Sunday 27 May 2012

David Tennant: 'True Love' & 'The Spies of Warsaw' updates


True Love
The BBC have released some promotional pictures of former Doctor Who David Tennant and companion Billie Piper from an upcoming BBC drama, True Love

This five-part series will be "stripped" across the week (Monday to Friday), starting June 18 on BBC One with Tennant's episode (Piper's is the third). Actor David Morrissey (The Next Doctor) is also set to star in an installment.

True Love explores five powerful and overlapping love stories set in the same town. Each story looks at a different relationship and explores a different dilemma or situation. When it comes to love and relationships, there is never an easy "right answer" – telling the truth is complicated, and the conflict of desire and responsibility can be explosive. 

Source (with large images): Blogtor Who

More information about True Love can be found at David Tennant on Twitter, here.










The Spies of Warsaw
David Tennant is in Poland at the moment, filming The Spies of Warsaw.

From David Tennant on Twitter:

A very short video clip of David Tennant in Poland has been posted onto the internet.
The webpage is about the signing of the cooperation between TVP (Poland) and BBC (UK) because the Polish company especially believe that the co-production of The Spies Of Warsaw has been very successful. At the bottom of the article is a video. David Tennant appears (with the Nieborow Palace behind him) at about 15 seconds. 
Read more at David Tennant on Twitter (blog)

For more details of David’s involvement in this project, including shooting schedules and set photos, visit the Spies of Warsaw section of the main David Tennant on Twitter website.

Watch The 'Doctor Who' Minisode 'Good As Gold'


From Blogtor Who:
CBBC children's show Blue Peter included the winning entry for this year's Script To Screen competition run by the BBC. Starring Matt Smith as the Doctor and Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, the Olympics-inspired story was filmed at BBC Wales Roath Lock studios in Cardiff and was created by three talented pupils from Ashdene Primary School in Wilmslow.

The three-minute winning script was chosen by Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, Katy Jones BBC Learning executive producer and Caroline Skinner, executive producer of Doctor Who

Skinner praised the quality of the scripts, saying: “We loved reading all of the scripts from schools across the UK and the standard of entries was truly outstanding. It was a difficult, but a tremendously fun task to choose a winner and it was just brilliant to see so many children being creative in developing an adventure for the Doctor. We hope all fans enjoy this special one-off mini episode!”

You can watch the Doctor Who mini~episode, titled Good As Gold, in the player at Blogtor Who

Also shared by Crave Online




Alan Cumming: Macbeth interview, CATS host, Picture Our Subway campaign

Interview: Alan Cumming on staging a one-man Macbeth
Aberfeldy’s most famous son on the toil and trouble of making Shakespeare

How much doom and gloom can one man take? For most actors, it would be enough of a mental burden to take on the role of Macbeth, the warrior king whose ambition leads to self-destruction. But for Alan Cumming, that’s only the start of it. In a new production of Macbeth, the Perthshire actor is taking on every character in Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy, from Lady Macbeth to the sinister coven of witches.

Not only that, but he and his two directors, John Tiffany and Andrew Goldberg, have set the whole thing in a psychiatric hospital, complete with snooping CCTV cameras, in a high-tech production by the National Theatre of Scotland. Here, the play becomes the fevered imaginings of a mentally ill patient. It means Cumming must portray Macbeth’s murderous rise and fall through the lens of a character with an already troubled mind. ‘In his psychotic state, he performs the play of Macbeth, so there’s another narrative on top of the story and, at some point, the patient’s narrative and the play merge,’ he says.

It’ll put Cumming under the kind of emotional pressure he last felt in 2006 when he starred in a London production of Bent, Martin Sherman’s devastating play about Nazi persecution of homosexuals. ‘I am healthily aware of the danger of doing a play about tyrants, madness and violence that’s set in a mental hospital,’ he says, grabbing a bowl of soup in a rehearsal break. ‘I’m aware of the potential for slithering down the slippery slope to doom and despair. When I was doing Bent, which was a really devastating thing to do every night, I just made sure I had absolute fun as soon as the curtain came down and I think I’m going to have to do that now. Rather fortuitously and tragically, I discovered there’s a beautiful bar round the corner from where I live that’s open until 5am. That’s going to be the counter to my gloomy thane.’

The decision to do the play single-handed (with actors Myra McFadyen and Ali Craig standing by as hospital staff) stems from Freud’s vision of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as two sides of the same coin. Cumming originally imagined a production in which he and his costar would swap the two lead roles each night. One idea led to another, and here he is, playing the whole lot, learning about Shakespeare’s multifarious worldview as he goes.

‘I see Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as two parts of the same person,’ he says. ‘My reason for wanting to do this play was based on the way the women are always chiding the men about their masculinity. I’ve been doing vocal exercises exploring the masculine voice and the feminine voice, and looking at the way we use our voice in different ways at different times. Certain lines of Lady Macbeth are most effective in a masculine voice, and then other lines by Macbeth or other characters are done in a feminine voice. There’s a whole lot of interesting things about the wiles we use to make our way in the world.’

Although the hospital setting provides a justification for the play to be performed by a single actor, the real reason for the relocation lies in the play itself. As Cumming sees it, Macbeth is a study in mental breakdown: ‘We had a psychiatrist in rehearsals the other day and it’s fascinating. I think it’s safe to say that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lose their minds or lose their reason; there are illusions all the time; Macbeth thinks he sees things; there are visions and maybe the witches are that, certainly they’re conjuring things; Lady Macbeth is probably the first character in literature with obsessive compulsive disorder; there’s so much talk of insanity and big examples of it.’

All of which means Cumming will be taking a singular vision of the play home to New York in July after its Glasgow run. The NTS is not about to give the Americans a romanticised view of Scotland, even with a play set in the actor’s childhood stomping ground of Birnam, Glamis and Cawdor. The radical take on the play is typical, Cumming feels, of a generation of artists in Scotland who are neither backward-looking nor isolationist in their approach.

‘The play is more about the human condition than Scottishness, but maybe it’s an insight into what Scotland’s going to be like when it gets independence,’ says the actor, who endorsed Alex Salmond at the last election. ‘Since devolution, Scotland has turned outward and has more confidence and also can’t blame England for everything any more – that’s a really healthy thing.

‘The SNP have been so good for the arts. The way they’ve placed the arts in education, for example, is amazing – not just head and shoulders but an entire torso above many other countries. I’m here right now in an amazing job, which is only there because the theatre company was founded due to devolution and the SNP supporting it. Scotland’s engagement in the arts is really unusual. It’s experimental and forward-thinking, but at the same time, it’s very traditional.’

Regardless of his American citizenship and marriage to New York graphic artist Grant Shaffer, he says his connection to Scotland is undiminished: ‘Being Scottish is like being Jewish; it’s about a thing inside you. I’ve talked about this with Jewish people, even people who are not at all religious; it’s about having very strong connections to what formed you as a person. It’s based on all the different things that are good about the country right now, like fairness, making sure everyone is looked after, fighting injustice and understanding the necessity of celebration and the arts. Those are really Scottish traits and as you go around the world, you begin to understand them in comparison with what other people are like. The way I’m perceived in America is completely about being Scottish; it’s about being open, having a sense of joy, taking no shit, but also about being quite provocative.’

Macbeth, Tramway, Glasgow, Wed 13–Sat 30 Jun.
Source: TheList


Tramway are alerting fans to the fact that there are only a few tickets left for Alan Cumming in Macbeth. 
See here for details




Alan Cumming is to host this year’s Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland
Read more at The List 



Alan Cumming backs Picture Our Subway campgain
Alan Cumming has backed a campaign to stop Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) from banning photography on Glasgow's Subway.

The Scots actor tweeted a link to Picture Our Subway, a group set up by city photographer David Bennett, who has branded the proposed bylaw "draconian".

If the ban goes through it could see people who shoot photos or videos on the network hit with a £1000 fine.
Source: Evening Times

Read more at Alan's blog 








Ewan McGregor: UNICEF support



Ewan McGregor is the latest star to record a PSA calling for aid in the Sahel region of West Africa.

The UNICEF ambassador has added his voice to stars such as Selena Gomez and Mia Farrow in raising awareness of the drought that has caused severe crop failures and food shortages across West Africa. UNICEF estimates over 1 million children under the age of five will suffer from severe acute malnutrition in 2012. The aid agency has launched a campaign to raise US$120 million to help relieve the effects of the drought, but only 66% of that total has been raised so far.

“Children in the Sahel region of West Africa are at risk of starving to death. Drought, failed harvests and increasing insecurity have created a humanitarian crisis on the verge of disaster,” said Ewan in his PSA. “We can stop these children from dying. UNICEF is the largest provider of emergency life-saving food for children in the region, but we have to do more before it’s too late.”

If the player below doesn't work, click here to watch Ewan’s PSA.


James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain to star in 'Eleanor Rigby'



James McAvoy will star opposite Jessica Chastain in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.

The Scottish actor will play the restaurant owner husband of Jessica's character in the double feature which will follow the couple as they deal with ''an emotional, life-altering experience'' when the wife goes back to college.

The unique project will tell their story in two movies and from each of their perspectives and will be called The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers.

However, the double love story, which has been written and will be directed by Ned Benson, will be stand-alone movies.

Kirk D'Amico from Myriad Pictures - who will sell the movie at Cannes - said in a statement: ''I am thrilled that we can share the excitement of James joining the cast with our buyers in Cannes, who have been so enthusiastic about the project from the beginning. James is one of the finest actors working today and I look forward to seeing Ned's rich, complex characters come alive.

''The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby represents an alternate approach to content. New distribution models make it creatively possible for feature films to break out of the format of one 90-minute experience.

''We have to make both films work on their own, both for the buyers but also for the audiences. Together these films will describe a fully, more complete look at these characters and their lives.''

Casting director-turned-producer Cassandra Kulukundis will produce.

Source: AZcentral

Also reported by Entertainment Weekly and STV 


John Barrowman: conventions and TV appearances


John Barrowman to appear at Collectormania Milton Keynes
John Barrowman has been announced as a guest for Collectormania Milton Keynes. John will appear on Saturday 2 June.
Source: Showmasters 
For more information on the event, check out the Showmasters Forum here
  In other convention news,  John Barrowman News tweeted links to photos from The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
The photos can be viewed on John Barrowman's website, here.
Source: Celeb Tweets


An Audience with Joan Rivers
John Barrowman will be a guest on An Audience With Joan Rivers at 8 p.m. on Tuesday 29 May (LOGO – US cable TV)

Source: LiveJournal



‘Songs for Amy’ screening cancelled in Cannes


An Irish film due to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival was pulled at the last minute due to technical difficulties. The very first screening of Irish movie Songs for Amy which stars Sean Maguire (you might remember him from Eastenders), James Cosmo and Patrick Bergin, was cancelled at the last minute at the prestigious Cannes film festival last night.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, writer and producer of the film, Fiona Graham said that the festival organisers apologised for the error, but said they had lost a crucial opportunity to screen Songs for Amy to potential buyers.

Graham said that a lot of time had been spent marketing the film in advance of its planned screening yesterday at The Market Cinema.

Despite the fact that a test showing of the film had been successfully carried out in the cinema the day before, Ms Graham says they were told the screening had to be cancelled due to technical difficulties.

She said: "We had a huge crowd outside the cinema and we had to turn everybody away."

"There were no other cinemas they could use. 500 films screen here and they had no space for us to be able to re-schedule the film at short notice. And to re-schedule it the following day wasn't an option as most of the sales agents and distributors would be leaving today.

"It's a great blow because we had key cast that had flown in from all over the world, we had Kevin Ryan who flew in from Toronto.

"We'd been promoting the film for months for the showing here at Cannes and we were out here for a week, we had the musicians playing the sound track all over town, generally creating a great buzz for the film.

"Our whole purpose of being here was obviously for the screening at Cannes and that would have been our European Premiere and unfortunately that didn't happen."

The film will now have its Irish and European Premiere in Galway on the 11th July.

Source: RTE Ten
 

Kevin McKidd: Speyside Sessions trailer, and Macallan photoshoot


A trailer for Kevin McKidd's forthcoming album Speyside Sessions has been released by The Speyside Sessions official site:

Entertainment Weekly have an exclusive ‘behind-the-scenes’ video here



Photshoot: Kevin McKidd By Annie Leibovitz For Macallan
Annie Leibovitz photographed in NY Scottish actor Kevin McKidd [Grey's Anatomy] for the third edition of Macallan Masters of Photography series. The Macallan Masters of Photography series features exclusive collaborations, conjoining the art of whisky making with the artist’s interpretation of the world of The Macallan.
See both photos at OhLaLaMag





BBC announce more cast for their ambitious adaptation of an Emile Zola novel

.







The BBC have announced more cast for their adaptaion of Emile Zola's classic novel Au Bonheur Des Dames, now titled The Paradise.

Sarah Lancashire (Five Daughters), David Hayman (Trial and Retribution), Elaine Cassidy (Fingersmith), Matthew McNulty (The Syndicate) and Emun Elliott (Game of Thrones) will join the previously announced Joanna Vanderham (The Runaway) in the 8 part series.

The series will be filmed on location in the North East of England and has been adapted by Bill Gallagher (Larkrise to Candleford). Gallagher had this to say, "I like writing long-run ensemble dramas because I can write for actors. Any writer would relish writing for this wonderful cast."

The Paradise centres around the ambitious Denise Lovett (Vanderham) who arrives in the city to work in her uncle's shop but when he cannot help she lands a job in the glamorous department store The Paradise which provides a backdrop for her rags to riches tale. It is here that Denise meets The Paradise's dashing owner John Moray (Elliot) who inspires in her a passion and creativity she didn't know she had.

Pat Connor of BBC North said, " The Paradise is the biggest BBC drama to be made in the North East. BBC North is proud to support this production which underlines our commitment to making the very best programming here in the North for the entire UK."

Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, Ben Stephenson described the series as, "a romantic relationship drama set in a bustling Northern department store where Bill Gallagher's well crafted characters will bring an addictive mix of love and gossip to BBC One."

The drama begins filming on location outside Durham in June and will be produced by BBC Drama Productions.

Source: This Is Fake DIY

Billy Boyd: 'Space Milkshake' trailer

Robin Dunne, who is best known as Dr. Will Zimmerman on the Syfy science fiction show, Sanctuary, has released a full length feature trailer of his new science fiction comedy, Space Milkshake on Twitter.

The science fiction comedy is mainly about the story of a group of four space workers who are on a rundown orbital sanitation station who find trouble when unknown alien force comes aboard. But that is not when the danger begins, but the fun. The film also co-stars Billy Boyd, best known for his role in the The Lord of The Rings trilogy, and Kristin Kreuk, best known for her role as Lana Lang on the CW show, Smallville.



Source: WormholeRiders 

Angus MacFadyen: Copperhead update

Copperhead, Ron Maxwell’s latest film now shooting in Atlantic Canada, is ostensibly about families on the homefront split by the bloodshed of the American Civil War.

But as much as the director of Gettysburg and Gods and Generals is keeping his focus on events in 1862 and telling a compelling story, Maxwell insists his latest Civil War costume drama will inevitably be seen by cinema-goers as an echo of America’s reaction to current events in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I keep it (Copperhead) with as much integrity as I can in 1862, but people will watch this film and leave the theatre and say, ‘Wow, it was like a 150 years ago, and it’s like now,’” the director said from King’s Landing, New Brunswick, where he’s shooting the Jason Patric and Angus MacFadyen-starrer set in 19th century upstate New York.

Read more at Hollywood Reporter
   

Gerard Butler arrives at Cannes to talk about Motor City and his ‘soccer’ movie


From STV:
At the glamorous Cannes Film Festival, Scottish actor Gerard Butler discussed his plans for the future – including a new “full-out action movie” in which he’s starring alongside Gary Oldman.

There was a great moment of amusement when he referred to football as ‘soccer’ – explaining with a grin that he’s used to talking about the film in the US, leading to using the slightly uncharacteristic term for a Scot!

Gerard was last seen in Machine Gun Preacher, and one of the projects next up is Motor City, which will be directed by Albert Hughes and co-stars Gary Oldman, and starts shooting in September.

He explained: "I haven't done a full-out action movie since, I may be forgetting myself, but since Gamer. It was 300 then Gamer, and that was a few years ago.”

Gerard added: "Recently I've just done a couple movies - one is a soccer film.”

Putting his head in his hands, he grinned and continued: "I can't believe I just said 'soccer,' that's like forgetting your mother's name or something saying 'soccer', but it's because I'm so used to speaking about this in America.

“If I say 'football' people are like 'What are you saying? Football? American Football?' So a movie where I was a professional football player, soccer player and then another one where I was a surfer, so they all required additional training."

Of being in Cannes, Gerard said: “I have film meetings or press conferences, but I don't have a movie showing.

“When you don't have a movie showing, it's kind of hard to be going to see other movies. You can't really go down other people's press lines. So you've always got to make sure you are playing it politically correct.

"Also I was doing some work with Artists for Peace and Justice, and Sean Penn did a charity function for Haiti. When you come to Cannes you cram in a few things in a few short days.”

See the interview at STV 

Press Association re Motor City

Jayd Johnson: Fields of Blood sequel?

Jayd Johnson is soon to begin filming the follow-up to Fields of Blood, according to The Rutherglen Reformer.

Read more here

Peter Capaldi: Whisky Stramash | Punk Britannia BBC Breakfast interview



Peter Capaldi performs at forthcoming Whisky Stramash
As the final touches are being put in place for 2012’s most unique whisky event, the inaugural Edinburgh Whisky Stramash, which takes place at Surgeons’ Hall on 26th & 27th May, some details of the cast performing the Jura Murder Mystery have been announced.

The Jura Murder Mystery, an experience at this year’s Whisky Stramash, allows audiences to witness the suspense shortly after the gruesome demise of a fictitious Jura Distillery Manager in a classic whodunnit. Peter Capaldi has been cast as the murdered Distillery Manager who comes to life to tell the story in the production that has been described as “Scoobie Do meets Coronation Street”. 

At the conclusion of the play, audiences will be invited to guess who they suspect the perpetrator to be for the chance of winning a once in a lifetime trip to Jura.

Read more at The Whisky Stramash

Also reported by The Scotsman  









Peter capaldi narrates ‘Punk Britannia’
Episode 1 of 3: Pre-Punk 1972-1976

Narrated by Peter Capaldi, this opener of a three-part documentary series in BBC FOUR's celebrated 'Britannia' strand is scheduled to chime with the 35th anniversary of the Queen's Silver Jubilee and the arrival of punk as national and then international music culture.

Fri 1 Jun 2012 BBC Four 21:00

Read more at BBC 

 
From February, a BBC Breakfast interview with Peter Capaldi


Source: YouTube

Bearded Hero of the week: Ron Donachie



Adrenochrome have nominated Ron Donachie as "Bearded Hero of the week"

Read more at Adrenochrome

Two Legged Rat Bastards to be screened at Cleveland Film Festival



Two Legged Rat Bastards is a short film based on the short story by Daniel Wallace (Big Fish) detailing the strange estrangement of an elderly father and his son. Set on a park bench in the present day, Eddie, a cantankerous old alcoholic, attempts to connect with his son Winstead, who's spent the majority of his adult life trying to get away from him. In the course of their conversation Eddie reveals how he lost his leg - in a high stakes poker game 30 years ago - at which point the story flashes back to the game itself, where a young Eddie gambles fiercely against a table full of miscreants in a game where money changes hands and hands change hands, along with eyes, ears, feet and more. In the present day Winstead has a hard time understanding why his father would bet his leg in a poker game, but at the same time he feels like his father is being honest with him for the first time in their lives, and it resonates with him. As we continue flashing back to the big game it's revealed that after Eddie lost his leg, he battled back to win something much more valuable: His son.

Two Legged Rat Bastards stars Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Derek Waters (Drunk History, Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Orson Bean (Being John Malkovich, Desperate Housewives), Tony Curran (24, Gladiator), Ron Lynch (The Sarah Silverman Program, American Dad). 

View the film here  

Information about the screening at Cleveland International Film Festival is here 




Here are also old interviews with the stars and director of the film Red Road - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxPhK-c2cck




Thank you to Русико Павлова for the information and links.

Defiance: sneak peek at the new Syfy TV show and game







From SFX.co.uk:
Filming has just commenced on Syfy’s Defiance, the TV element in a multimedia project that also involves a massively multiplayer online game. That doesn’t just mean there’s a game of the show; the story in the show and the game will, apparently, weave together.

The story in the TV show follows the survivors of an alien invasion in one small frontier town, while the game will be set across the country but in the same, connected world.

Gotta admit, at the start of the video we were worried that it looked like a US version of Outcasts. Then they reveal the FX shots… which are pretty awesome. And the game footage has big FO monsters… hopefully they’ll be in the show as well.

Good cast too: Grant Bowler (True Blood), Julie Benz (Buffy, Angel), Jaime Murray (Hustle, Warehouse 13), Tony Curran (Vincent Van Gogh in Doctor Who), Stephanie Leonidas (Mirrormask, BBC’s Dracula), Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves), Mia Kirshner (24) and Fionnula Flanagan (Lost).

Here’s the official description:

Defiance introduces players and viewers to a completely transformed planet Earth, inhabited by the disparate survivors of a universal war who endeavor to build a new society among the devastation. The game combines the intense action of a AAA console shooter, with the persistence, scale, and customization of an MMO, while its TV counterpart weaves the rich tapestry of the world into a series with the scope, characters, and drama of a classic sci-fi epic. Because they exist in a single universe, the show and the game will influence each other and evolve together over time, with actions in both mediums driving the overall story of Defiance.”

Source: SFX
Visit the SFX website (link above) to see the trailer and a look behind the scenes 

Also reported by ScienceFiction and CinemaBlend


Hot Scots exhibition closes on 3 June









The Hot Scots exhibition, which includes photographic portraits of David Tennant, Karen Gillan, James McAvoy, Gerard Butler, Sean Connery, opened on 1 December 2011 and is scheduled to close on 3 June.

For more information, and to see some of the photos, visit National Galleries

Weekly schedule for Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Mo 5/28: Benjamin McKenzie, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Tu 5/29: D.J. Qualls, Wolfgang Puck
We 5/30: Howie Mandel
Th 5/31: Carrie Fisher, Tony Hale
Fr 6/1: Jeff Garlin, Sonya Walger

Mo 6/4: Guy Pearce, Jessica St. Clair (R 4/10/12)
Tu 6/5: Michael Sheen, Michael Ian Black (R 4/18/12)
We 6/6: Sean Hayes, Lena Dunham (R 4/13/12)
Th 6/7: Kelly Preston, Joel Stein (R 4/19/12)
Fr 6/8: Anne Rice, Geoff Tate (R 3/19/12)

Sunday 20 May 2012

'United' released on DVD in the US and Canada


United will be released on DVD in the US and Canada on 22 May 
Starring David Tennant (Doctor Who) as inspirational coach Jimmy Murphy, Jack O'Connell (Harry Brown, This is England) as Bobby Charlton and Dougray Scott (Mission Impossible II) as Matt Busby, United is the riveting story of the legendary Busby Babes. The youngest side ever to win the Football League, Manchester United had the world at their feet until the tragedy of the 1958 Munich Air Crash. As football and its supporters worldwide mourned, the extraordinary resilience of the city and club galvanised the rebuilding of the team and brought new hope. 

Read more at David Tennant On Twitter 

Karen Gillan - movie debut and 'Doctor Who' exit



"It won't be what people expect"
Doctor Who star Karen Gillan has been chatting to Total Film about her début as a leading lady – and her departure from the sci-fi series.

The Amy Pond actress is currently in Cannes to promote her upcoming role in Glasgow-set indie-com Not Another Happy Ending.

“I play a successful writer called Jane Lockhart,” Gillan told us. “Who writes best when she’s unhappy. She’s feeling good about her life and therefore can’t write her next novel, so her publisher Tom goes on a secret mission to make her unhappy to get the book written.”

Filming’s due to start in Glasgow in July, co-starring Emun Elliott (Game Of Thrones), with John McKay (who directed Gillan in recent Beeb drama We’ll Take Manhattan) taking the reins.

Gillan last week wrapped a three-year stint as The Doctor’s companion – and promised that her character’s exit will be “unexpected”, as well as emotional.

“I literally couldn’t read it without crying,” she confessed. “It was the most highly charged read-through I’ve ever experienced. But I couldn’t have asked for a better exit. I don’t think it’ll be what people expect.”

She also shared her thoughts on the prospect of a Doctor Who movie. “I think it would be great in a franchise-y sort of way. I’d look forward to sitting down and watching it.”

But would she get involved if made an offer? “Oh, who knows. I guess you can only cross that bridge when you come to it!"
Source: TotalFilm 




Interview: A Happy Ending?
Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan is in Cannes to promote her first feature, the Glasgow set indie romantic comedy Not Another Happy Ending, directed by John McKay and produced by Claire Mundell of Synchronicity.

It’s been a pretty big week for Scottish actress Karen Gillan.

On Saturday she filmed her final ever Doctor Who episode for the BBC and now she’s in Cannes for the first time to talk about her first feature project (first as the lead), Not Another Happy Ending, directed by John McKay and produced by Sychronicity Films, in which she stars as a writer who can only write when she is unhappy, much to the despair of her publisher.

Shooting is due to begin in July.

Gillan describes the Glasgow based feature as “an indie, quirky, artsy film” which was what also attracted director John McKay to the project. “I really liked the fact it was about likeable neurotic middle class people. We are very hung up on certain styles and genres in the UK. I really like American indie movies which have no problem portraying the city dwelling I know,” says McKay, who directed Gillan as Jean Shrimpton in TV movie We’ll Take Manhattan and decided to cast her in this latest project.

“She is a bit like a young Diane Keaton. Really bright and really good at falling over,” adds McKay.

The film is being backed by Steve Milne of the British Film Company and Creative Scotland. LevelK are handling international sales.

“There are two Scottish stereotypes on film - hills and glens and monsters. And there are the very gritty, violent, dark films.  As a producer living and working in Glasgow, I thought, why do we never see the other representation. I see an incredible amount of creativity and energy around me, but you don’t see that represented cinematically very often,” says producer Claire Mundell, who is next producing genre thriller The Devil’s Staircase and Marianna Palka’s latest film, Glasgow Kiss.

Meanwhile, Gillan has “absolutely no idea” what she is doing after Not Another Happy Ending. “And it’s the best feeling. I’ve put all my possessions into storage so I don’t even have a house. I’ll just see where I end up!”

She plans to “talk her way onto a yacht” during her short trip to Cannes “I think it’s all in the conviction”.
Source: Screen Daily

Also reported by Female First

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