Stage Play News: Claudie Blakley joins 'The 24th Hour Plays on Broadway'

Claudie Blakley (aka P&P's Charlotte Lucas) is the latest and the 6th P&P actor to be doing either a broadway or stage play production in the coming months, starting November 9th.

According to Broadway World...

This year's company members, include Amber Tamblyn (Bang Ditto, Joan of Arcadia), Anthony Mackie (The Bacchae, Notorious), Ashton Kutcher (What Happens in Vegas, That ‘70's Show), Billy Crudup (Public Enemies, Tony Award Winner for The Coast of Utopia), Claudie Blakley (Pride & Prejudice, Gosford Park), David Cross (Arrested Development, Year One), Emily Mortimer (The Pink Panther 1&2, Transsiberian), Emmy Rossum (Dare, Golden Globe Nominee for The Phantom of the Opera), Jennifer Esposito (Samantha Who?, Crash), Jeremy Sisto (Law & Order, Six FeetUnder), Julia Stiles (Oleanna, The Bourne Ultimatum), Leslie Bibb (Iron Man, Confessions of a Shopaholic), Michael Ealy (Miracle at St. Anna, Golden Globe Nominee for Sleeper Cell), Rachel Dratch (My Life in Ruins,SNL), Rosie Perez (Pineapple Express, Academy Award Nominee for Fearless), Saffron Burrows (Boston Legal,My Own Worst Enemy), Sam Rockwell (Frost/Nixon, Choke), Yul Vazquez (Che, American Gangster); playwrights Warren Leight (Tony Award Winner and Pulitzer Prize Nominee for Side Man, Law and Order Criminal Intent), David Lindsay-Abaire (Tony Award Nominee for Shrek the Musical, Pulitzer Prize for DramaWinner for Rabbit Hole) and Nathan Jackson (Broke-ology, Southland); and Swedish Grammy Award Winning Musical Guests A Camp, comprised of Nina Persson (vocalist and lyricist of The Cardigans) and Nathan Larson (Original Music for Dirty Pretty Things, Boys Don't Cry).


Talent subject to change based on availability.


An annual benefit event for Urban Arts Partnership, THE 24 HOUR PLAYS ON BROADWAY attracts some of entertainment's biggest names as they join forces to participate in a rite of extreme live performance: writing, directing, and performing six original short plays, all in just 24 hours! The creative process for THE 24 HOUR PLAYS ON BROADWAY will begin at 10PM on Sunday, November 8th - the night before the show - when a group of six writers, six directors, 24 actors, two musical guests, and a production staff gather at the American Airlines Theatre. After casts and crews have been briefed, each writer is tasked with composing a ten-minute playby 7 AM the following morning, when the directors return to read and select their piece. The casts will meet for the first time at 8 AM and, over the next 12 hours the plays are rehearsed and produced for a live presentation. At 8:00PM, ink barely dry, the six new plays - interspersed with six musical acts - will be performed for a live audience.

Continue Reading here!

Also,  in similar article below...

Billy Crudup, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Rosie Perez, Julia Stiles, et al. Set for 24 Hour Plays on Broadway

As previously announced, the show will also feature Billy Crudup, Amber Tamblyn, Anthony Mackie, Claudie Blakley, David Cross, Emily Mortimer, Emmy Rossum, Jennifer Esposito, Jeremy Sisto, Julia Stiles, Leslie Bibb, Michael Ealy, Rachel Dratch, Rosie Perez, Saffron Burrows, Sam Rockwell, and Yul Vazquez. The Times also reports that Jennifer Aniston and Liev Schreiber will be part of the cast. 

Stage Play News: Tom Hollander joined the cast of John Mortimer at the Court...and later at the Bar

What's on Stage reports that another P&P actor will be doing theater or stage play, this time it's Mr. Collins...err...

Tom Hollander, Alan Rickman and Dominic West have joined the cast of John Mortimer at the Court...and later at the Bar, a tribute to the late playwright held at the Royal Court (of which he was chairman and president) on 15 November (See News, 22 Sep 2009). Curated by playwright Stephen Jeffreys, the evening will also features performances from actors including Sinead Cusack, Edward Fox, Jeremy Irons, Emily Mortimer and Harriet Walter. Proceeds will go to the Royal Court’s Writers Development Fund. For more info and tickets call 020 7565 5000.

Related article
Irons, Rickman and More Set for JOHN MORTIMER AT THE COURT...AND LATER AT THE BAR

Previous Other P&P Actors on Stage Play Related Posts:

• Matthew Macfadyen to star in Noel Coward's 'Private Lives'
• Keira Knightley the hot ticket for her upcoming stage debut in The Misanthrope 
• Keira Knightley to make her West End Debut in “The Misanthrope” 
• Rosamund Pike to star in a stage production of Hedda Gabler 
• Rupert Friend to make his West End stage debut in The Little Dog Laughed

Movie News: Carey Mulligan to star in 'This Beautiful Fantastic'

Hollywood Reporter reports that Carey Mulligan has been cast in a new film, This Beautiful Fantastic.

LONDON -- Terry Loane's "This Beautiful Fantastic" has attracted a sparkling cast with Carey Mulligan, Tom Wilkinson, Christopher Eccleston, Mackenzie Crook and Joanna Lumley all in line to shine.

Billed as a modern fairy tale, Simon Aboud's script appears on the annual Brit List, a compilation of the best unproduced screenplays from these shores that circulates here and stateside.

The movie is set to shoot in March 2010 shooting on location in Edinburgh, Scotland and in studio facilities in Cologne, Germany, the backers said.

The script details the story of a chronically shy and obsessively tidy children's author whose world is turned upside down when she falls in love with a crazy, shambolic inventor.

Tom Hollander stars in a political comedy film 'In The Loop'

With the previous post here:( An Education scored six British Independent Film Award Nominations) that Tom Hollander (aka P&P's Mr. Collins) is nominated for his latest film, In The Loop (it's nominated for a total of 6 BIFA) for Best Supporting Actor, I must admit and say here that I didn't even know (or rather didn't noticed) that he was in this film, and I've heard/read the title of this film mentioned a lot in various film blogs/sites, lol. So, I totally forgot to post about it here...till now.

Anyway, here are the following info about this film...

Synopsis
The US President and UK Prime Minister fancy a war. But not everyone agrees that war is a good thing. The US General Miller (James Gandolfini) doesn't think so and neither does the British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander). But, after Simon accidentally backs military action on TV, he suddenly has a lot of friends in Washington, DC.

If Simon can get in with the right DC people, if his entourage of one (Chris Addison) can sleep with the right intern (Anna Chlumsky), and if they can both stop the Prime Minister's chief spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) rigging the vote at the UN, they can halt the war.

If they don't... well, they can always sack their Director of Communications Judy (Gina McKee), who they never liked anyway and who's back home dealing with voters with blocked drains and a man who's angry about a collapsing wall (Steve Coogan).
 source: Ace Showbiz (Read more for more info of this film)

Watch the trailer for In The Loop

[source: FilmCentralHD]

In The Loop Movie Poster and Stills featuring Tom Hollander

 

View more In The Loop Stills here!

Also, check out the In The Loop - Special Screening photos...

[TH stills source: UK's Official In The Loop site | Yahoo! Movies]

Plus check out the following links to either listen or watch below...

Simon Foster's Radio Show (audio only)

Introducing Malcolm Tucker

Malcolm Tucker Wants To Silence Simon Foster

More In The Loop Info below...

From Wikipedia:

In the Loop is a feature film directed by Armando Iannucci. It is a spinoff from the BBC TV series The Thick of It satirising Anglo-American politics in the 21st century. The film was released on 17 April 2009 in the United Kingdom.

• Critical reception to the film's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival was high. 
• Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of the reviews they tallied for the film were positive.
• The film was released on 17 April 2009 in the United Kingdom.
• The film was picked up by IFC Films for distribution in the US, and began screening on July 24th, 2009.
  
  
  
  Related Links:
  

  • Official website
  • In the Loop at Allmovie
  • In the Loop at Rotten Tomatoes
  • In the Loop at the Internet Movie Database 

From DVD Active:

The UK DVD & Blu-Ray for In The Loop was released in August 24th (No, U.S. DVD release date

yet)

Bonus DVD features for In The Loop

• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary with Cast and Director
• Interview with Gina McKee and Chris Addison
• Interview with Tom Hollander
• Interview with Peter Capaldi
• Interview with Director Armando Ianucci
• Trailer
• Webisodes

P&P Blog Weekly Poll

New Poll is now up!

The current poll (#45) is now up (scroll down at the bottom) right side bar under the Weekly Poll for the new poll.

As The Telegraph recently reported that Keira Knightley beats Scarlett Johansson to be in My Fair Lady + Joe Wright to direct it!


(Note: This is not official and confirmed yet though. Neither Keira Knightley, Joe Wright nor the producers (Sir Cameron Mackintosh, who is producing this film with Duncan Kenworthy) has confirmed their involvement for this film... at least not yet).

I thought this week's new poll, would be relating to this (whether this is officially confirmed to be true or not...we'll find out soon enough)... question: 

What do you think of Keira Knightley (starring as Eliza Doolittle) and Joe Wright (directing her) re-teaming for 'My Fair Lady' remake?

Vote in this week's new poll (scroll down below the right side bar for the weekly poll) and post here or here what you think about this.

Many thanks to all of you who voted in the last poll. Below is the result from last week's poll.

Excluding P&P movie, which of the following Judi Dench TV & Films is your most favorite?

As Times Goes By (TV)	0 (0%)
Shakespeare in Love	1 (12%)
Tea with Mussolini	0 (0%)
The World Is Not Enough	0 (0%)
Chocolat	1 (12%)
The Importance of Being Ernest	2 (25%)
Die Another Day	0 (0%)
The Chronicles of Riddick	0 (0%)
Ladies in Lavender	3 (37%)
Mrs. Henderson Presents	0 (0%)
Casino Royale	1 (12%)
Notes of Scandal	0 (0%)
Quantum of Solace	0 (0%)
Cranford (TV)	0 (0%)
Other	0 (0%)

Total Votes: 8
Poll closed

All previous Weekly Polls are archived here.

Carey Mulligan wins Breakthrough Actress Award at 13th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala

Carey Mulligan accepted her (very first win and award for An Education and sure to be many more as the awards season begins...) Breakthrough Actress award last night with presenter and The Greatest co-star Pierce Brosnan at the 13th annual Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 26, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California.

FYI: Carey's P&P/Never Let Me Go co-star  Keira Knightley also won the Breakthrough Actress Award in 2004.

Here are several new pics of Carey from the red carpet arrival, award show ceremony, and press room...

13th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony - Arrivals

Actress Carey Mulligan arrives at the 13th annual Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 26, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California.

 

(source: Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America | zimbio.com) 

13th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony - Show

Actress Carey Mulligan accepts the Breakthrough Actress award onstage during the 13th annual Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 26, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California.

(Source: Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America | zimbio.com)

13th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony - Press Room

Actress Carey Mulligan poses with the Breakthrough Actress Award with presenter Pierce Brosnan in the press room during the 13th annual Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 26, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California.

(source: Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images North America | zimbio.com) 

Here's an article about Carey at the Hollywood Awards from The Press Association:

 Carey Mulligan wins Hollywood gong

Carey Mulligan has picked up the gong for Breakthrough Actress at the Hollywood Awards - the first major ceremony of awards season.

The British actress plays the lead in An Education, the Nick Hornby film based on Lynn Barber's memoir, which also stars Emma Thompson and Rosamund Pike.

"I just met Hilary Swank. I'm in a little bit of a daze," Carey said on the red carpet.

She continued. "This is exciting. The photo bit is a little scary. The lights flash a lot and they made my eyes water, which is terrifying. But it's amazing."

Related articles
13th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala
Oscar hopefuls turn out in force at Hollywood Awards
Awards Season Kicks Off With 13th Annual Hollywood Awards

An Education scored six British Independent Film Award Nominations

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) nominations has just been announced Monday (Oct. 26) with An Education scoring six nominations along with the film, the cast including Carey Mulligan and Rosamund Pike receiving each nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively. Not too mention, Tom Hollander (aka P&P's Mr. Collins) is nominated for his latest film, In The Loop for Best Supporting Actor.

The nominations this year reflect the up and coming and internationally renowned on and off screen talent.

The film receiving the most nods is Fish Tank with eight nominations. Moon follows with seven nominations. An Education, In The Loop and Nowhere Boy each receive six nominations and Bright Star receives four. Other films with multiple nominations are Katalin Varga receiving three, and Bronson and Bunny & The Bull receiving two nominations each.

Here are the six nominations for An Education:

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
An Education
Fish Tank
In The Loop
Moon
Nowhere Boy

BEST DIRECTOR
Andrea Arnold – Fish Tank
Armando Iannucci – In The Loop
Duncan Jones – Moon
Jane Campion – Bright Star
Lone Scherfig – An Education

BEST SCREENPLAY
An Education – Nick Hornby
Fish Tank – Andrea Arnold
In The Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
Moon – Nathan Parker
Nowhere Boy – Matt Greenhalgh

BEST ACTRESS
Abbie Cornish – Bright Star
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Emily Blunt – The Young Victoria
Katie Jarvis – Fish Tank
Sophie Okonedo – Skin

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Anne-Marie Duff – Nowhere Boy
Kerry Fox – Bright Star
Kierston Wareing – Fish Tank
Kristin Scott Thomas – Nowhere Boy
Rosamund Pike – An Education

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alfred Molina – An Education
Jim Broadbent – The Damned United
John Henshaw – Looking for Eric
Michael Fassbender – Fish Tank
Tom Hollander – In The Loop

Also...

THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD (for outstanding contribution to British Film)
Daniel Day Lewis

THE VARIETY AWARD
To Be Announced

THE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Sponsored by The UK Film Council
Announced at the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday 6 December

BIFA 2009 will take place at The Brewery in Central London on Sunday 6th December 2009.

 Speaking of Carey Mulligan and Rosamund Pike BIFA nominations, this is Carey's first BIFA nomination, while Ros was nominated previously for The Libertine in 2005 (in which she co-starred opposite Johnny Depp and her former P&P co-stars Rupert Friend, Kelly Reilly, and Tom Hollander)

and she won!

Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film Rosamund Pike for The Libertine

Also, at the same night and year,  Keira Knightley received the following...

The Variety Award

Keira Knightley

and was nominated in last year's BIFA 2008: Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film for The Duchess

Pirate Radio U.S. Promo featuring Talulah Riley

The Official Pirate Radio (American) website has recently launched (in preparation for the November 13th U.S. theatrical release of Pirate Radio) a hilarious new clip featuring Talulah Riley’s character: Marianne.


Check out and watch the clip below!

[source: hollywoodstreams]

 

Also, speaking of Talulah, check out a new video interview of Talulah Riley promoting Pirate Radio. 

In addition, there's a Talulah Riley and P&P mention from the movie's  Production Notes:

Another rising young U.K. talent, Talulah Riley, was cast opposite Sturridge as Marianne, the girl Carl falls for. The actress had made her screen debut, for Working Title, just four years prior as one of the five Bennet sisters in the hit Pride & Prejudice.

“Talulah is a delight and I think viewers will love her in this role,”says Curtis, adding, “She gets to wear – very well – the best fringe and dress of any of the actresses in the film.”

Pirate Radio in U.S. theaters nationwide November 13, 2009!

Movie News: Keira Knightley beats Scarlett Johansson to be My Fair Lady + Joe Wright to direct it!

The Telegraph has announced today that Keira Knightley has won the part of Eliza Doolittle in the film remake of My Fair Lady! She has beat out competition from Scarlett Johansson (though Keira has been the front runner all along) and  Joe Wright (who directed Keira in both Oscar nominated films Pride & Prejudice and Atonement...with P&P, Keira was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a leading role in 2006) is also said to be directing this film. This will be the third time the pair will work together in a film! Also, they previously worked together in 2 commercials: Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle ad and a domestic violence advertisement for women’s aid.

By George she's got it! Keira Knightley beats Scarlett Johansson to be My Fair Lady!

Mandrake hears that the 24-year-old actress has beaten Scarlett Johansson to the part of Eliza Doolittle in a new film adaptation of My Fair Lady.

Her victory comes as I can disclose that Joe Wright, who inspired Knightley to her best performance, in Pride and Prejudice, has been chosen to direct the film.

"Joe and Keira are looking forward to working together again immensely," says a friend of the 37-year-old director. 

Read full article here!

EDIT:

Keira was asked about MFL in her Movie Fone Interview last March and she answered it below...

Will you be taking your voice out for another spin in the musical remake of 'My Fair Lady'?

Hopefully -- fingers crossed. I auditioned for it about two years ago, and I think it's been a matter of trying to assemble the correct team to do it that is going to make as interesting a movie and as good a movie as possible. There are good whispers going around, you know, and hopefully they'll come to fruition.

Wow, if this is confirmed and official...Congrats to Keira and yay for Joe Wright directing!!! I'd love to see Keira and JW's take on My Fair Lady. They did magic together in P&P (as well as Atonement)...so I'd love to see their take on this classic film (one of my favorite musical films). I personally love Audrey Hepburn's version, but I'm open minded to a new version with Keira (she did amazing on P&P)...so, I look forward to her version and see how she'll do this.

What do you all think of Keira doing My Fair Lady remake and Joe Wright directing her (again) in this film?

Yay or Nay? Post your thoughts and comments here.


EDIT #2 (10/27/09)

Note: This is not official and confirmed yet though. Neither Keira Knightley, Joe Wright nor the producers (Sir Cameron Mackintosh, who is producing this film with Duncan Kenworthy) has confirmed their involvement for this film... at least not yet. When it is confirmed or not (hopefully, confirmed...we'll see...), I'll keep you all updated for more news of this as soon as it's available.

Filming Update: Rosamund Pike in Barney's Version

Here's an interesting article by Jacob Richler for macleans.ca about Rosamund Pike's Barney's Version film, which she's currently filming. It mentions Ros and her character Miriam.

Simone's take on Barney's Version

Well, yes. And later that very day, just down the road at a cottage on the shore of Lake Memphremagog—as it happens, just a bay up from where my father wrote the book—Barney would be marrying his one true love, Miriam (Rosamund Pike). But first, we were going to flash forward a decade or so: enter the future progeny, young Kate (Simone) and her brother Michael (Zack Kifell). According to the call sheet, Simone’s first, she would be sharing screen space with none other than Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike and Dustin Hoffman.

This impressed me but not her; she had never heard of any of them. However, in the car driving over to Serendipity Point Films for her screen test with Robert Lantos, I had given a quick backgrounder on the wonderful films Hoffman had made, as well as Giamatti, and then—digging deep, I let her in on something that I was sure would impress her. “You know what?” I said, “The actress cast to play Miriam—who some people think is based on your grandmother, Florence, once played a Bond girl.”

Come seven a.m., first assistant director David Webb had introduced Simone and Zack to Miss Pike—as he put it, “Hey guys, this is your new mum.” And they all set about bashing a shuttlecock back and forth across a badminton net set up on the front lawn, a game which on the immediate evidence kids play a lot more than Bond girls. The scene called for the three of them to be having a casual match in the background, while, in the foreground, Barney and his father Izzy (Hoffman) had a chat about life over Scotch and cigars.

Read full article here!

Brenda Blethyn Filming New Drama For ITV1

According to Rapid Talent, Brenda Blethyn will star in ITV's new thriller, Vera.
 
BAFTA winning actress, Gina McKee, joins International award winning star Brenda Blethyn OBE, in ITV’s new thriller, VERA, based on a book by crime writer Ann Cleeves.

BAFTA winning actress, Gina McKee, joins International award winning star Brenda Blethyn OBE, in ITV’s new thriller, VERA, based on a book by crime writer Ann Cleeves.

Julie Armstrong (Gina McKee) arrives home from a rare night out in Newcastle with boyfriend Gary Wright (Neil Armstrong) to find her son murdered. Luke (Sam Fender) has been strangled, laid out in a bath of water and covered with wild flowers while his sister, Laura (Gabrielle Ross), sleeps silently in the house. This stylised murder scene has Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope (Brenda Blethyn) and Sergeant Joe Ashworth (David Leon) intrigued. A second body of beautiful young teacher Lily Marsh (Samantha Neale) is discovered laid out in a rock pool, the water strewn with flowers.

Read more here!

Brenda Blethyn at Dead Man Running's UK Premiere

Brenda Blethyn attended the premiere of Dead Man Running during the The Times BFI London Film Festival held at The Odeon West End on October 22, 2009 in London, England.

Check out new pics of Brenda B. below...

"Dead Man Running" premieres in London

(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Europe)

Dead Man Running - UK Film Premiere - Arrivals

(Photo by Bauer Griffin)

Dead Man Running: UK Film Premiere - Inside Arrivals

(Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images Europe)