October 31, 2001
- Excerpt from a Variety.com article of 10/29/01:
A doubly Fiennes deal- Also from Variety:LONDON -- So nice they cast him twice: That's the thinking behind a project currently being hatched for the West End in the spring that would find Joseph Fiennes starring in repertory as Iago in "Othello" and in the title role of Christopher Marlowe's "Edward II."
The director of both plays looks likely to be the ever-ascendant Michael Grandage ("Passion Play," "Merrily We Roll Along"), who directed Fiennes to considerable acclaim last season in the Marlowe classic at Sheffield's Crucible Theater, where Grandage is a.d. Lead producer Duncan Weldon would be partnered on the venture with Paul Elliott and others and is in Los Angeles for several weeks firming up an Othello to play opposite Fiennes. (Think someone starry, in the best Weldon tradition.) While on the West Coast, Weldon hopes to secure Calista Flockhart to come to London next summer in "The Philadelphia Story," a venture that, you will recall, was first mooted for last summer.
If Flockhart won't commit, says Weldon, speaking from California, director Arvin Brown's revival of the 1939 Phillip Barry comedy will happen anyway: an alternative Tracy Lord, adds the producer, is already being wooed.
Top of the bods CURVES & MUSCLES ARE IN AS LOPEZ AND BECKS TOP CELEBRITY BODY POLL
Europe Intelligence Wire
Source: The Mirror, October 31, 2001
SEAN O'HARASEXY actress Jennifer Lopez and soccer golden boy David Beckham have the best bodies in the world.
Lopez, widely hailed as the sexiest female alive, came in at number one ahead of Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones in a survey by Celebrity Bodies magazine.
Prince William was second in line for the crown of top male, being pipped at the post by Manchester United superstar David Beckham, though he managed keep George Clooney in third place.
Highest placed Irishman was Navan-born 007 star Pierce Brosnan at number 20.
Alison Hall, editor of Celebrity Bodies, said: "Jennifer Lopez has a sensational body, admired by men and women alike, and she proves that curves are more coveted than thinness.
"And Beckham at the top of the male body league clearly shows that the fit, muscular, sporty look wins women over.
"Especially with the youthful, broad shouldered Prince William in second and George Clooney in third."
Celebrity Bodies has come under a lot of criticism since its launch earlier this year.
They have been accused of encouraging women to believe they need to be stick thin if they want to be thought of as attractive by men.
But David Beckham's slimline wife Victoria scraped into 50th position while superwaif model Kate Moss was only 43rd.
And with womanly Kate Winslet and buxom Kelly Brook making the top 10 the poll has revealed the public's feelings loud and clear.
Big is definitely beautiful and thin just isn't in. Of course with every new scientific law you need an exception to prove the rule and in at number five is skinny Geri Halliwell.
Although some things seem to never change and the survey has shown people are still as obsessed with youth as ever. None of the women in the top 50 have celebrated their 40th birthday and only a handful of men have reached the milestone.
The list of the 50 top male celebrity bodies in the world includes 28 actors, eight singers, five television presenters, three footballers, three models, one dancer, one chef and one tennis player.
The women's list features 23 actresses, 15 models, 11 singers and one television presenter.
**18 Joseph Fiennes** (only 18th place??)
October 24, 2001
- Funny tidbit from peoplenews:
EastEnders girl Jessie Wallace reveals how she almost maimed one of our national treasures. The dark-haired actress used to be a make-up artist, a position it now seems she gained under false pretences. 'I blagged my way into make-up classes. I left school without any qualifications but told them I’d got loads' she admits. But the wild child’s lack of experience almost got her into trouble whilst on work experience at the Royal Shakespeare Company. One day she had to tend to Joseph Fiennes and found it hard to concentrate on her work. 'He’s stunning and was looking at me in the mirror and making my palms sweat. I went weak at the knees and dropped a pair of hot tongs on his, er, lap!' Fortunately Joseph’s large, er, talent remained intact and nowadays the pair have a giggle over the incident when their paths cross at celeb bashes.
October 23, 2001
- The Crucible wins coveted theatre award after year of critical success
By Louise Jury, Media Correspondent
22 October 2001
The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, which is best known as the home of snooker, was named Britain's theatre of the year last night.The Crucible won the coveted title at the Barclays Theatre Awards after consistent critical success under its artistic director, Michael Grandage, who splits his time between Sheffield and the more glamorous Donmar Warehouse in London.
Grandage took over at the Crucible last year and, at a time when many regional theatres are struggling financially and critically, has lured some of Britain's finest actors to perform in a programme that has mixed classics with new works.
Joseph Fiennes, star of the film Shakespeare in Love, played Edward II in Marlowe's play of the same name this spring. Next year, Kenneth Branagh will make his return to the stage after a decade's absence when Grandage directs him as Richard III.
The theatre of the year title, regarded as one of the most important of the annual awards presented by the Theatrical Management Association, is designed to recognise "the inspirational aims and achievements of venues throughout the country with particular emphasis on a theatre's role in its wider community".
It was presented during a ceremony at the Royal Court theatre in London attended by actors including Penelope Wilton, Sir Donald Sinden, Siobhan Redmond and Nichola McAuliffe, all of whom work in theatre but are best known for television appearances.
The actor of the year award produced the most striking result when Paterson Joseph, who starred in the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre Company's production of Les Blancs, beat Simon Russell Beale's acclaimed Hamlet with the National Theatre and Samuel West's highly praised Richard II for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Best actress went to Kate O'Toole for her performance in Three Tall Women at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. Abi Morgan's play Splendour won best new play and best director for Vicky Featherstone.
Best musical went to an adaptation of The Gondoliers at the Watermill, West Berkshire Playhouse. The award for the most welcoming theatre was won by the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, and the most outstanding achievement in opera went to the Welsh National Opera's production of The Queen of Spades. Rambert Dance Company, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary, scooped the outstanding dance award for She Was Black.
The awards promote excellence in regional theatre. National productions are eligible if they go on tour.
October 22, 2001
- Lengthy and rather controversial article about British actors (we do not agree but we post it nevertheless):
Sunday Express
August 12, 2001
ENJOY : FILMS: WHY ARE OUR ACTORS SO SCARED OF STARDOM?
By Henry FitzherbertTHE British film industry is in trouble and it's nothing to do with dismal funding, Government policy or a glut of gangster movies. The future looks bleak because we're simply no good at producing stars.
Our few bankable talents - Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Caine - are eligible for a bus pass. Of our younger stars, only Hugh Grant's name can persuade risk-averse Hollywood executives to open their cheque books - and then only if it's a romantic comedy. There's Jude Law, although his tendency to star in selfindulgent, glorified home videos such as Final Cut is a bad omen. Given veteran scriptwriter William Goldman's dictum that, when it comes to making films "nobody knows anything", the only thing that can make a movie commercially viable on paper is the casting. It's why stars command such high fees. They are the only insurance against failure - and they're even more important today than 10 or 20 years ago because of the increasing costs of making and marketing movies.
It's time we started blaming our actors rather than film-makers for Britain's struggling film industry because the situation is in their hands. They have the talent but they don't have the inclination.
Daniel Day Lewis is the archetype: he's one of Britain's most acclaimed film actors but he hardly ever works. The shy flower had to be lured out of retirement to star in Martin Scorsese's Gangs Of New York, after finding peace as a cobbler in Florence. Lovely for Daniel, perhaps, but no help for British film producers.
Whereas in America young actors are groomed for stardom and seize their opportunity with gusto, our actors shy away from it. They freeze in the headlights of a big hit and burrow away out of the limelight.
Kate Winslet, national treasure that she is, was so fazed by the success of Titanic that she set out to show she was no Hollywood sell- out by opting for a string of low-budget "art" films such as Hideous Kinky, Holy Smoke and Quills. The result is that she isn't selling out anything at all. The movies all bombed. To make matters worse none of them were critical successes. Now her latest film, Enigma, produced by Mick Jagger, has struggled to find distribution.
Jagger was forced to sell the rights to Miramax for less than their original offer, convinced he could get a better deal elsewhere. He couldn't.
Our actors dissipate "heat" faster than a barbecue in the Arctic, most of them earnest and determined to stay true to their artistic roots.
Usually those roots are in the theatre. Ralph Fiennes has spent the past year earning Brownie points from his RSC chums by performing in productions of Richard II and Coriolanus while his younger brother Joseph was recently camping it up as Edward II at the Sheffield Crucible.
It's fine if this is balanced by some commercially astute film work but, in the case of the Fiennes brothers, it isn't. A series of flops such as Onegin and Sunshine have eroded Ralph's stature while Joseph, who had a gift of an opportunity with Shakespeare In Love, revels in making obscure films like the upcoming Dust, an existential cowboy movie. As he has said himself: "If my agent told me something was 'damaging', I would almost certainly do it."
Joseph Fiennes is now due to play George Mallory in a British film about the doomed Everest expedition. It will be interesting to see if the small production company behind it, September Films, can raise the GBP 25 illion budget on the back of his involvement. We complain about our history being appropriated by Hollywood but we don't have the stars to shoulder the expense of such big budget movies.
Wolfgang Peterson, director of The Perfect Storm, has admitted that he isn't considering a British actor to play Ernest Shackleton in his forthcoming biopic of the Arctic explorer. "There are some fine British actors but I just don't think there is anyone larger-than- life enough to fill Shackleton's shoes, " he said.
For similar reasons, an Aussie looks set to play Henry VIII in a movie about his relationship with Anne Boleyn from the makers of Mrs Brown, the highly regarded British company Ecosse Films. "Russell Crowe is top of our list, "admitted an executive at Ecosse. "Henry VIII was a big man and we need an actor with a powerful presence."
British stars, unlike their US counterparts, take a perverse pleasure in being cast against type.
Since her debut in Braveheart, Catherine McCormack has chosen to play dowdy, low-key characters such as the socially-retarded flower arranger in Born Romantic.
Ewan McGregor is another whose eclectic career choices have diminished his movie-star appeal.
He has chosen a series of unflattering roles in the likes of Little Voice, Eye Of The Beholder and A Life Less Ordinary.
One actor who makes no secret of his film-star ambitions and relishes the life that goes with stardom is Vinnie Jones. Don't laugh. In 10 years he could be our biggest name.
BRITISH actresses tend to be more unashamed than their male counterparts. Minnie Driver, Catherine Zeta Jones, Rachel Weisz and Kate Beckinsale have all taken calculated steps towards stardom but they don't have the same financial clout as the men.
Our rock stars know how to play the game. From Mick Jagger to Robbie Williams they have proved adept at keeping up their profiles, even if it does mean having to sleep with lots of beautiful women. So why can't our actors?
The benefits would be felt well beyond their bedrooms.
October 19, 2001
- From Dark Horizons:
Killing Me Softly: Fans of Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes - or more specifically their nubile flesh, will be eager to see this erotic thriller when it opens early next year. An attendant named 'Nick Flarn' went to an early screening of the film and confirms that while there's no genitalia on display (damn it), both show off pretty much everything else at numerous intervals: "I swear there's around 10-15 minutes of pure sex in this (if its simulated then they are bloody good at it). Heather Graham's breasts are a whole other character (and personally I think give a better performance) whilst women in the audience were seriously cooing as Fiennes' ass must get about 5 minutes of screentime too. I won't even go into the pseudo-lesbianism between Graham and Natasha McElhone". Indeed, the sex thriller about stalking and funnily enough mountain climbing sounds worth checking out.
- Joe may be new Burberry boy
LOOKING FIENNES (By Dolly Jones)BURBERRY are busily no-commenting rumours that Joseph Fiennes will star in their next campaign. Word on the circuit is that the brooding Shakespeare In Love star has donned his favourite plaids to pose for the spring/summer 2002 ads. Burberry, who frequently call on the elite of the fashion world, including Kate Moss, Jerry Hall, Elizabeth Jagger, Dan Macmillan and Freddie Windsor to tout their wears, presented their collection during Milan Fashion Week this season. If the rumours are to be believed, however, they plan to return to London in style by bringing Fiennes, whose sister-in-law Maya unveiled her second collection at London Fashion Week this season, into the fashion fold.
October 11, 2001
- Another charity event:
There will be a Royal Gala Charity Lunch at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane London in November, in aid of THE PRINCE OF WALES HOSPICE. The Guest of Honour at the Lunch will be HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES. Speakers are Broadcaster Terry Wogan and novelist Joanna Trollope and there will be an auction conducted by Stephen Fry. There is a champagne reception beforehand and celebrity guests include Joseph Fiennes, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Dimbleby and many more. The exact date is not known yet for security reasons.
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