Jamie Dornan was in lockdown with his family when he received a fan letter that was more than a little creepy. The star of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” movies was sent “a collage of photographs of a kid,” with a note about his most famous role.
“Someone saying that it was my kid, and my wife should know that I have this kid who’s 7 years old,” Dornan, 38, says over a Zoom call. He squints to absorb the weirdness of this allegation. “I think they were trying to say that the kid was mine and Dakota Johnson’s, and we’d had this baby while we made the first ‘Fifty Shades’ movie,” Dornan says. “It piqued our interest, let’s say. It was a bit freaky.”
Dornan learned all about freaky things when he suited up as Christian Grey, the sexually adventurous businessman based on the E.L. James books that became a cultural phenomenon.
“Someone saying that it was my kid, and my wife should know that I have this kid who’s 7 years old,” Dornan, 38, says over a Zoom call. He squints to absorb the weirdness of this allegation. “I think they were trying to say that the kid was mine and Dakota Johnson’s, and we’d had this baby while we made the first ‘Fifty Shades’ movie,” Dornan says. “It piqued our interest, let’s say. It was a bit freaky.”
Dornan learned all about freaky things when he suited up as Christian Grey, the sexually adventurous businessman based on the E.L. James books that became a cultural phenomenon.
- 11/25/2020
- by Ramin Setoodeh
- Variety Film + TV
This strange picture goes forth in search of a genre, mainly because its theme — the destruction of the human personality — had previously seen light only in movies about brainwashing and alien possession. The Michael Relph and Basil Dearden team may not be as slick as The Archers, but they do peg this sober Isolation Chamber drama — even if we wonder if Dirk Bogarde will start talking like Paddy Chayefsky, and then shape-shift into an ape man. The real issue here is scientific ethics, of which Bogarde’s associates seem to have zero.
The Mind Benders
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date October 15, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements, Michael Bryant, Wendy Craig, Harold Goldblatt, Geoffrey Keen.
Cinematography: Denys N. Coop
Film Editor: John D. Guthridge
Original Music: Georges Auric
Written by James Kennaway
Produced by Michael Relph
Directed by Basil...
The Mind Benders
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date October 15, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements, Michael Bryant, Wendy Craig, Harold Goldblatt, Geoffrey Keen.
Cinematography: Denys N. Coop
Film Editor: John D. Guthridge
Original Music: Georges Auric
Written by James Kennaway
Produced by Michael Relph
Directed by Basil...
- 9/24/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
At one time this was one of Emmy’s most sought after and prestigious prizes, but as the Limited Series format became more attractive, and a magnet for top talent, the TV Movie category is just a shell of what it used to be. The numbers say it all. Only one of the five nominees received more than two nominations overall, and three of the nominees find their only Emmy mention right here—not a great indication of widespread support for this form in the Academy, to say the least. Netflix has actually won here a couple of times by plucking episodes from their popular anthology series, Black Mirror, and labeling them ‘movies’. A new rule instituted this year requires an entry to run at least 75 minutes long, which would have disqualified two of the past three winners here.
Bandersnatch (Black Mirror)
Netflix
The only anthology entry this year, and...
Bandersnatch (Black Mirror)
Netflix
The only anthology entry this year, and...
- 9/19/2019
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
French actor Hervé Villechaize spent his final days participating in a series of unusual interviews with then-journalist Sacha Gervasi for Britain’s Mail on Sunday magazine. My Dinner With Hervé, written and directed by now-filmmaker Gervasi, recaptures this bizarre experience and fulfills a request made by the actor: Tell the real story.
The film documents their meeting in a restaurant where Gervasi's character, Danny Tate (Jamie Dornan), is skeptical of the Fantasy Island actor (Peter Dinklage) and unprepared for what an intense character his subject turned out to be. Over their next several meetings, which take place in unconventional interview settings ...
The film documents their meeting in a restaurant where Gervasi's character, Danny Tate (Jamie Dornan), is skeptical of the Fantasy Island actor (Peter Dinklage) and unprepared for what an intense character his subject turned out to be. Over their next several meetings, which take place in unconventional interview settings ...
- 5/31/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
French actor Hervé Villechaize spent his final days participating in a series of unusual interviews with then-journalist Sacha Gervasi for Britain’s Mail on Sunday magazine. My Dinner With Hervé, written and directed by now-filmmaker Gervasi, recaptures this bizarre experience and fulfills a request made by the actor: Tell the real story.
The film documents their meeting in a restaurant where Gervasi's character, Danny Tate (Jamie Dornan), is skeptical of the Fantasy Island actor (Peter Dinklage) and unprepared for what an intense character his subject turned out to be. Over their next several meetings, which take place in unconventional interview settings ...
The film documents their meeting in a restaurant where Gervasi's character, Danny Tate (Jamie Dornan), is skeptical of the Fantasy Island actor (Peter Dinklage) and unprepared for what an intense character his subject turned out to be. Over their next several meetings, which take place in unconventional interview settings ...
- 5/31/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Eighth Grade
Stars: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger, Imani Lewis, Luke Prael, Catherine Oliviere | Written and Directed by Bo Burnham
Eighth Grade is the directorial debut of comedian and online sensation Bo Burnham. In his first foray behind the camera, he chooses a rather strange and unique subject with thirteen-year-old Kayla Day, played by the fantastic Elsie Fisher, and her awkward journey from middle school to the nightmarish and anxiety of high school.
First things first, I can’t praise the lead performance from Elsie Fisher enough. The intuition and layers showcased in such a raw and emotional arc is profound. Way beyond her years, yet perfectly balanced in beautifully effective melancholy of an era everyone went through but would most undoubtedly want to forget. Fisher is the heart and embodiment of the picture. Without her performance, Eighth Grade falls into predictable entertainment territory.
Stars: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger, Imani Lewis, Luke Prael, Catherine Oliviere | Written and Directed by Bo Burnham
Eighth Grade is the directorial debut of comedian and online sensation Bo Burnham. In his first foray behind the camera, he chooses a rather strange and unique subject with thirteen-year-old Kayla Day, played by the fantastic Elsie Fisher, and her awkward journey from middle school to the nightmarish and anxiety of high school.
First things first, I can’t praise the lead performance from Elsie Fisher enough. The intuition and layers showcased in such a raw and emotional arc is profound. Way beyond her years, yet perfectly balanced in beautifully effective melancholy of an era everyone went through but would most undoubtedly want to forget. Fisher is the heart and embodiment of the picture. Without her performance, Eighth Grade falls into predictable entertainment territory.
- 1/9/2019
- by Jak-Luke Sharp
- Nerdly
During a recent conversation promoting his awards season contender, A Private War, Jamie Dornan talked about the importance of being timely, especially with this pertinent story (the first narrative film from documentarian Matthew Heineman) of journalists on the front lines of reporting and photographing major conflicts in the Middle East and around the world.
Dornan said, “Our director said something interesting very, very early on, one of the first Q&As we did about how you want your movies to be timeless and timely… even in the time from when we made it to release, it became even more timely in terms of very obvious and awful examples of the treatment of journalists, but also with respect to what’s still going on in Syria.”
“Marie died there in 2012 and here we are 6 years on and over half a million to billions have been killed within that regime and nothing truly changing you know,...
Dornan said, “Our director said something interesting very, very early on, one of the first Q&As we did about how you want your movies to be timeless and timely… even in the time from when we made it to release, it became even more timely in terms of very obvious and awful examples of the treatment of journalists, but also with respect to what’s still going on in Syria.”
“Marie died there in 2012 and here we are 6 years on and over half a million to billions have been killed within that regime and nothing truly changing you know,...
- 12/24/2018
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Hervé Villechaize, the artist best known for playing Nick Nack in “The Man With the Golden Gun” and Tattoo on the TV show “Fantasy Island,” may have been a decent man. With just a rudimentary bit of research, one can see that Villechaize worked extensively with troubled children, helping abuse victims cope with tragedy and speaking with depressed teenagers about suicide. Certainly as a performer, the famous dwarf knew how to entertain the masses, even going so far as to play Oscar the Grouch on “Sesame Street.”
To its credit, “My Dinner With Hervé” doesn’t embellish these details to create an overly rosy interpretation of a troubled man. But to its pressing detriment, the new HBO biopic downplays any empathetic characteristics whatsoever, to the point where viewers may wonder why this actor was notable at all. Sure, he was famous for a spell, but in a movie that damns...
To its credit, “My Dinner With Hervé” doesn’t embellish these details to create an overly rosy interpretation of a troubled man. But to its pressing detriment, the new HBO biopic downplays any empathetic characteristics whatsoever, to the point where viewers may wonder why this actor was notable at all. Sure, he was famous for a spell, but in a movie that damns...
- 10/20/2018
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
Hervé Villechaize is described early in HBO’s new film My Dinner with Hervé as “the most famous dwarf in the world.” The scene is set a decade after Villechaize’s 1983 firing from his iconic role on Fantasy Island as the bell-ringing Tattoo (“De plane! De plane!”) and two decades after he first became famous as the Bond villain’s henchman Nick Nack in The Man with the Golden Gun. Yet the honorific, while both dismissive and outdated, still fit him after all that time. Fantasy Island and Tattoo were just that beloved,...
- 10/16/2018
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
Hervé Villechaize, most familiar for his turn on “Fantasy Island” before his premature death, is an unlikely biopic subject. As the assistant Tattoo on the TV drama, Villechaize was treated as if his short stature made him a supernatural freak. His cultural impact has been an accented catchphrase (“De plane!”) and his status as a widely known, and generally patronized, little person. It’s a story that seems too sad, and too sadly marginal, to entice viewers.
“My Dinner With Hervé,” HBO’s film about a late-in-life Villechaize, isn’t quite a reclamation project. It doesn’t do enough to center his story, focusing instead on how the star changed a journalist’s life. But it will begin to make you see Villechaize in a new light, not least because of Peter Dinklage’s performance. Dinklage inhabits the late actor’s unique diction and the ballistic energy he brought to his performances and,...
“My Dinner With Hervé,” HBO’s film about a late-in-life Villechaize, isn’t quite a reclamation project. It doesn’t do enough to center his story, focusing instead on how the star changed a journalist’s life. But it will begin to make you see Villechaize in a new light, not least because of Peter Dinklage’s performance. Dinklage inhabits the late actor’s unique diction and the ballistic energy he brought to his performances and,...
- 10/16/2018
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
“My Dinner with Hervé” has been 25 years in the making, but writer/director Sacha Gervasi believes things will only happen when they are fated to occur.
“The truth is, I was not ready to make this film years ago. I had to grow up and learn my craft,” Gervasi tells Variety, noting that he feels “mostly relief” he finally got to fulfill a career-long dream.
In late August 1993, then-journalist Gervasi was sent to Los Angeles on a number of assignments, the smallest and seemingly lowest profile of which was to interview former “Fantasy Island” star Hervé Villechaize. Gervasi says he went into it expecting to “ask all of the expected questions” about the television series, his role in the James Bond franchise and tabloid headlines about his womanizing but ended up having a “massive emotional experience.” Villechaize committed suicide soon after granting Gervasi the interview, and Gervasi made it a mission to properly honor him.
“The truth is, I was not ready to make this film years ago. I had to grow up and learn my craft,” Gervasi tells Variety, noting that he feels “mostly relief” he finally got to fulfill a career-long dream.
In late August 1993, then-journalist Gervasi was sent to Los Angeles on a number of assignments, the smallest and seemingly lowest profile of which was to interview former “Fantasy Island” star Hervé Villechaize. Gervasi says he went into it expecting to “ask all of the expected questions” about the television series, his role in the James Bond franchise and tabloid headlines about his womanizing but ended up having a “massive emotional experience.” Villechaize committed suicide soon after granting Gervasi the interview, and Gervasi made it a mission to properly honor him.
- 10/8/2018
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
Peter Dinklage remembers when Hervé Villechaize’s star began to rise in Hollywood.
“I felt like everybody did — especially somebody of my size — to be honest, as a young, angry gentleman, I was in judgment of the man. Why would he take these roles that sort of seem to be side-kicky and demeaning?” Dinklage told Variety on Thursday at the premiere of HBO’s new biopic “My Dinner With Hervé.” “Then when you get to know who he was … there’s more to the story.”
The “Game of Thrones” Emmy winner stars in “My Dinner With Hervé” as the late actor in a story inspired by the time director Sacha Gervasi was a journalist sent to interview Villechaize, 25 years ago for the “Mail on Sunday.” The journalist (named Danny Tate in the film) is played by Jamie Dornan.
“I walked [into the interview] with so many judgements about who Hervé was. I thought ‘Oh,...
“I felt like everybody did — especially somebody of my size — to be honest, as a young, angry gentleman, I was in judgment of the man. Why would he take these roles that sort of seem to be side-kicky and demeaning?” Dinklage told Variety on Thursday at the premiere of HBO’s new biopic “My Dinner With Hervé.” “Then when you get to know who he was … there’s more to the story.”
The “Game of Thrones” Emmy winner stars in “My Dinner With Hervé” as the late actor in a story inspired by the time director Sacha Gervasi was a journalist sent to interview Villechaize, 25 years ago for the “Mail on Sunday.” The journalist (named Danny Tate in the film) is played by Jamie Dornan.
“I walked [into the interview] with so many judgements about who Hervé was. I thought ‘Oh,...
- 10/5/2018
- by Nate Nickolai
- Variety Film + TV
"Tell me what it felt like... to be famous!" HBO has debuted the full-length trailer for their feature film My Dinner with Hervé, starring the immensely taelnted Peter Dinklage as the famous French dwarf actor Herve Villechaize, who many will recognize from either The Man with the Golden Gun (as Scaramanga's little henchman Nick Nack) or "Fantasy Island" (as Tattoo). The story is about an evening in Los Angeles in which struggling journalist Danny Tate, as played by Jamie Dornan, is sent to meet and interview Herve. This really happened and, as the story goes, it was "an encounter that will have life-changing consequences for both." You can get a glimpse of that in this trailer. The cast includes Andy Garcia, Mireille Enos, Oona Chaplin, Helena Mattsson, and Harriet Walter. This really looks quite good, I'm pretty excited to watch once it's out. Dinklage really seems to be giving his...
- 9/23/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Peter Dinklage Is ‘The Man With the Golden Gun’ in Teaser Trailer for ‘My Dinner With Hervé’ (Video)
Peter Dinklage is “the man with the golden gun” in the new HBO film “My Dinner with Hervé.”
The movie stars Emmy-nominated “Game of Thrones” regular Peter Dinklage as Hervé Villechaize, the French dwarf actor who appeared as the evil Nick Nack in the James Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun” and as Tattoo in the series “Fantasy Island” in the late ’70s- early ’80s. “50 Shades of Gray” star Jamie Dornan plays the struggling journalist Danny Tate, who is assigned to write a profile of Villechaize.
The film is inspired by the true story of the unlikely friends, who spent one wild night in Los Angeles that had life-changing consequences for both of them.
Also Read: Peter Dinklage Is Now the Most-Nominated Actor in the Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Category
“I have a real story for you, junior,” Hervé tells Danny in the teaser trailer, above.
The movie stars Emmy-nominated “Game of Thrones” regular Peter Dinklage as Hervé Villechaize, the French dwarf actor who appeared as the evil Nick Nack in the James Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun” and as Tattoo in the series “Fantasy Island” in the late ’70s- early ’80s. “50 Shades of Gray” star Jamie Dornan plays the struggling journalist Danny Tate, who is assigned to write a profile of Villechaize.
The film is inspired by the true story of the unlikely friends, who spent one wild night in Los Angeles that had life-changing consequences for both of them.
Also Read: Peter Dinklage Is Now the Most-Nominated Actor in the Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Category
“I have a real story for you, junior,” Hervé tells Danny in the teaser trailer, above.
- 8/26/2018
- by Ashley Boucher
- The Wrap
Joshua Jackson is headed to court: The Affair actor has joined Netflix’s limited series Central Park Five, from writer/director Ava DuVernay (Queen Sugar).
The four-episode drama tells the story of a 1989 case in which five Harlem teenagers were wrongfully convicted of raping a female jogger in New York’s Central Park. Jackson will play Mickey Joseph, a lawyer for one of the boys.
Also joining the star-studded cast are Blair Underwood (Quantico), Famke Janssen (The Blacklist), Christopher Jackson (Bull, Hamilton), Omar Dorsey (Queen Sugar, Ray Donovan), Adepero Oduye (12 Years a Slave), Aurora Perrineau (Chasing Life) and William Sadler (Power,...
The four-episode drama tells the story of a 1989 case in which five Harlem teenagers were wrongfully convicted of raping a female jogger in New York’s Central Park. Jackson will play Mickey Joseph, a lawyer for one of the boys.
Also joining the star-studded cast are Blair Underwood (Quantico), Famke Janssen (The Blacklist), Christopher Jackson (Bull, Hamilton), Omar Dorsey (Queen Sugar, Ray Donovan), Adepero Oduye (12 Years a Slave), Aurora Perrineau (Chasing Life) and William Sadler (Power,...
- 8/24/2018
- TVLine.com
Now retired as Christian Grey, Jamie Dornan needs something else to do — so why not co-star with Peter Dinklage in “My Dinner With Hervé,” a new biopic set to debut this October on HBO?
In the 30-second teaser trailer below, the premise of HBO’s latest biopic gets laid out pretty cleanly: Danny Tate (Dornan) is a journalist assigned to speak with Villechaize (Dinklage), “the most famous dwarf in the world.” Villechaize promises he has a story to tell about his life as the star of projects including “The Man With the Golden Gun” and “Fantasy Island.”
While Dinklage does not share Villechaize’s French/Filipino heritage, he is a two-time Emmy winner for his work on “Game of Thrones” and seems committed to mastering the accent work involved. Per HBO, the cast also includes:
Mireille Enos as Hervé’s longtime girlfriend, Kathy Self; Harriet Walter as Danny’s newspaper editor,...
In the 30-second teaser trailer below, the premise of HBO’s latest biopic gets laid out pretty cleanly: Danny Tate (Dornan) is a journalist assigned to speak with Villechaize (Dinklage), “the most famous dwarf in the world.” Villechaize promises he has a story to tell about his life as the star of projects including “The Man With the Golden Gun” and “Fantasy Island.”
While Dinklage does not share Villechaize’s French/Filipino heritage, he is a two-time Emmy winner for his work on “Game of Thrones” and seems committed to mastering the accent work involved. Per HBO, the cast also includes:
Mireille Enos as Hervé’s longtime girlfriend, Kathy Self; Harriet Walter as Danny’s newspaper editor,...
- 8/24/2018
- by Liz Shannon Miller
- Indiewire
HBO’s My Dinner With Hervé , starring Peter Dinklage and Jamie Dornan, will debut Saturday, Oct. 20, HBO announced today, releasing a teaser as well.
The HBO Films production tells the true story of the unlikely friendship between struggling journalist Danny Tate (Dornan) and Fantasy Island actor Hervé Villechaize (Dinklage). Unfolding over one night in Los Angeles, their encounter will have life-changing consequences for both.
The film also stars Mireille Enos as Hervé’s longtime girlfriend, Kathy Self; Harriet Walter as Danny’s newspaper editor, Fiona Baskin; Oona Chaplin as Danny’s girlfriend, Katie Nielson; with David Strathairn as Villechaize’s longtime agent, Marty Rothstein; and Andy García as Ricardo Montalbán, Villechaize’s Fantasy Island co-star.
Director is Sacha Gervasi, with a screenplay by Gervasi and story by Gervasi & Sean Macaulay. Exec producers are Steven Zaillian, Richard Middleton, Ross Katz, Jessica de Rothschild, Sacha Gervasi and Peter Dinklage. Garrett Basch and...
The HBO Films production tells the true story of the unlikely friendship between struggling journalist Danny Tate (Dornan) and Fantasy Island actor Hervé Villechaize (Dinklage). Unfolding over one night in Los Angeles, their encounter will have life-changing consequences for both.
The film also stars Mireille Enos as Hervé’s longtime girlfriend, Kathy Self; Harriet Walter as Danny’s newspaper editor, Fiona Baskin; Oona Chaplin as Danny’s girlfriend, Katie Nielson; with David Strathairn as Villechaize’s longtime agent, Marty Rothstein; and Andy García as Ricardo Montalbán, Villechaize’s Fantasy Island co-star.
Director is Sacha Gervasi, with a screenplay by Gervasi and story by Gervasi & Sean Macaulay. Exec producers are Steven Zaillian, Richard Middleton, Ross Katz, Jessica de Rothschild, Sacha Gervasi and Peter Dinklage. Garrett Basch and...
- 8/24/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
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