Pierce Brosnan: charm is all he needs (THE IRISH TIMES)

BY TARA BRADY

Let’s be honest. There is one adjective that describes Pierce Brosnan best. He is smooth. He is smoother than the smoothest surface sold in Smooth and Co. When he inherited the part of James Bond from Timothy Dalton, he made that fine actor seem, in retrospect, like a Welsh gorilla. That suaveness served Brosnan well while playing a variation on Tony Blair in Roman Polanski’s The Ghost . He smoothed his way delightfully (though not always tunefully) through Abba classics in Mamma Mia!

You don’t need to see him in Susanne Bier’s fine Love is All You Need to savour the Brosnan silk in action. Just listen to him talk about it.

“I did it two summers ago in Sorrento with the wonderful Susanne,” he says. “I had the time of my life. I do love this film. You get the warm embrace of a move that has heart and love.”

In the Oscar-winning Bier’s gorgeous new film, Trine Dyrholm plays a breast-cancer survivor who, while attending a wedding in Italy, becomes involved with the sleek, widowed father of the groom (not played by Timothy Dalton). Brosnan has, of course, a personal connection with the story. In 1991, Cassandra Harris, his first wife, died of Ovarian cancer, and he has campaigned tirelessly for cancer charities throughout the succeeding two decades.

“It does deal with breast cancer,” he says. “You know, no one ever goes near cancer. They don’t want to. I lost my wife to cancer. So it has that poignancy for me. Susanne had no idea of my personal circumstances when she got in touch. But it’s a man dealing with cancer and being a single father. I felt I knew it. I felt I could play it.

READ MORE: http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/pierce-brosnan-charm-is-all-he-needs-1.1363534

Hugh Grant gets an apology from Murdoch Duchess of York and Christopher Eccleston also settle hacking cases in High Court JAMES CUSICK (INDEPENDENT)

The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, actors Hugh Grant and Christopher Eccleston, and the Catholic parish priest of singer Charlotte Church, Father Richard Reardon, were among 17 phone-hacking victims offered  public apologies in the High Court  today by News International.

The “sincere” contrition and undisclosed “substantial” damages for a total of 144 cases, means that 26 victims of the News of the World’s illegal phone-hacking activities, have yet to settle with Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper division in the latest wave of claims.

Among the claimants who opted for a court-room apology were singer James Blunt, Uri Geller, Geoffrey Robinson, the former Labour minister, and Colin Stagg, the man wrongly accused of the murder of Rachel Nickell. Mr Stagg, one of the few to have his damages disclosed, was awarded £15,500.

Those who settled, but opted to keep the terms of the arrangement private, included Cherie Blair QC, the wife of the former prime minister, Ukip leader Nigel Farage, TV presenters Jamie Theakston and Chris Tarrant, Ted Beckham, the father of the former England football captain, former Tory minister Lord Blencathra, actor James Nesbitt, footballer Wayne Rooney, and BBC reporter Tom Mangold.

READ MORE:  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/hugh-grant-gets-an-apology-from-murdoch-8486935.html

Colin Firth, Helen Mirren: Colin Firth And Helen Mirren To Reprise British Monarch Roles In Separate Gigs (MOVIE LINE)

NEWSWIRE || BY: BRIAN BROOKS || SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 03:25 PM EDT


Colin Firth won an Oscar playing Britain's King George VI in the 2010 historical drama The King's Speech. And Dame Helen Mirren won her Academy Award playing the current U.K. monarch Queen Elizabeth II back in 2006 for her role in The Queen. Now both are set to wear their crowns again in two separate projects.

Firth played Elizabeth II's father, George VI in the Tom Hooper-directed feature about the WWII-era king who ascended the throne after his more dashing older brother abdicated in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson in a scandal that rocked the British Empire even as the clouds of war gathered in Europe. Also starring Helena Bonham Carter as his wife, Elizabeth, the film focused on the shy George VI, known to relatives and close friends as Bertie, who overcame a severe speech impediment to help lead his country to face the Nazi threat.


Mirren, meanwhile, will take on the role of George VI's heir, Queen Elizabeth II in a new stage play written by The Queen author Peter Morgan, according to The Guardian. Stephen Daldry will direct The Audience, which will explore her confidential meetings with her long line of British Prime Ministers from her first as a young Queen, Winston Churchill, to the current office holder, David Cameron. In The Queen, she meets with '90s-era P.M. Tony Blair (played by Michael Sheen) around the time of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales capturing a period of great tumult for the British royal family.

Read More at: http://movieline.com/2012/09/24/colin-firth-helen-mirren/

Benedict Cumberbatch 'The Simpsons' cameo details revealed Published Tuesday, Jul 10 2012, 7:14am EDT | By Alex Fletcher | (DIGITAL SPY)

Details of Cumberbatch's role have now been revealed by TV Line, who have confirmed that he will have two characters in the episode 'Love Is A Many-Splintered Thing'.

The 35-year-old will play a "snake-like character" and also the British Prime Minister.

Previous British stars who have appeared in The Simpsons include Ricky Gervais, Simon Cowell, Sting, Tony Blair and Coldplay.

The Simpsons will return for a 24th season in the fall on Fox.


READ MORE: http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/news/a392561/benedict-cumberbatch-the-simpsons-cameo-details-revealed.html

Benedict Cumberbatch: 'Sherlock' star Benedict Cumberbatch to star in 'The Simpsons' Published Thursday, Jul 5 2012, 7:06am EDT | By Alex Fletcher (DIGITAL SPY)

"I heard there was a part going in an episode," he told Britain's InStyle magazine.

 "I said, 'I hate to muscle in here guys but could I record it?' Next thing, I'm standing in a room with all those famous voices; Bart, Marge, Homer, Lisa."

 Previous British stars who have appeared in The Simpsons include Ricky Gervais, Simon Cowell, Sting, Tony Blair and Coldplay.


READ MORE: http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/s195/the-simpsons/news/a391769/sherlock-star-benedict-cumberbatch-to-star-in-the-simpsons.html