted: 'Well, we had a feeling! I mean, we first heard miniseries and Maggie (Smith) and I, you know, we were content with that.'
Hugh Bonneville explained that they heard about the show's initial nominations moments before appearing on The Today Show. 'we were just about to go on and we heard that it had been nominated for Best Miniseries, so that was fantastic,' he said.

Brits abroad: The cast members held a special Q&A before their screening nominations for Golden Globe awards.

'We got the news about that and then we went on The Today Show and received our congratulations, and that was great,' added Dan Stevens.
'And then we wandered off, and as were on the lift going to another interview, somebody suddenly got an email that Hugh and Elizabeth had been nominated as well, so that was great.'
Co-star Hugh Bonneville is set to win the title in the male version of the category for Best Actor.

It also stands to triumph as the Best Miniseries or Motion Picture for Television, but will battle The Hour, Mildred Pierce, Too Big Too Fail and Cinema Verite.

Sneak peek: The cast have filmed a Christmas Special for the festive season

Speaking about the hugely successful second season, Joanne Froggatt told reporters: 'It's so dramatic, season 2, because we start season 2 in the middle of the First World War, so obviously that brings about a great period, a period of great change for everybody, for the house, for the whole world, so obviously the stakes are higher, there's more drama, but it's really still got a really fantastic humor to it as well. It hasn't lost the humor. So it's a real roller coaster, season 2, I think."

'And for Jo and I, our through line is still the romance, for Jo between Anna and Bates, and Matthew and Mary, so amongst everything else there's still that kind of will they/won't they element to both, to all four of the characters,' said Michelle Dockery.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2075085/Downton-Abbey-Elizabeth-McGovern-Michelle-Dockery-Joanne-Froggatt-ditch-dowdy-costumes-glamour-bid-conquer-America.html#ixzz1gjgLer8Z

Downton Abbey New York Premiere (Wall Street Journal)

By MARSHALL HEYMAN

 

In our culture at the moment, there's Bieber Fever. There are also Twi-Hards, a.k.a individuals really into "Twilight" and all its ancillary entertainments, Stieg Larsson obsessives (they love a mystery), and plenty of people mad for "Mad Men." Presumably, there are pockets of America that are really excited about "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and can't wait for the release of the second sequel, "Chip-Wrecked," this weekend. Introduce yourselves sometime!

Patrick McMullan

Paul Kerger with Anna Deavere Smith at the season premiere for 'Downton Abbey,' held at the MoMA.

Come January, much of that noise will be drowned out—at least within certain sophisticated segments of the media—by those among us who are really into the PBS and Masterpiece Classic series "Downton Abbey." Call them Abbey Acolytes, Abbey Addicts or Downton Divas. Whatever you do, just get out of the view of their television sets when the second season premieres on Jan. 8. (It has already been showing to British audiences in the U.K.)

Patrick McMullan

Joanne Froggatt

Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter and his wife, Anna, are especially into the show—they caught it before it broke in the United States—and, in turn, Mr. Carter's magazine has been particularly supportive of the series. On Wednesday, he hosted a screening of the second season's first episode, inviting several members of the cast and production team. This seemed to be a pretty hot ticket. Tamara Mellon, Nora Ephron and Nick Pileggi, Princess Firyal of Jordan, Pepe Fanjul and Dixon and Arianna Boardman all chose this over seeing "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" premiering nearby at the Ziegfeld.

Patrick McMullan

Gareth Neame with Rebecca Eaton and Graydon Carter.

"This is a PBS night, but it's not a fund-raiser," said Mr. Carter. The show "was like the Super Bowl" over in England, he continued, adding he is already fully caught up on season two.

Rebecca Eaton, the much heralded executive producer of Masterpiece and Mystery!, said that in season two, "someone will die and someone will be born and someone will be engaged, but I can't tell you how or who."

Why did she think the show was just so darn successful on both sides of the pond? In the U.S., it gets far higher ratings than most anything on NBC.

Patrick McMullan

Hugh Bonneville with Michelle Dockery.

"In spite of the fact it's about the 1% and its tremendous eye candy potential, I think Julian Fellowes has written a group of people who are actually trying to do the right thing," said Ms. Eaton, who lives in Boston. "They're heroes of the romantic or political variety. It's also a fabulous adult soap opera. I, for one, love the clothes and can't wait to hear what Maggie Smith is going to say next."

As for Ms. Eaton's own current television obsessions, they include Charlie Rose, "even though that's so public television," and "The Good Wife." "Sometimes I just fast forward to see Alan Cumming's scenes," she said. "I'm looking forward to his one-man 'Macbeth,' but why would anyone do that to himself? It makes me so nervous."

"Downton Abbey" came about when the show's executive producer, Gareth Neame, met with Mr. Fellowes and asked "if he could ever recreate an episodic series in the vein of his movie 'Gosford Park," Mr. Naeme said. "That movie had such a sense of relaxation in his great hands. We wanted the show to feel like a very contemporary narrative. It's not an adaptation of a book."

Patrick McMullan

Ernie Pomerantz, Marie Brenner, Nora Ephron and Nick Pileggi.

Still, that doesn't spell "international phenomenon." Anyone else have ideas?

"If I knew why the show was so successful, I'd be a billionaire," said Hugh Bonneville, who stars as Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, and enjoys watching "Curb Your Enthusiasm" "on loop" in his spare time. "But unlike in a lot of period drama, no one knows what happens next. It's not Dickens, it's not Austen. It's produced on a serial basis. You think you're watching a story you know, but you don't."

In a Q&A later, Mr. Bonneville said a 10-year-old at his son's school came up to him on the playground to complain about Thomas, the servant. The show's popularity, he added, clearly "runs so broad and so deep."

"There's a character for everybody, somebody that we all love to hate," said Joanne Froggatt, who plays the maid Anna on the show and, in real life, is really into the original Danish version of "The Killing," recently remade for American TV.

"I think it starts with the writing," said Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawly). Off-screen, she can't get enough of "Nurse Jackie." "Julian is so talented in intertwining narratives."

"I've done a lot of BBC, and they've scarcely made an impression. Not even my parents-in-law care to watch," said Simon Curtis, the director of "My Week With Marilyn." He was at the event to support his other half, Elizabeth McGovern, the one American actress in the show and is especially partial to "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men." ("I have an iTunes account," he said, as for how he's all caught up in the U.K.)

Mr. Curtis went on: "In 'Downton Abbey,' there's something about the structure of the house. People like this world with rules. It's a comforting watch, and they've cast it brilliantly. And there's an American character in the show, and she's played by my wife."

"Well, I don't think that's why they like the show," retorted Ms. McGovern. "Part of it is the highbrows think it's not demeaning to your intellect. It's an escape that doesn't make you feel dirty. In fact, it can even make you feel slightly smug."

Ms. McGovern thought for a moment. "You know, there are just things people can't control in the Zeitgeist, no matter how good you are. It doesn't happen a lot of the time."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203893404577100780704369546.html  Wall Street Journal

Alan Rickman: “You can’t judge the character you’re playing, ever”

December 5, 2011 by Chris McKittrick

Alan Rickman doesn’t appear on the New York stage very often, so when he does it’s a cause to pay attention. One of the few great English actors who hasn’t gotten a well-deserved “Sir” in front of his name yet, Rickman has returned to the New York stage in Seminar, which also features Jerry O’Connell.

Though British, Rickman has a deep affinity for the Broadway stage than London’s West End. He explains, “I love working in New York theater. … It is very demanding, but it’s good to be in a city where you feel that theater is actually part of the life of the city. You know, London is so sprawling, and you can sometimes forget that anybody else is on a stage anywhere else. But here, it’s, you know, your friends and neighbors.”

So what does Rickman, who has appeared in dozens of movies, enjoy so much about acting for the stage? It’s all about the interplay between the actors, he says.

“I’m very aware that when one is acting in the theater, you do become kind of animal about it. And you’re reliant on instincts rather than tact a lot of the time. So the rehearsal room does become a bit of a marketplace, and new plays risk everybody’s sensibilities. That’s the whole point about them. But, you know, hopefully, ultimately, [Seminar playwright Theresa Rebeck is] happy because she knows we’re all there because we respect her writing so much.”

Daily Actor