New poster and trailer from 'The Good Heart' with Brian Cox

The Good Heart stars Scottish actor Brian Cox as a bartender who takes a young homeless man (Paul Dano) in under his wing:

'Heart' tells the story of Lucas (Dano), who attempts suicide and meets bar-owner Jacques (Cox) while in the hospital. The two quickly form a friendship and Lucas starts to work in Jacques' bar. Jacques plans to have Lucas continue his position as manager of the dive bar but his intentions may be thwarted when Lucas takes up a love interest. The film apparently takes a "dramedy" slant, as Kári, commenting in the film's presskit, seeks to "mix humor with poetry and comedy with tragedy."

"The Good Heart" is a reunion of sorts for the lead actors. Dano's breakout role was in the 2001 feature, "L.I.E." which centered on a 15-year-old Long Island boy who loses everything, including his family and soon becomes involved in a relationship with a much older man (Cox). It's a creepy, but involving film that you should see if you haven't. [The Playlist]

Magnolia Pictures will release the film on Video-On-Demand on April 2 and in theaters on April 30 in the US.

The Good Heart trailer from zik zak on Vimeo.

New red-band trailer for 'The Good Heart' with Brian Cox

The Good Heart's official poster and trailer were unveiled about a month ago, and now Magnolia Pictures has released the red-band trailer posted below. The Good Heart re-teams Brian Cox and Paul Dano and is about an ailing bartender (Cox) who takes in a homeless suicidal young man (Dano). The film will be released on Video-On-Demand on April 2 and in theaters on April 30 in the US.

Emun Elliott: 'The Paradise' interview

The Paradise
Bill Gallagher’s glittering new BBC One drama series...
Emun Elliott plays John Moray

How would you describe Moray?
He’s ambitious and he’s damaged. He thrives off and is driven by the pain of his past. His wife died three years before the story begins and he kind of feeds off that and uses that to drive himself forward.
Moray is business minded, very creative and he’s a people person too. He’s a performer - what you see of him on the shop floor is very different to what you see of him in his office when he’s alone.
He’s a multi-faceted character who, although on the surface might look like this greedy business tycoon and capitalist dictator, that’s not the real man at all. Deeper down lies something much more pained, damaged and vulnerable. And that’s what’s exciting about playing someone like that.

In the first episode we see that The Paradise has had such an effect on the high street – the smaller shops that surrounded the department store are struggling. Do you think he has a conscience about that?
I think he does, I think he’s aware of what he’s doing. He’s not just blindly taking over the street or the city. At the same time he’s all about progress.
That’s one of the key themes of The Paradise and for him everything is about moving forward not dwelling upon the past and he realises that at this time, the late 19th century, the key to success and survival is progression and a thirst for change.
The fact that these smaller shops have fallen by the wayside is just almost a natural selection in this evolution of commerce. He thinks that it’s written in the stars and he is just the catalyst for making it happen. Moray doesn’t really see it as his responsibility, but he is absolutely willing to be part of it.

The Paradise sets are incredible. What was your reaction when you first saw them?
There was a mixture of awe and terror because I’m playing the guy who’s supposed to own and run this place. It comes with massive responsibility.
The art department has done an incredible job in creating this space for us to work in and made it feel very real, so I was blown away and still am actually, every time I walk in.
It’s a joy to work in some of the sets they’ve created, and each one feels really different too. Moray’s office is very minimal, dark and dramatic. The Great Hall carries something much brighter. The Paradise is almost like another character in the story.

When Denise comes into the store asking for a job Moray is keen to employ her. What is it that he sees in Denise?
I think first of all he thinks that she’s a beautiful woman. Moray loves women as well, for many different reasons, knows that he can manipulate them but he also has a passion for the female form.
However, the thing that strikes him most of all is the fact that Denise has a genuine passion for the work and they seem to be on the same wavelength when thinking creatively. She believes in The Paradise. She is always one step ahead of her colleagues and her heart is clearly in it.
They have this mutual thought process and mutual passion for clothes and commerce and he’s not used to seeing that in anyone else but himself. Most of his employees come in just to pay the bills because they get fed and a bed upstairs but Denise is the only one that comes in and really wants to investigate and explore all avenues of it. That’s attractive and she’s good at it. There’s nothing more attractive than someone who’s talented and passionate about what they do.

Do these feelings develop into something more?
Yes, they do. He’s falling in love with her from day one. And it stems from their mutual way of thinking.
Those initial feelings develop and become more complicated as teh story unfolds. First of all, Moray tries not to get into any sort of romantic situation at all. If you’ve ever had your heart broken then you know how it feels, and it’s the only way I can relate to losing the love of your life. If that happens then you’d be very reluctant to throw yourself back into love. So he tries to keep it professional. 

The other important woman in his life is Katherine Glendenning. What’s their relationship like?
Complicated - nothing in the story is black and white. Katherine’s the opposite of Denise, she comes from a very wealthy background, she’s the daughter of Lord Glendenning who runs the city and is one of the most powerful men in town.
In a business sense, financially, it makes sense for a man like Moray to be coupled with someone like Katherine Glendenning. They would look good together and on paper it makes sense. If Moray is married to Katherine he has constant income and constant funds coming in, he gets the status of being married to a beautiful, wealthy heiress. There’s this almost animal attraction between them.
Not in the same way as Moray and Denise – which is psychological, heartfelt, beautiful and dynamic – Moray and Katherine are more aggressive, more manipulative with each other.
It’s a conundrum that Moray doesn’t always handle well.
It’s an impossible situation. One could lead to happiness and the other could lead to financial security and that’s the choice he has to make.

Miss Audrey runs ladieswear the department Denise works in. How does Moray work with her?
Miss Audrey worked at Emmerson’s – the shop was called Emmerson’s before it became The Paradise - and she’s been in the business much longer than Moray has, so Moray holds on to that, he wants to move things forward, he also wants to keep his staff and customers happy.
Miss Audrey cares about what she does and she’s good at it, not to the level that Denise is, she’s experienced whereas Denise is good at it because she has a natural instinct.
Moray respects the fact that she’s been in the same job for so long and has kept things running smoothly since. He often toys with her to get his way. He likes to keep her sweet, because if she’s happy the department will be happy, so it’s all tactical. 

Tell me about Moray’s costumes…
They’re amazing. It certainly helps you get into character, it says a lot about the time – it was so much about how you appeared, and a lot of the time you’d be judged on that alone.
There’s a lot of effort involved – my outfit takes 15 minutes to put on. The girls have it much worse! Luckily I don’t have one of those stiff starched collars that a lot of the guys have so it’s actually really comfortable.
The costume department decided Moray is going to dress more as though he is from the 1880s rather than the 1870s – he is always one step ahead in more ways than one. He often travels to Paris and he goes around Europe and picks things up along the way. The collar Moray wears came a lot later in the period and the way he ties his tie is very different to everyone else, it has individuality about it.

Source: BBC Media Centre

David Tennant: interviews / charity ad / Pirates! / photo exhibition

Tree Fu Tom: Sophie Aldred and David Tennant voice new CBeebies series
Interview with David Tennant about his role as Twigs
Twigs is Tom’s best friend and sidekick – he goes everywhere with him and is the comic heart of the show. This tiny acorn sprite is like the wide-eyed, fun-loving, free-spirited and seriously silly child in each of us.
Could you tell us who you play?
I play Twigs, who is Tom’s best friend. Twigs lives in Treetopolis and he’s a tree sprite. He’s very small, he’s sort of based on an acorn and he can retract himself into an acorn whenever he’s frightened. But he’s a little anarchic, he’s a little crazy and he’s quite loud.
Could you sum up TFT and why parents should encourage their children to watch it?
I think TFT is imaginative, inventive, exciting, really good fun and it looks beautiful. It looks like no expense has been spared and I can’t wait to see all the finished episodes as everything I have seen so far has been a visual feast. It’s an incredible wonderful thing that we have channels like CBeebies that devote so much time and effort and skill to telling wonderful stories.
Why did you decide to take the role?
Animation is a fascinating area from an acting point of view because it’s not really like anything else because you are only providing a portion of the performance. That’s very inspiring and it forces you to do things in a different way – to tell stories through your voice. As an acting challenge it was very appealing.
I think you always want to tell good stories and when you are doing something for children you are always so aware of how formative those stories will be. I was hugely formed by stories I was told as a child whether that was in a book, the cinema, theatre or television and probably television more than any medium is what influenced me as a child and formed my response to literature, story-telling and, therefore, the world around me.
Can you tell us about Tree Fu and Big World Magic?
There are points in every story where Big World Magic is required and Tom gets the viewers to go through moves with him and that sends the magic through to him. The idea being that the real world can influence the Treetopolis world through the Tree Fu moves.
Tree Fu Tom encourages movements designed to help all children particularly including those with Dyspraxia – can you tell us more about that?
I would never have imagined that a programme like this could be used in this way to help combat Dyspraxia. It will be fascinating to see if it does have a positive effect. The children will certainly have a good time trying!
How did you arrive at Twigs’ voice?
It’s sort of my voice but up an octave really. He’s smaller and lighter so the voice had to be higher. Also there’s a thought that for pre-school audiences you want to use higher registers in your voices. I believe that the young audience hears higher voices better.
How do you gauge your performance for the audience?
I feel very un-practiced in performing to an audience this young so I am very happy to be led by other people working on the show. Like getting the level of jeopardy right, what is enough to be exciting but not too much to be alarming. When you’re older you want to be scared because you understand more where the boundaries between fantasy and reality are and I suppose they are more blurred the younger you are. It’s fascinating to work with people who completely understand that audience. I’ve really enjoyed trying to understand that world.
I don’t think I have ever done anything for this age of children before, a pre-school audience. Generally speaking we don’t have vivid memories of that age and what influenced us yet clearly they are hugely formative years and it’s really important that we can create television of a high quality for that audience. I think the shows you remember are from when you were a bit older. But I think the programmes you watch when you are that young, when you are still learning about how the world works are really important. It’s very exciting to be involved in something that speaks to that audience.
Sophie Aldred (who plays Tom) has previously played Doctor Who’s assistant and you have played The Doctor but in this the roles are reversed, how does that feel?
Sophie and I had never met before so we didn’t have any previous dynamic but I suppose that you can infer a dynamic from previous roles that we have played. As an actor you just fit in with whatever the dynamics of the characters are so she plays the hero and I’m the annoying sidekick.
You, Tim, Samantha and Sophie all recorded Tree Fu Tom in a booth together – how was that?
What’s great about the four of us being in a booth together is that you can work off each other and you can be inspired by something that someone else does and you can collectively move something in a different direction.
Who’s the most animated in the booth?
Probably me! I do find it hard not to dance around a bit! Twigs is quite active so it’s hard to contain that. It’s not very helpful in the final edit if you knock a script off but sometimes you just have to go for it!
Source: BBC

David Tennant to star in radio drama Love Virtually
The former Doctor Who star will feature opposite Emilia Fox in a tale of email romance.
A wayward email sparks a case of “online adultery” in a new Radio 4 Afternoon Drama starring David Tennant and Emilia Fox.
When Emmi (Fox) mistakenly sends an email to Leo (Tennant), romance quickly blossoms, and the two begin a shared secret life far removed from their day-to-day existences.
The problem is, Emmi is married – but does a virtual affair count as cheating? To what extent does the relationship rely on fantasy? And is it even possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never met?
Tennant fans will no doubt be answering "yes" to that last question as they make a date with David...
Afternoon Drama: Love Virtually, by Austrian novelist Daniel Glattauer, airs at 2:15pm on Thursday 8 March on BBC Radio 4.
Source: Radio Times

David Tennant - Sport Relief 

David Tennant is appearing in a trailer for Sport Relief on BBC television.
 
Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from the team who run Comic Relief. It combines sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries.
It started in 2002 and in 2012 Sport Relief is during the weekend Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th March.
Since Saturday 11th February David Tennant is being shown in trailers on BBC television for Sport Relief dressed as a large ketchup bottle!
Read more and watch the trailer at David Tennant on Twitter

Brilliant new featurette about the making of Aardman Animations’s ‘The Pirates! Band Of Misfits’
A brilliant new featurette for Aardman Animations’ family adventure The Pirates! Band Of Misfits has been released this week, including commentary from writer Gideon Defoe, British actors Hugh Grant and David Tennant, and producer Julie Lockhart about how the film was created and just how long it took to make this beautifully crafted 3D stop-motion animation.
Read more and watch the featurette at BritScene

 Final call: intimate moments of actors backstage

For the last 25 years, top actors – from Colin Firth to Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett to David Tennant – have allowed theatrical photographer Simon Annand into the private sanctums of their dressing rooms, capturing them as they prepare to go on stage. This series focuses on the final 30 minutes before curtain-up, known behind the scenes as 'the half': a time for sinking into character, touching up makeup – or having a Diet Coke break.
• The Half is on show at the Idea Generation gallery in Shoreditch, London, from 24 February
Source: The Guardian

John Barrowman: workaholic, and Top Celebrity Dog Owner

'Workaholic' John Barrowman's hopes and dreams

If John Barrowman is talking about a charity, in some way he's talking about himself. Amongst a seemingly endless list of good causes, the dog-lover is a vocal supporter of The Dogs Trust, Tŷ Hafan - a children's hospice near his south Wales home, and a number of cancer charities (both his parents are cancer survivors). As ambassador for The National Lottery Awards, it's the concept of making dreams come true which endears him. Before heading off for a Children In Need event (we kid you not) the self-confessed workaholic talks to iVillage.co.uk about good fortune and the power of dreams...

You work with a lot of charities. Do you think charity work helps keep people - particularly celebrities - humble?

John Barrowman: I can only answer for myself… I think I’m pretty humble anyway and I think I’m pretty down to earth, I’ll sit down and have a cup of tea or a pint with anybody really and talk to them. But I like to give to charities because people out there have made my dreams come true and changed my life by supporting the career that I have. So, for me to give back to people who might be a little less fortunate or need some help, that’s a way to turn it around, to give back to the people that helped me.

Do you think that, in times of austerity, people are less charitable?

John Barrowman: You don’t have to give money to help a charity, you can donate clothing vehicles, bicycles, your time, there are many many ways, it doesn’t mean a financial commitment. So whether or not there’s a recession, I still think people’s involvement in charities should remain committed and good.

How do you prioritise which charities you get involved with?

John Barrowman: I choose charities that have a personal connection to me and I think that’s how a lot of us decide on charities, and that’s what I'd say to those who are voting for the National Lottery Awards: pick one that really strikes a chord in your heart.

How did you become involved in this year's National Lottery Awards?

John Barrowman: The shows I do for BBC, where I make people's dreams come true and give them opportunities that they never had before, are kind of like what the Lottery does - it allows people to live their dreams if they win but, also, what a lot of people don’t know is that £30 million a week goes towards helping projects and different organisations around the country - thousands, in fact - to make their dreams come true.

The lottery is a game of luck, do you believe in fate?

John Barrowman: I believe in fate and I also believe in destiny. But I think that you can create your own fate. Part of life is about dreaming and hoping, because you can - and I tell you this because I’m someone who has - make your dreams come true.

Haven't you realised most of your dreams?

John Barrowman: Oh my God, I’m 45-years-old and I have so many more coming! But I don’t like to talk about what they are because I think that jinxes them.

Do you have lucky charms?

John Barrowman: No, I have lucky numbers. My lucky number’s 13 - my mother was born on Friday 13th and if that’s unlucky for her then we’ve been lucky because we’ve come out of her. And I’m superstitious - I don’t like things like putting new shoes on a table, I salute magpies, all sorts of stuff. I think it's because of my father’s background, Scottish people are very superstitious.

Are you becoming more superstitious with age?

John Barrowman: I think I’m pretty stable in my superstitions or, as my partner Scott calls them, ‘stupidstitions’.

What's happening with Torchwood?

John Barrowman: My contract has run out and we’ve been asked to take a hiatus, partly because Russell T Davies [the show's creator] can’t write the programme at the moment because he’s dealing with a personal issue so we just have to wait and see. It’s up to the stars and the BBC… and if people want it back they should start writing.

You've published a children's book, Hollow Earth, with your sister Carole, how is that going?

John Barrowman: Hollow Earth is going down really well, we’ve sold the television rights and Carole and I are going to do a big signing in San Diego for the American release so it's all go.

What else lies ahead?

John Barrowman: I’m doing panto at Christmas, I've just finished doing two movies, I’m going to the states to film a TV show for one of NBC's channels, I have a programme coming out about the remake of Dallas in august. Im going to be hosting This Morning on a couple of Fridays this summer...

Do you think you're a workaholic?

John Barrowman: I can tell you I am exactly a workaholic.

Would you consider getting help for that?

John Barrowman: No, there are so many people out there who don’t have jobs, I am so lucky to be employed and be able to keep myself working. Why would I want to get help to stop myself from being a workaholic?

John Barrowman is the Ambassador of The National Lottery Awards 2012 - a celebration of the UK charities which receive lottery funding. To learn more about the awards and to vote for one of the nominated charities, visit Lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards

Source: iVillage UK

John Barrowman named top celebrity dog owner

John Barrowman has been named the UK's top 'Celebrity Dog Owner' for 2012.

The Doctor Who and Torchwood actor won the first poll from PetNet after four weeks of voting, beating competition from Alesha Dixon and Paul O'Grady, among others.

John Barrowman and his dogs Charlie, Captain Jack and Harris

"I'm delighted to receive this award," Barrowman said. "My dogs play such an important role in my life and I am proud to promote responsible ownership.

"I will be donating my prize money to Dogs Trust. As their patron, I understand how incredibly hard they work to find new homes for stray and abandoned dogs."

One voter said: "Not only does John look after his own three adorable dogs he also helps dogs at Dogs Trust and does a lot for dogs more than anyone will know. If anyone deserves to win this John does."

Read more at Digital Spy

Susan Boyle musical 'I Dreamed a Dream': a hit with critics!

The musical based on the life of singing sensation Susan Boyle — remember her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Britain’s Got Talent heard around the world? — are in from last night’s opening, and here’s a surprise: The show, fittingly titled I Dreamed a Dream, is supposed to be pretty darn good.
Starring Elaine C. Smith as Boyle — with a cameo appearance by Boyle herself in the finale — Dream premièred last night at Newcastle’s Theatre Royale, and we’ve rounded up the glowing notices it got (one of them calls the show “a delight”) for you here:

The Telegraph: “[Elaine C. Smith's] eerie impersonation of the singer strikes all who hear it dumb with awe. …  The overall shape of the show is hard to fault, and in matching the gutsy good humour of its heroine without stooping to hagiography, this is a delight that deserves to go far, and fast, as she has done.”

Daily Mail: “Ed Curtis’s production, performed before a bank of TV screens, is more than just a get-rich-quick scheme or a piece of craven hagiography. It’s also a jolly good knees-up. Between moments of throat-clearing reverentiality and tear-stained crooning, there is much fun to be had.”

Scotsman: “There is a kind of paradox at the heart of this version of Susan Boyle’s story, in that it comes in the form of a first-person narrative, and therefore gives a powerful, articulate speaking voice to a woman famously able to express herself best through the songs she sings; the Susan conjured up for us by Elaine C. Smith, in a tremendously effective and moving star performance, almost inevitably has a confidence and presence, when not singing, that Boyle famously lacked.”

I Dreamed a Dream plays in Newcastle until March 31, before heading out to tour Britain and Ireland.
 
Read more at Entertainment Weekly

Alan Cumming: favourite charity, and 'Any Day Now' interview

Alan Cumming's Favourite Charity
Actor Alan Cumming appeared on today's "Anderson Live" and talked about his favorite charity, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The charity mobilizes the unique abilities within the entertainment industry to mitigate the suffering of individuals affected by HIV/AIDS, and increases public awareness and understanding of the disease through the creation and dissemination of educational materials.
Check out what Alan had to say about this organization backstage at "Anderson Live," and to find out more about Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, visit BroadwayCares.org.
Source: Anderson Live

Alan Cumming Has Never Been Better
The story of Any Day Now may take place in the past, but the discrimination against same-sex families it depicts is unfortunately still all too real.

Cumming (right) and Dillahunt prepare for battle.

George Arthur Bloom lived in Brooklyn in the late 1970s, back when it was a rough-and-tumble area. He was inspired by a larger-than-life character everyone seemed to know, Rudy, who developed a fatherly relationship with, as filmmaker Travis Fine puts it, a “kid who was terribly handicapped, both mentally and physically” and whose mother was a drug addict. Bloom turned Rudy’s real-life experience into a screenplay, which almost got filmed several times during the ensuing years (at one point Tommy Lee Jones and Sylvester Stallone were attached to it). Then it went nowhere, Bloom gave up, and it sat in a drawer until his son, an old high school friend of Fine’s, showed the director the script.

The movie that came of it, Any Day Now, which hit theaters this winter and garnered awards on the festival circuit, follows The Good Wife’s Alan Cumming as Rudy, Raising Hope’s Garret Dillahunt as Paul, the closeted attorney who becomes his partner, and Isaac Leyva as Marco, a teen with Down syndrome who’s abandoned by his mother and taken in by the men. They all must fight a biased legal system so the couple can adopt Isaac, a heart-wrenching storyline that will resonate with many of the 2 to 6 million LGBT people who say they’d like to adopt.

“The story of Any Day Now may take place in the past, but the discrimination against same-sex families it depicts is unfortunately still all too real in some parts of our country,” says GLAAD president Herndon Graddick.

It’s real too for kids like Marco. As of 2011 there were 104,236 children in foster care awaiting adoption, many of them considered special-needs children because they are black or Latino, are older than infants, or have some form of mental or physical disability. “What the film’s remarkable performances and eloquent script reveal, though, is how unjust and hurtful to same-sex couples and children that discrimination really is,” Graddick adds.

Cumming, whose performance is riveting and one of his most inspired, talks about making the film.

I found Any Day Now just completely absorbing and really moving. And I notice people just seem to really have a gut reaction to the film. Why do you think it reaches people that way?
I think that we see the story of people who are damaged and devastated by bigotry and prejudice and ignorance. And we understand how wrong that is because we’ve invested in these characters and we want them to be together. And then I think in a larger way, we know that the reason that happened is because that bigotry and that prejudice still exist in our society. And I think we are so moved by it because we know that we are complicit in that because we are all members of that society.

This is a story about many things — about family, the foster care system, and coming out, but at the heart of it, it’s a love story between your free-spirited Rudy and Garret’s buttoned-down, closeted Paul. How did you develop the sort of chemistry that viewers see between you and Garret on-screen?
We just had to fake it, because we didn’t know each other. It was very well-written. and obviously Garret is a really brilliant actor and we luckily felt very comfortable with each other and got on. And I think that’s half of it. Once you feel comfortable with someone you can just dive in. But you’d imagine we’d have lots of time to talk and get comfortable with each other. No, we were practically in bed on the first day.

One of the other parts of the film that we don’t see a lot of — but is so true — is that there’s so much difficulty over same-sex couples trying to adopt. But the reality is there are a ton of children and teenagers, especially with physical or mental disabilities, that will just languish in the system.
Absolutely right. And that to me is the biggest idea—because everyone falls in love with Isaac. Garret says at one point, “I’m just hoping that this child doesn’t slip through the cracks in the system,” and sadly he does.

Tell me about working with Isaac.
Oh, it was great. I loved it. I mean people think…you’re going to make a movie with someone who has a learning disability, what’s that going to mean? I had no idea. But I just went into it…with an open heart. And he was just an absolute darling and so lovely.… He’s got kind of openness to him and…he’s not at all jaded. Everything there’s pure, and it kind of reminded me of what acting should be like. Everything’s really on the surface and completely authentic.

What’s the most critical thing for you to get across with this film?  What do you want people to take away from it?
I want people to…have a real emotional experience and an emotional connection. But really…I want people to go away and think, Wow, look at the effect of prejudice and ignorance and bigotry, and look at how much our society is still engendering and encouraging that.  

Speaking of, you and your husband, Grant, got married earlier this year in New York. What are your thoughts on the recent marriage equality successes?
I think it’s great that we have a president who is very vocal in his support of equality and gay rights. I think the last election is really exciting in that it showed that the country was rejecting all that sort of prejudice and fear-based prejudice. We’re still the second-class citizens. And people still can be fired for being gay and people are gay-bashed.… So, you know, I don’t mean to be ungrateful but I don’t see why I should be so grateful for my rights. I think that’s what we should all remember.
Source (including image, and extended interviews): Advocate

Kate Dickie: soul searching interview

Soul Searching: Kate Dickie

When I was seven ...

We lived in a cottage on a country estate near Cupar, Angus, and I could always be found in the garden with my dad, who was the gardener. I remember running about in my shorts, digging in the garden and climbing trees.
My dad would tell amazing stories – all from his imagination. One was about a baker called Mr Bun who made magic cakes. If you happened to make a wish when you took a bite, it would come true.
He would hide Opal Fruits in the greenhouses and I would go looking for them, believing fairies had left them.
The first time my heart was broken ...
I was seven and my best friend Gary Harrison moved away. We had known each other since we were toddlers and went everywhere together. I have always wondered what happened to him.
The wisest thing my grandmother told me ...
Always be true to yourself.
The biggest adversity I have overcome ...
I have bunions so probably having to get my bare feet out on screen.
My motto for life ...
"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a song bird will come." It's from a little book of Eastern wisdom I carry about everywhere with me.
My soul mate is ...
My partner Kenny. We have been together for 14 years. He is so special, kind and handsome and has always been there for me. I love him to bits.
Not many people know that ...
I've been arachnophobic since I was two or three. My sister was in the top bunk in our bedroom and there was a spider on the ceiling. It suddenly dropped on to her face and she flipped out. I got upset too and was screaming and crying. The fear has got worse as I've got older.
The most inspiring book I've read was ...
The Horrific Sufferings Of The Mind-Reading Monster Hercules Barefoot: His Wonderful Love and Terrible Hatred by Carl-Johan Vallgren. It's about two children born at the same time in 1813. One is a beautiful woman and the other a deformed monster that people can barely look at. It's an amazing and strange book that has always stuck with me.
If ever I feel lonely I ...
Get a cuddle from my daughter, Molly, eight, and Kenny.
What I look for in a friend is ...
Kindness, someone I can talk to easily and who understands how bonkers I am.
The first person I ring when I'm upset is ...
Kenny. He is always good in a crisis.
I believe the secret to a strong relationship is ...
Compromise, always remembering why you fell in love in the first place and making time to listen to the other person.
Something I wish I'd done earlier ...
Learned to play a musical instrument. My dad played the accordion as does my sister. I had lessons when I was six, but we couldn't afford a child's accordion and I was too small to see over the top of the normal one. I got sent home and cried all the way.
My childhood hero was ...
My mum and dad were both wonderful. There are no other actors in my family, but my dad was a dramatic guy. He told great stories and had such a fantastic imagination. When I decided I wanted to do acting, they were both so supportive of me, and told me to follow my dreams.
The place I most like to call home ...
Wherever Kenny and Molly are.

Kate Dickie stars in Stronger, directed by Peter Mackie Burns, which has its world première in Glasgow tonight [25 October]. Tickets are free. For information, visit www.facebook.com/strongerfilm

Source: Herald Scotland

Father & Son debuts in Australia

It is a good thing Father's Day has come and gone because this is not what you would call a 'heart-warming' story about a boy and his dad. As a young man, Michael (Dougray Scott) was a violent thug who led a crime ring on a Manchester estate. Ill-gotten gains paid for the good life until an enemy murdered Michael's wife, sparing his son, Sean (Reece Noi). Flash forward and Michael is living the quiet life in Ireland with a new wife and a baby on the way, while 15-year-old Sean, in the care of Connie, his late mother's sister (a great performance by Sophie Okonedo), finds himself a suspect in a murder case. Still notorious, Michael returns to discover his violent legacy continues and old enemies never die. Created by the team behind Wallander and The Queen, this is a superbly plotted, four-part thriller with an outstanding cast.

The miniseries debuted on Australia's ABC2 on 19 September

Read more at Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian

Ewan McGregor: interview for ‘The Impossible’

Ewan McGregor interview for ‘The Impossible’

Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her. Based on a true story, ‘The Impossible’ is the unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. But the true-life terror is tempered by the unexpected displays of compassion, courage and simple kindness that Maria and her family encounter during the darkest hours of their lives. Both epic and intimate, devastating and uplifting, ‘The Impossible’ is a journey to the core of the human heart.  Marking the English-language début of director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage), ‘The Impossible’ arrives in cinemas on December 21st in the US and on January 4th in the UK.

What was your initial reaction when you read the script for ‘The Impossible’….?
Ewan McGregor: I wanted to be involved with ‘The Impossible’ because of the script, I liked it very much. And the script, for me that’s the first box you have to tick, regardless of who’s going to be in the movie or who’s directing it. I think if the script is not really good, it’s harder to make a really good film out of that. And with ‘The Impossible,’ there was something very honest and true about it, and a simplicity, in a way that made it very brutal and very vivid. And then I liked Juan Antonio Bayona’s film ‘The Orphanage’ very much so I was interested to meet him and work with him. And to get to work with Naomi Watts again, because I made a film with her some years ago, it’s always nice to work with somebody you’ve enjoyed with working before. We knew each other and have a nice easy way, hopefully that came across on screen. We are both parents and we tried to make this couple seem real, not like a movie family.

Was there a particular moment in the script that grabbed you or resonated with you?
Ewan McGregor: There’s a moment between Maria and her oldest child Lucas that touched me the most. When he sees the extent of her wounds for the first time, he says something like, “Oh Mama, I can’t see you like that.“ I thought there was something incredibly truthful about that line….. a child looking at his injured mum and he just can’t bear to see her hurt. I don’t think I knew at the time that it was a true story but it felt incredibly accurate and really described the tone of the movie to me.

As a father yourself, how did you approach playing Henry in ‘The Impossible’?
Ewan McGregor: I wanted very much to do this film because I’m a father, you know? I have four children now, and I’ve never really explored being a parent in a film before. It’s odd because I’ve been a father for fifteen years and yet I’ve never really played….I can’t think of one, I’ve never really played a dad or explored what it means to be a dad. So because I wanted to do that with this film, I felt that I wanted to make Henry much more like me – because I thought I could play a character, but I wanted to explore being a parent against this terrible backdrop, this horrible disaster. I thought the most effective way to do that was to play Henry as me. So I used my own voice, I didn’t use an accent, I didn’t make any attempt to sound English as opposed to Scottish – because my children don’t have Scottish accents and they’ve grown up with me all of their lives (laughs). So there was no need for him to be English just because the children have English accents.

The sets in the movie are incredible, that must have helped inform your performance immensely?
Ewan McGregor: Definitely. The sets, the amazing sets that our designer built, they really helped inform the performance. Seeing these incredible, devastated areas. We shot a pre-tsunami The Orchid Resort, and a few days later we shot a post-tsunami The Orchid Resort – that was really quite impressive, that was affecting. And I think seeing the real images that we’ve all seen on the news and in the paper, to see them kind of come alive like that was really incredible and harrowing.

How was it working with your three young co-stars in the film, your three movie sons?
Ewan McGregor: I liked our kids very much. Tom Holland, Oaklee Pendergast and Samuel Joslin, I think they’re really special children. And it was wonderful watching Tom who had never worked in front of a camera before, to see him really get it and grow as a film actor as he went along. He’s really talented and polite to everyone. It’s very easy for children to lose perspective but he’s absolutely on the right road and a  brilliant actor. And the other wee boys, Samuel and Oaklee, are great, too. Oaklee was really little but totally in the moment when we were playing scenes, completely engaged. He’s not doing a school play. He’s really there.

You share the majority of you scenes in ‘The Impossible’ with Oaklee and Samuel , how was that experience?
Ewan McGregor: Those two little kids were the best part for me. My growing relationship with those two boys has been really fantastic. At the beginning, where they were quite shy of me but a month later, it was completely different. There were always there, coming into my trailer in between shots, and I really liked that. That will be my favourite memory of the movie, working with those two wee boys.

Source: Flicks and Bits