Exclusive: Louis McCartney describes himself as “a West End baby” because before he was cast to play boyish-looking monster Henry Creel in the Stranger Things stage show The First Shadow, he’d never performed on stage in his life.
“They were coaching me how to speak properly, how to project my voice,” McCartney says of the countless recalls he endured during the auditioning process.
The key was: Could McCartney play “the sweet little by whose mum loved him” who also happens to be “a killer” who’s “psychiatric at heart.”
McCartney nails it all with one of the most breathtaking debut performances in the West End.
The show’s director, Stephen Daldry, remembers seeing McCartney out of the corner of his eye during an open casting call. The lad from Belfast was sitting quietly in a corner when Daldry remarked to casting director Jessica Ronane and dialect coach William Conacher,...
“They were coaching me how to speak properly, how to project my voice,” McCartney says of the countless recalls he endured during the auditioning process.
The key was: Could McCartney play “the sweet little by whose mum loved him” who also happens to be “a killer” who’s “psychiatric at heart.”
McCartney nails it all with one of the most breathtaking debut performances in the West End.
The show’s director, Stephen Daldry, remembers seeing McCartney out of the corner of his eye during an open casting call. The lad from Belfast was sitting quietly in a corner when Daldry remarked to casting director Jessica Ronane and dialect coach William Conacher,...
- 3/6/2024
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
“Stranger Things: The First Shadow” announced its full cast Wednesday ahead of its worldwide opening live on stage at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End.
Playwright Kate Tefry’s stage production will take viewers back to Hawkins, Indiana, in 1959 before the events of “Stranger Things” Season 1 and any inkling of The Upside Down. Directed by Stephen Daldry with codirection from Justin Martin, the theatrical installment premieres Dec. 14.
“With rehearsals now underway, it’s a joy to discover the world of ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ with our ferociously talented cast and watch the alchemy amongst our entire company grow as we together explore this new play,” Daldry and Martin said in a statement. “They’re an extraordinarily gifted group of actors, and we can’t wait to share this origin story with audiences.”
Full cast of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” (Netflix)
Shane Attwooll will portray Chief Hopper,...
Playwright Kate Tefry’s stage production will take viewers back to Hawkins, Indiana, in 1959 before the events of “Stranger Things” Season 1 and any inkling of The Upside Down. Directed by Stephen Daldry with codirection from Justin Martin, the theatrical installment premieres Dec. 14.
“With rehearsals now underway, it’s a joy to discover the world of ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ with our ferociously talented cast and watch the alchemy amongst our entire company grow as we together explore this new play,” Daldry and Martin said in a statement. “They’re an extraordinarily gifted group of actors, and we can’t wait to share this origin story with audiences.”
Full cast of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” (Netflix)
Shane Attwooll will portray Chief Hopper,...
- 9/20/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
The awards race in the best actress and best supporting actress categories is brimming with real life protagonists getting the big screen treatment. From Nicole Kidman’s Lucille Ball (“Being the Ricardos”) to Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”) and Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”), these women were tasked with preserving and presenting the legacy of flesh and blood icons, telling their stories truthfully and without judgment.
“I think everyone wants to be seen as a fully realized human being, not as just a caricature,” notes Kidman, who took home the Golden Globe for her lead turn in the Aaron Sorkin biopic.
Being entrusted with someone’s life story is a big responsibility, and these actresses took great care in their prep work. For her role as Tammy Faye Bakker in Michael Showalter’s “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Jessica Chastain immersed herself in research. To play mother and coach of Serena and Venus Williams in “King Richard,...
“I think everyone wants to be seen as a fully realized human being, not as just a caricature,” notes Kidman, who took home the Golden Globe for her lead turn in the Aaron Sorkin biopic.
Being entrusted with someone’s life story is a big responsibility, and these actresses took great care in their prep work. For her role as Tammy Faye Bakker in Michael Showalter’s “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Jessica Chastain immersed herself in research. To play mother and coach of Serena and Venus Williams in “King Richard,...
- 1/21/2022
- by Michele Amabile Angermiller
- Variety Film + TV
Kristen Stewart wants you to know that “Spencer,” her new movie in which she stars as Princess Diana, is not a biopic or documentary. It is a fictional take on what happened when Diana decided during a family Christmas that she wanted out of her marriage to Prince Charles.
“We’re not trying to educate anyone, we’re not trying to solve anything,” Stewart told me Tuesday night at the film’s Los Angeles premiere at the DGA. “We’re also not trying to like figure out whether or not we should have a monarchy. It’s what did it feel like to be her, think about what those nights were like, think about what those meals were like.
“It’s the moments in between,” she continued. “They could have done the dinners and opening presents and the photo ops, but they didn’t. They did getting dressed, cleaning up dirty dishes,...
“We’re not trying to educate anyone, we’re not trying to solve anything,” Stewart told me Tuesday night at the film’s Los Angeles premiere at the DGA. “We’re also not trying to like figure out whether or not we should have a monarchy. It’s what did it feel like to be her, think about what those nights were like, think about what those meals were like.
“It’s the moments in between,” she continued. “They could have done the dinners and opening presents and the photo ops, but they didn’t. They did getting dressed, cleaning up dirty dishes,...
- 10/27/2021
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Playing Princess Diana in “The Crown” resulted in an Emmy nomination this year for Emma Corrin, and now Kristen Stewart is all but assured to be heading to her first Oscar nomination for playing the Princess of Wales in “Spencer.” The Pablo Larraín-directed drama earned Stewart instant raves out of Venice, Telluride, and TIFF. IndieWire’s Oscar expert Anne Thompson wrote the Best Actress Oscar is Stewart’s to lose at this stage of the race. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Stewart went on record as a big fan of Corrin’s portrayal.
“I watched it probably in one night,” Stewart said of the recent Emmy-winning “The Crown” season. “I think [actress Emma Corrin] did a really beautiful job. I mean, not to say that my opinion matters at all! But I loved her in it, truly.”
It turns out Stewart and Corrin’s portrayals of Princess Diana share a common starting point in dialect coach William Conacher.
“I watched it probably in one night,” Stewart said of the recent Emmy-winning “The Crown” season. “I think [actress Emma Corrin] did a really beautiful job. I mean, not to say that my opinion matters at all! But I loved her in it, truly.”
It turns out Stewart and Corrin’s portrayals of Princess Diana share a common starting point in dialect coach William Conacher.
- 10/5/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
After playing Freddie Mercury last year, Rami Malek is all set for a great professional year in 2020 with a great role in the iconic Bond franchise. Malek will play the next James Bond villain in the upcoming Bond film ?No Time To Die,? which will see Daniel Craig return as the titular character.
The actor, who won his maiden best actor Oscar for his role in ?Bohemian Rhapsody? last year, has revealed the music icon Freddie Mercury guided him in finding his Bond antagonist.
Also Read:?Daniel Craig starrer 'No Time To Die' trailer out
During an interview with Empire, Malek said that the role of the Bond villain - Safin, was partly inspired by the singer.
"If I went in there and tried to make a carbon copy of someone, what joy or fun would that be for anybody? I guess that may be a lesson I learned from Mr.
The actor, who won his maiden best actor Oscar for his role in ?Bohemian Rhapsody? last year, has revealed the music icon Freddie Mercury guided him in finding his Bond antagonist.
Also Read:?Daniel Craig starrer 'No Time To Die' trailer out
During an interview with Empire, Malek said that the role of the Bond villain - Safin, was partly inspired by the singer.
"If I went in there and tried to make a carbon copy of someone, what joy or fun would that be for anybody? I guess that may be a lesson I learned from Mr.
- 12/26/2019
- GlamSham
They woke up early, they ordered breakfast in, and they’re very grateful. Here’s a round-up of key Oscar nominee reactions from this morning:
“It’s momentous, it’s something you dream of when you get into this business; it’s the ultimate accolade,” said Rami Malek scoring his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in Fox/New Regency’s Bohemian Rhapsody, a movie several years in the making. Malek, akin to Robert De Niro in is prep for his Oscar-winning role as Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, completely submerged himself as Mercury, not only absorbing every interview and piece of doc footage he ever did, and talking to the band’s members and executive music producers Brian May and Robert Taylor, worked with a movement teacher Polly Bennett and nailed that Gujarati accent under the singer’s Royal Pronunciation via dialect coach William Conacher.
“It’s momentous, it’s something you dream of when you get into this business; it’s the ultimate accolade,” said Rami Malek scoring his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in Fox/New Regency’s Bohemian Rhapsody, a movie several years in the making. Malek, akin to Robert De Niro in is prep for his Oscar-winning role as Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, completely submerged himself as Mercury, not only absorbing every interview and piece of doc footage he ever did, and talking to the band’s members and executive music producers Brian May and Robert Taylor, worked with a movement teacher Polly Bennett and nailed that Gujarati accent under the singer’s Royal Pronunciation via dialect coach William Conacher.
- 1/23/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro, Matt Grobar and Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
When Sacha Baron Cohen left the Freddie Mercury biopic back in 2013, it was hard to imagine another chameleon who could step into the skin of the flamboyant 1970s-80s musical genius who died at 45 after battling AIDS. Then came Mr. Robot star Rami Malek who went from playing a paranoid introvert on the USA series, to portraying one of the rock world’s loudest game-changing extroverts in Bohemian Rhapsody. Stepping into the shoes of a recent celebrity is one of the most daunting assignments an actor can face; how do you meet the expectations of audiences familiar with the subject without coming off like a Las Vegas impersonator? But after an extensive physical and psychological prep, Malek fit the part of Mercury like a glove.
How did the role of Freddie Mercury come to your attention? Were you tracking it?
I was not tracking it all. I was unaware of it.
How did the role of Freddie Mercury come to your attention? Were you tracking it?
I was not tracking it all. I was unaware of it.
- 11/16/2018
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Chicago – So there I was at a packed awards consideration screening for Stephen Daldry’s latest prestige-filled tearjerker. Though a few of my fellow colleagues were grumbling about the grim task of sitting through more Daldry Oscar bait, my heart was filled with goodwill. I loved Daldry’s feature debut, “Billy Elliot,” and had plenty of favorable things to say about “The Hours” and “The Reader.”
Yet it was only 10 minutes into “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” that I began to wonder if the projectionist was playing a practical joke on us. Surely this picture couldn’t have been the work of a three-time Oscar nominee. On the occasions when it became too painful to keep my eyes focused on the screen, I glanced at the expressions of my peers, which looked like outtakes from the “Springtime for Hitler” sequence in “The Producers.” When the horrible reality sunk in that the...
Yet it was only 10 minutes into “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” that I began to wonder if the projectionist was playing a practical joke on us. Surely this picture couldn’t have been the work of a three-time Oscar nominee. On the occasions when it became too painful to keep my eyes focused on the screen, I glanced at the expressions of my peers, which looked like outtakes from the “Springtime for Hitler” sequence in “The Producers.” When the horrible reality sunk in that the...
- 4/9/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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