By Michael Carr

FILMING of a £100m TV series continues in Winchester today – and a Hollywood star has been spotted enjoying a roast dinner in a local pub.

Winchester has been awash with activity as cameras rolled into the city and streets were transformed to look like wartime Britain.

And Hollywood star John Lithgow has been seen on set and having a meal in the Wykeham Arms.

The American veteran plays Winston Churchill in The Crown, a Netflix series costing more than any other in British history. Read the rest of this entry »

GALLERY LINKS:
– Movies & Television > Rosewater (2014) > Posters & Covers
– Movies & Television > Rosewater (2014) > Production Stills
– Movies & Television > The Crown (TV Series, 2016) > Production Stills
– Magazine Scans > Scans from 2016 > Studio Ciné Live (France) – January/February 2016

Congrats to everyone involved in the making of this marvellous series!!!

Follow the meteoric rise of a man who becomes King Henry VIII’s closest advisor. Tony® Award-winning actor Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) star in the miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. Mark Rylance is Thomas Cromwell, a brutal blacksmith’s son who rises from the ashes of personal disaster, and deftly picks his way through a court where ‘man is wolf to man.’ Damian Lewis is King Henry VIII, obsessed with protecting the Tudor dynasty by securing his succession with a male heir to the throne. Told from Cromwell’s perspective, Wolf Hall follows the complex machinations and back room dealings of this pragmatic and accomplished power broker who must serve king and country while dealing with deadly political intrigue, Henry VIII’s tempestuous relationship with Anne Boleyn (Claire Foy, Little Dorrit), and the religious upheavals of the Protestant reformation.

Order Wolf Hall from Amazon.com (DVD & Blu-ray) or Amazon.co.uk now (DVD & Blu-ray)! 😉

GALLERY LINKS:
– On Set (London, UK) – August 2, 2015
– On Set (Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK) – August 19, 2015
– On Set (London, UK) – September 14, 2015
– On Set (London’s Lyceum Theatre, UK) – September 26, 2015
– On Set (London’s Lyceum Theatre, UK) – September 27, 2015
– On Set (London, UK) – September 30, 2015
– On Set (Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich) – October 25, 2015
– On Set (London, UK) – November 15, 2015

This story reveals the political rivalries and romance behind Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the events that shaped the 2nd half of the 20th century.

On-set photos of Claire Foy filming The Crown can be found in our gallery.

Claire Foy finally receives The Crown as she and Matt Smith transform into Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip for the Netflix first-look trailer

With a series entitled The Crown, it’s only right that it should open with a coronation.

The first teaser trailer for the hotly-anticipated Netflix series shows Claire Foy’s Elizabeth II struggling to grasp her new role as Queen of England at the age of just 26.

And in spectacular style, it also features a royal wedding portraying the lead up to her coronation, which followed five years after her marriage to Prince Philip, who is played by Doctor Who actor Matt Smith.

The teaser introduces Elizabeth’s anxiety of her new-found power, asking if she can ‘borrow’ the crown to practise with it, following the sudden news that Edward VIII will abdicate.

‘It’s not as easy as it looks,’ she says, balancing the crown as she greets son and daughter Prince Charles and Princess Anne in her private dressing quarters. ‘Do you suppose I might borrow it for a few days, just to practise?’

Looking wholesome in her green cardigan and pearls, the 31-year-old actress is the spit of British monarch.

She’s not the only one who’s struggling to adjust in the storyline, because Elizabeth’s husband Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is seen to ask Elizabeth if he can be excused the custom of kneeling before her at the coronation.

At first, the trailer sees Philip trying to welcome Elizabeth as the next in line to the throne, saying that she should be granted a ‘befitting coronation’.

Addressing the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, he instructs: ‘We have a new sovereign, young and a woman, let us give her a coronation that it is befitting with the wind of change that she represents. Modern and forward-looking.’

Doctor Who actor Matt seems to have nailed the longest-serving consort’s distinctive mannerisms and plays a convincing Philip.

His character is later seen giving Elizabeth advice on how to deal with Churchill (played by John Lithgow) as the fine balance between the monarchy and the government is called into question.

But her reign doesn’t seem to sit well with the Duke and cracks begin to appear in their marriage as the trailer builds up to the coronation.

He says to her: ‘You’ve taken my career from me, you’ve taken my home, you’ve taken my name. What kind of marriage is this? What kind of family?’ adding: ‘Are you my wife or my queen? I want to be married to my wife.’

Enforcing her power, the monarch quickly retorts: ‘I am both and a strong man would be able to kneel to both.’

The drama builds to a climax with her stern expression as she watches him kneel before her at the coronation.

Source

ARTE diffuse la série “Wolf Hall – Dans l’ombre des Tudors” les 21 et 28 janvier.

Publié par Pascal 25/12

Dans la série en six épisodes Wolf Hall, Peter Kosminsky retrace l’ascension fulgurante de Thomas Cromwell, éminence grise du roi d’Angleterre Henri VIII.

Adaptée des best sellers de Hilary Mantel, une fresque historique aussi sobre que passionnante dopée par l’interprétation de Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Claire Foy ou encore Jonathan Pryce.

Episodes 1 à 3 le jeudi 21 janvier dès 20h55 sur ARTE ; suite et fin la semaine suivante.

Si le règne rouge sang d’Henri VIII n’en finit plus d’inspirer les réalisateurs – d’Anne des mille jours à Deux soeurs pour un roi en passant par la saga Les Tudors diffusée par ARTE –, Peter Kosminsky se démarque avec cette fresque relatant l’ascension de Thomas Cromwell, avocat de basse extraction propulsé au sommet de l’État par la seule force de son intelligence et de son ambition. Traversée par un souci constant du détail, jusque dans les éclairages à la bougie qui attisent la puissance picturale des clairs-obscurs, Wolf Hall s’appuie sur une mise en scène épurée et sur une narration sans à-coups qui servent la complexité des personnages et de leurs relations.

3 nominations aux Golden Globes et 5 nominations aux Emmy Awards.

Le début : 1529. Le roi Henri VIII tente d’obtenir l’annulation de son mariage avec Catherine d’Aragon, coupable de n’avoir pu lui donner un héritier mâle. Rendu responsable de l’enlisement des négociations avec Rome, le cardinal Wolsey est démis de ses fonctions de lord-chancelier et remplacé par Thomas More. Thomas Cromwell, avocat et homme de confiance du prélat, refuse de l’abandonner. Il rend visite à Anne Boleyn, la favorite d’Henri, qui brûle d’impatience de monter sur le trône, et décroche une entrevue avec le roi.

Réalisation : Peter Kosminsky
Scénario : Peter Straughan
d’après les romans de Hilary Mantel : Le conseiller – Dans l’ombre
des Tudors et Le conseiller – Le pouvoir (Sonatine éditions)
Image : Gavin Finney
Montage : David Blackmore, Josh Cunliffe
Musique : Debbie Wiseman
Décors : Pat Campbell
Costumes : Joanna Eatwell

Source

Arte rediffuse l’intégrale de la série britannique La petite Dorrit ce jeudi 24 décembre à partir de 20h55 jusqu’à 4 heures du matin. La fiction en huit épisodes est principalement portée par Claire Foy (Crossbones). Lors de sa diffusion en 2008 outre-Manche, l’’acrice s’est souvienu où elle était quand elle a appris qu’elle avait obtenu le rôle-titre dans La petite Dorrit lors d’un entretien accordé à BBC.

L’actrice a rappelé, « Je marchais dans le hall d’entrée du Théâtre National quand je l’ai découvert, je ne pouvais pas vraiment sauter de joie car les gens m’auraient regardé un peu bizarrement ! Je suis absolument ravie. Mais je ne pouvais vraiment y croire. Quand nous avons commencé le tournage, j’étais persuadée que la production allait me remplacer ».

Concernant son personnage, elle a admis, « Extérieurement, Amy est une personne très timide, comme une souris, elle est très calme par rapport à tous ces autres personnages exubérants dans la série. Mais à l’intérieur, elle est cette une personne merveilleusement forte. Elle est également totalement désintéressée et sait exactement ce qui doit être fait pour les bonnes raisons ».

Au cœur de La Petite Dorrit, l’histoire d’amour entre Amy et Arthur est poignante. Pour Claire Foy, Amy « apprécie vraiment les gens de bonne nature, c’est pourquoi elle tombe amoureuse d’Arthur. Elle ne croyait pas que quelqu’un puisse être si gentil avec elle, mais finalement elle l’accepte ».

La petite Dorrit est à retrouver ce jeudi 24 décembre à partir de 20h55 sur Arte.

Source

La série a été récompensée par sept Emmy Awards, dont celui de la meilleure mini-série.

Wolf Hall is No 2 in our end-of-year roundup. Here, the director talks about his nerves on showing Hilary Mantel the rough cuts, filming the most powerful moment of his career, and spending £30,000 on beeswax candles

Chitra Ramaswamy

Congratulations … Wolf Hall is up for three Golden Globes and is many people’s TV series of the year. Are you surprised that a slow, spare, complex, candlelit story about the Tudors, with an ending we already knew, has proved such a hit?

The scale of the audience surprised me. When we started, Wolf Hall was a fairly esoteric project. It was always going to be demanding: slow, political, with a lot of talking and not much action. I thought it would attract a small audience and was completely unprepared when we broke BBC2 box-office records and peaked at an audience of six million.

What do people continue to say to you about it?

The execution of Anne Boleyn – the last 10 minutes of the series – seems to have had a huge impact. I’ve been making television for 35 years and I can’t think of anything I’ve shot that was so powerful to make and that translated to the audience in this way. Read the rest of this entry »

West-based drama Wolf Hall is in the running for three Golden Globes in January.

Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis and the series itself have picked up nominations in the best limited series or TV movie category of the prestigious awards.

And the Bristol-made Shaun the Sheep The Movie is in the running for the best animated film at the awards ceremony to be hosted by Ricky Gervais.

Eddie Redmayne will go head to head with ten-time nominee Leonardo DiCaprio for the best actor in a drama. He has been nominated for his performance as transgender artist Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl, while DiCaprio received his 11th nod for his gruelling turn as Hugh Glass in revenge saga The Revenant. Read the rest of this entry »

She appeared to be having a spot of bother with the oversized, full-skirted gown, which is almost exactly the same as the one Queen Elizabeth walked down the aisle in at Westminster Abbey with Philip Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh over half a century ago.

With one arm encased in the protective case, she was forced to walk across the pavement with the skirt lifted in her other hand.

The brunette actress also had her hair in the same style as the Queen on her wedding day, while her head was adorned with the same sparkling crown and veil.

As well as the bulky blue sling, Claire lifted up the heavy layered skirts to reveal her very modern brown flat boots, which would otherwise be hidden away during filming.

She did, however, remove the sling on her arm as she commenced with the shoot.

It was previously reported that every detail on the monarch’s iconic Norman Hartnell-designed dress – a duchesse satin bridal gown with motifs of star lilies and orange blossoms – would be included in the new version of the dress, to make the occasion look as authentic as possible.

Claire – best known for her roles in Wolf Hall and Little Dorrit – is starring as the royal in the hotly-anticipated new series, alongside Doctor Who‘s Matt Smith as her husband, Prince Phillip.

And Saturday’s filming appeared as lavish as one could expect, with a horse-drawn carriage, two white steeds and extras clad in regal and military costumes all present and correct to bring back to life one of the most famous weddings of the 20th century.

Her Majesty’s wedding in 1947 was presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury and broadcast by BBC radio to more than 200 million people globally.

So the expensive new TV effort will be hoping recreate the hype, the fervour and the glamour of the big day itself.

Filming for the ceremony has already taken place in Ely, Cambridgeshire – the local cathedral acting as Westminster Abbey – with Claire spotted with eight extras as her bridesmaids.

The series focuses on Buckingham Palace and Downing Street as it follows the story of Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding day in 1947 to the modern day.

Another famous face among the cast is Hollywood star John Lithgow, who has been seen shooting scenes as Sir Winston Churchill.

All the stops have been pulled out to ensure the new Netflix Originals series, spanning 60 episodes across six seasons, is a success.

A reported $100million is being ploughed into the show, which will trace the life of the Queen Elizabeth II from her wedding in 1947 to the present day.

According to The Telegraph newspaper, The Crown will be the most expensive drama ever made by the US streaming company and its first to be made in the UK.

Billed as the ‘the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street,’ the series promises a look at the intrigue, love lives and machinations behind the most notable events.

The tagline for the show has a blockbuster ring to it, which promises plenty of excitement, reading: ‘Two houses, two courts, one Crown.’

Source

GALLERY LINKS:
– On Set (London, UK) – August 2, 2015
– On Set (Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK) – August 19, 2015
– On Set (London, UK) – September 14, 2015
– On Set (London’s Lyceum Theatre, UK) – September 26, 2015
– On Set (London’s Lyceum Theatre, UK) – September 27, 2015
– On Set (London, UK) – September 30, 2015

They are two of the country’s best young acting talents.

And Matt Smith and Claire Foy certainly looked the part as they filmed scenes for forthcoming 10-part Netflix series The Crown at London’s Lyceum Theatre on September 26, 2015.

The former Doctor Who star is portraying Prince Philip in the biographical drama while period drama favourite Claire is assuming the role of Queen Elizabeth II.

Matt Smith and Claire Foy play Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and The Queen in Netflix’s “The Crown” in Central London. Claire Foy shows new haircut before putting on wig, and drops expensive pair of shades whilst getting into car.

By CitizenNews

Actress Lizzy McInnerny will be playing one of the Queen’s closest confidantes in a £100 million Netflix epic to be screened next year.

The Stroud actress will be playing the monarch’s devoted nanny and dresser, Miss Margaret McDonald, who served Her Majesty for 69 years.

Lizzy, 54, will be joining an all star cast that includes Doctor Who Matt Smith as the Duke of Edinburgh, John Lithgow as Sir Winston Churchill and Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II.

Insiders are already tipping The Crown to be a massive worldwide hit which could turn some of the cast into global household names.

Read more…