четверг, 24 апреля 2014
15:39

londonphile: londonphile: TIME The 100 most influential people...





londonphile:



londonphile:



TIME The 100 most influential people - Benedict Cumberbatch By Colin Firth



The alarmingly talented English star


When I was about 25 years old, I worked with two very good actors. The encounters were brief, but I’ve remembered them both with great admiration. Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton both embodied qualities which one is fogyishly tempted to look at with nostalgia. Along with very considerable talent, they had elegance, glamor, wit, kindness and decency.

I didn’t know at the time that they were married or that they had a son of about 10 who was quietly gestating all the same attributes. And now, 30 years later, the boy has been let loose. He has taken the form of Benedict Cumberbatch.


His parents’ qualities are on rampant display. It’s rare to the point of outlandish to find so many variables in one actor, including features which ought to be incompatible: vulnerability, a sense of danger, a clear intellect, honesty, courage — and a rather alarming energy. I take no pleasure in feeling humbled, but there’s no getting around it.


He must be stopped.


http://time.com/70781/benedict-cumberbatch-2014-time-100/




Benedict’s name on the cover






@темы: time

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05:44

new tab for high res. promo photos for Fargo 1x03 “A Muddy...













new tab for high res.


promo photos for Fargo 1x03 “A Muddy Road”





@темы: martin freeman, fargo

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05:32

Quick PSA

cumberbum:

I’ve noticed lately that a lot of people have been grabbing my edits and using them as a...



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вторник, 22 апреля 2014
19:32

leslierae1414: Can’t make it to London 2015 to see Benedict in...

















leslierae1414:



Can’t make it to London 2015 to see Benedict in Hamlet?

Missed Tom in Coriolanus?



Check out Shakespeare plays in 3 panels…



Source:
http://goodticklebrain.com/shakespeare-index/#/three-panel-plays/





@темы: shakespeare

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10:46

Benedict to attend Guardian Editorial Conference

cumbertrekky:

@jayrayner1: I wonder if @guardian editorial conference tomorrow will be better...



@темы: gec

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05:11

John Heffernan's 'Major Barbara' rehearsal diary

Thought I’d stick this up here for anyone who hasn’t seen before and can’t read it on The Times website. It’s old (March 2008!) but brilliant, not only if you love John (and if you don’t, a) you are wrong, b) read this and you will by the end ;)) but also if you have any interest in theatre at all :)


Tuesday 15th January


I left drama school nearly 3 years ago but the 1st day of rehearsals still feels uncomfortably close to the 1st day of school. Not that I worry Clare Higgins or Simon Russell Beale are going to pinch my dinner money but old anxieties remain on meeting any large numbers of people for the first time. And entering the rehearsal room at the National Theatre today, the place is heaving not just with the director (Nick Hytner) and the acting company, but also with the heads of practically every major department in the building. As if Denys Lasdun’s great monument to concrete weren’t intimidating enough, walking into this hubbub of excited, nervous energy requires me to take a few deep breaths. You can see the relief on people’s faces as they happen across old acquaintances. Normally, this is the time when I find myself heading to a corner somewhere and pretending to become fascinated by the tea urn, but for the first time I’m spotting old friends, including a very close mate of mine from Webber Douglas. The acting profession is really quite a small world - talk to anybody for two minutes and chances are they’ll know your pal Brian who slept with Ophelia on that tour of the Midlands in 1985. But having trained for two years together, Paul and I are pretty familiar with each other’s acting habits so I’m hoping we’ll be able to give one another honest opinions over the coming weeks.


After we’ve gathered into a circle and introduced ourselves (“Hi, I’m John and I’m an actor”, I mutter to the floor, sounding as if I’ve just joined AA), we get straight down to reading the play. Now if the first day is a cause of anxiety in a lot of actors, the first readthrough is synonymous is real terror. I try to look calm and composed but instead look like Hugh Grant only without the winning charm (“Oh, er, terribly sorry, was that your foot? [Deafening silence] Gosh, a lot of talking in this sсript, isn’t there?”)and laughing like I’ve been overdosing on Smarties all morning.

An actor’s approach to the first read can be quite telling, some playing their cards close to their chest and speaking in a virtual monotone while others practically using the bottles of water and garibaldi biscuits as props for their already fully-formed performance. It would have been nice to gauge the general temperature but today I have the first lines of the play and so delve right in. I hit upon the ingenious solution that since I’m utterly terrified, then I can make the character incredibly terrified too and maybe nobody will notice. I can’t help noticing that Simon reads in very hushed tones, as if reluctant to narrow down his choices at such an early stage. However, he comes down very hard on his future son-in-law’s mention of the dangerous love that can exist between a father and a daughter, a sensitive subject that is immediately crushed. Already the closed heart at the centre of the play is beginning to be held up to the light.


During the break, everyone is astonished by how genuinely funny the play is and also how shocking. This is an evening where audiences get taken from an almost Wildean drawing room comedy to seeing a beneficent female Salvationist getting hit across the face to finally witnessing the hero of the peace advocating revolution and by extension, terrorism, as the only means of achieving progress. Nick emphasises that for the play to be engaging the characters must be rooted in a solid reality and not be allowed to become hollow ciphers for Shaw’s philosophical arguments.


Sunday 20th January


Still pinching myself that I’m able to call the National Theatre my place of work for the next six months. Since seeing Denis Quilley as Falstaff here in the mid-1990s I have been a real theatre junkie, constantly asking my parents to keep taking me to see the new productions. During my time at Webber Douglas I worked here as an usher and so learnt just as much in the evenings as I did during the day, jumping at the chance to watch Alex Jennings, Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, David Tennant and, of course, Simon Russell Beale.


Today I’ve been catching up on my homework. My most recent job only finished last weekend so I’m feeling a little behind and since Steven Undershaft is a graduate of Harrow and Cambridge with aspirations to be a politician, I should know my onions. Plus there are some extremely brainy people in that rehearsal room and I’m displaying the mental capacity of a cabbage leaf.


It’s been a great week, still sitting down and working through the text but everyone is relaxed with the conversation moving from 14th century monasteries to the unresolved sexual tension between Britomart and Undershaft. Nick Hytner told a hilarious anecdote about his appointment with the Queen (“Oh, are you the George III fellow?”) and I’m still slapping myself that I’ve got a ten minute opening scene with Clare Higgins. After a costume meeting in which I’m measured in every conceivable place, I sneak into a playreading of The Astonished Heart to coincide with the current production of Present Laughter. It has a tone I had not ever associated with Noel Coward - almost wholly serious and a shockingly honest portrait of the pain we can unwittingly inflict on others.


Wednesday 23rd January




A real treat this morning - a visit from an ex-Salvationist AND a bit of a Shaw buff to boot. He described very honestly the lifestyle and almost total dedication required to enlist. He looked back upon his time there with a lot of fondness and found Shaw’s portrait partially inaccurate (a major marrying a mere soldier would have been very unlikely, to say nothing of Barbara still being able to live at home) but fundamentally affectionate. He ran off with one of the boys in the choir and recommended a shelter to go to on Oxford Street. I think a company visit might be on the cards!


Friday 25th January


On to Act Three and Nick is fantastically helpful in filling in the gaps of Steven’s backstory. He tells me the character reminds him of one of those prigs at Cambridge who, even in their 20s, already acted like old Tories addressing the House of Lords. I take the note and something I had not seen before clicks as we run it again. I think before I’d been slightly afraid of making him ridiculous, but now that seems to make total sense if it can be grounded in his insecurity and his desperate battle for superiority. I’m beginning to feel rather sorry for him. He’s erecting a little fort around himself and in the process, isolating himself completely.

The week ends with a very necessary pint (the importance of a bar on the premises is not to be underestimated) and the chance to finally unwind with the cast. By coincidence, I bump into two friends from the Histories company in Stratford who I haven’t seen in ages. They’ve been working on the project for over two years now and freely admit that they are exhausted.


Tuesday 29th January


I’ve just returned from a few days in Chester visiting my granddad. He is feeling poorly and struggles a little with conversation but lights up when I tell him I’m about to appear in a George Bernard Shaw play (the Irish ancestry would be proud).


When I get back into the rehearsal room though, we’re on our feet but I find myself flailing. I feel especially stupid trying to play an Edwardian “correct” gentleman in t-shirt and jeans. I make a mental note to do myself a favour and bring a suit from now on. As I head into town, my lower back is throbbing from holding my spine upright all day and I make a 2nd mental note - take up yoga.


Thursday 31st January


Up early for a costume fitting on the Holloway Road. I meet the dressers and costume designer who are all very upbeat as I try to prop open my eyelids with matchsticks. Although I subsequently find out that Simon Russell Beale hates costume fittings (“I always just want to wear trousers and a shirt”), I find them a lot of fun and quickly revert to a child let loose with the dressing-up box. As I put on my extremely smart buttoned-up evening suit, I can feel my back straightening and the imperiousness of Stephen simply from the alteration in posture.


I also get the chance to flick through the costume catalogue and notice that EVERY young man pictured is wearing a moustache. Now, I knew the beard would have to go but to my mind, Tom Selleck is the only man on the planet who has been able to pull off a ‘tache. I exchange a look with the designer and contemplate social suicide.




Monday 11th February


Beginning to feel a little more at ease with the character in rehearsals now as I begin to get to grips with how monumental it must be to see your father after an absence of fifteen years. And then have him mistake you for somebody else - twice! I’m especially enjoying my chances to just listen to Clare and Simon mine the text for all the pathos and pain of a marriage long faded but with feelings still buried. There is a lot bubbling underneath these seemingly light rapier exchanges.


Thursday 14th February


Voice session on the Olivier stage. I huff and puff for about an hour but sometimes seem to be peddling backwards. I feel like I’m bellowing at the top of my lungs and yet somehow, Simon Russell Beale manages to speak in this huge space as if he’s in his front room. I head to lunch with my work cut out, muttering tongue twisters.


In the afternoon, I’m sent up to the Wigs Department to undergo a fairly radical transformation. It’s out with the long hair for King Lear and in with a rigidly precise Edwardian short back-and-sides. I even feel brave enough to shave off the beard and give the moustache a tryout. It looks like a squirrel has just crawled over and died on my upper lip.


Friday 15th February


Finally, the whole cast get together for a few drinks along the South Bank. Major Barbara is really a play of two halves, so shockingly there are still members of the cast who I’ve barely had the chance to speak to. It’s really great to relax with the company for the first time outside the rehearsal room. In fact, I’m surprised by how affectionate everyone is getting – I leave just in time to catch an actor grab another actor in a friendly headlock.


Tuesday 19th February


Headed off to the National Portrait Gallery to get a sense of how the great and the good wished to be seen in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era. Up on the second floor, I walk down the Statesmen’s Gallery, where profiles line the wall of all the great political leaders who helped bring Britain to the pinnacle of its great Empire. The sense of power, arrogance and total self-belief is everywhere and completely unshakeable. Steven, a man on the verge of a great political career who will doubtless give the order to shoot at the General Strike, clearly belongs to this mindset.


During the lunch break, I run over with Tom Andrews (playing Lomax) to the National Theatre Studio on the Cut for an audition for a forthcoming production of The Revenger’s Tragedy. Since I’ve been so busy with Major Barbara I feel for the first time that I haven’t given myself the time to be nervous and consequently have a lot of fun. It’s the polar opposite to Shaw – everything seems so much more immediately gutsy and shamelessly nasty.




In the afternoon, we have our final run in the rehearsal room for which we have an audience. Seeing Act Two for the first time is like being taken into a different world after the polite, Wildean drawing room comedy of the opening. It’s brutal and shocking and I was reminded again of how brilliant and cunning Shaw is as a playwright – always pulling the rug from under your feet.


Friday 22nd February


Feeling incredibly grand today because for the first time ever I’ve been given my own dressing room. It’s got a bed, a fridge and I can even tune a dial to Capital FM. All the dressing rooms face one another across a courtyard, so actors are frequently shouting messages to each other and on press nights, everybody rattles their windows in support.

I get into costume (this involves waxing my moustache – I hope I’ll get used to it) and head over to the stage. The set looks incredible, an immaculate drawing room suspended on the industry of Undershaft’s arms manufacturing. As we wait for lighting, I find myself discussing the pros and cons of texting with Simon Russell Beale, Clare Higgins and the head of the National Theatre which must count as one of the most surreal moments of my life so far.


Tuesday 26th February


The day of reckoning – the 1st performance. We’ve been lucky enough to have had a very smooth technical rehearsal period and two dress rehearsals, but I’m still absolutely terrified. Nick calls the cast into the stalls to hand out a few notes and some very encouraging words of support and then we’re off to grab some food, smoke our cigs, do our vocal warm-ups (saying “Posh and Becks” very fast, over and over again is very good for articulation, apparently) and get into costume. Lots of the actors are in the wings wishing final works of good luck, whilst I pace around, trying to stop my heart racing. Clare Higgins looks like she’s in clover, laughing and impatient to get up there and get going. I just want to be sick.


Eventually though, the piano music starts, the audience hubbub fades, I wait for the red cue light to turn green and I step out. The audience seem to enjoy it and it is a shock at times to be reminded again of how funny it is.










@темы: john heffernan, simon russell beale, national theatre, honestly guys give this a read, i really love it, is a fantastic writer on top of everything else he's bloody good at GODDAMMIT, major barbara, theatre

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03:40

tottycrushes: Hattie Morahan by Helen Murray



tottycrushes:



Hattie Morahan by Helen Murray





@темы: hattie morahan

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03:30

"Reblog if you want your followers to ask you anything they’re curious about." So I was reading your description and I saw "I work in theatre for free because I love it more than money" and wanted to know what its like and why you love it. (Also sorry i

No not at all, that’s a great question! And thanks for sending one! (If you ever want to chat about theatre, hit me up :D)


I work front of house (that’s the bit I do for free, anyway, I do operate spotlights sometimes too but I get paid a few peanuts for that :P), checking tickets and showing people to their seats and all the usual ushery stuff. I wanted to do it because I just really love theatre, to be honest. I love getting to see all the plays! I’d love to work in production eventually and so even when we’ve got plays in that I wouldn’t necessarily choose to pay to see, there’s always something you can learn. My theatre does a fantastic student discount but after I graduated (and subsequently found I couldn’t find employment for love nor money) I couldn’t afford to go as much anymore, so I joined the volunteer scheme - I get to see everything, and although I don’t get paid, I don’t have to pay



@темы: my life, thatpersonbehindyou, yay questions!

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02:41

Reblog if you want your followers to ask you anything they're curious about.


@темы: but i'm a bit bored so may as well, i don't really expect anything

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02:33

Is there anything you would not do for your family?








Is there anything you would not do for your family?






@темы: star trek, benedict cumberbatch

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02:31

osjecam: sorry i’m late, professor. im disenchanted with the human experience and waking up every...

osjecam:



sorry i’m late, professor. im disenchanted with the human experience and waking up every morning thrusts me into an instant existential crisis






@темы: my life, sounds about right

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понедельник, 21 апреля 2014
18:36

high res version



high res version





@темы: in your face, sherlock, benedict cumberbatch, martin freeman, there you go, without that horrible vk.com tag!

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05:45

More Sherlock on your dash.







More Sherlock on your dash.





@темы: q, sherlock, benedict cumberbatch, my edit

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02:52

Poor vincent franklin, I will only ever remember him for Stewart from The Thick of It because he played such an annoying fuckwit so well xD

Hahaha, well Drawlight’s a bit of an annoying fuckwit too so at least that’s a positive sign he’ll do a good job of it :P





@темы: Anonymous

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02:37

Do correct me if I’m wrong (I’m not as familiar with...



Do correct me if I’m wrong (I’m not as familiar with his face as I am with certain other cast members *cough*), but this is Vincent Franklin as Drawlight, yes?!


Few others here :)





@темы: jonathan strange and mr norrell, jsamn, vincent franklin, STILL WAITING FOR A PICTURE OF LASCELLES

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02:15

robjhenderson: IMG_0021 on Flickr. Jamie Cullum at The Forum,...



robjhenderson:



IMG_0021 on Flickr.


Jamie Cullum at The Forum, Bath, UK
October 2013





@темы: jamie cullum, wooooooo, i was front row at this gig!

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воскресенье, 20 апреля 2014
19:06

that speech.



that speech.





@темы: q, sherlock, benedict cumberbatch, martin freeman, my edit, the sign of three

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09:29

cumberbum: Click for 1600x1200 - [Source] outtake from this...


@темы: vh1

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04:49

animedavidbowie: unrecognizedpotential: forgottenawesome: Do...



animedavidbowie:



unrecognizedpotential:



forgottenawesome:



Do You Love Someone With Depression?


If you have a partner or are close to someone who struggles with depression, you may not always know how to show them you love them. One day they may seem fine, and the next they are sad, distant and may push you away. It is important that you know that as a person who is close to them and trusted by them, you can help your friend or partner have shorter, less severe bouts of depression. Mental illness is as real as physical illness (it is physical actually, read more about that here) and your partner needs you as much as they would need to be cared for if they had the flu.


Your relationship may seem one-sided during these times, but by helping your partner through a very difficult and painful affliction, you are strengthening your relationship and their mental health in the long term.


1. Help them keep clutter at bay.


When a person begins spiraling into depression, they may feel like they are slowing down while the world around them speeds up. The mail may end up in stacks, dishes can pile up in the sink, laundry may go undone as the depressed person begins to feel more and more overwhelmed by their daily routine and unable to keep up. By giving your partner some extra help sorting mail, washing dishes or using paper plates and keeping chaos in check in general, you’ll be giving them (and yourself) the gift of a calm environment. (I’m a fan of the minimalist movement because of this, you can read more about that here.)


2. Fix them a healthy meal.


Your partner may do one of two things when they are in a depressed state. They may eat very little, or they may overeat. In either case, they may find that driving through a fast food restaurant or ordering a pizza online is just easier than fixing a meal. Eating like this, or neglecting to eat will only degrade your partner’s health, causing them to go deeper into their depression. Help your loved one keep their body healthy, and their mind will follow. This is a great article that talks about the “Brain Diet” which can help the symptoms of depression, and this article talks about how our modern diet could contribute to the recent rise in depression. Here is a recipe for a trail mix that is quick to make and has mood-boosting properties.


3.Get them outside.


The benefits of getting outside for a depressed person are huge. And it is possibly the last thing on earth your partner will want to do. Take them to be somewhere in nature. Pack a picnic and lie in the sun, take a leisurely hike or plant a garden. Being barefoot in the dirt, or “earthing” helps ground the body and reverse the effects of living in a world of emf’s, and digging in soil can actually act as an antidepressant, as a strain of bacterium in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, triggers the release of seratonin, which in turn elevates mood and decreases anxiety. Sunshine increases Vitamin D production which can help alleviate depression. My friend Elizabeth wrote an excellent post about Vitamin D and its link to depression here. For more information about other sources of Vitamin D, this is a great post as well as this.


4. Ask them to help you understand what they’re feeling.


If your partner is able to articulate what they are going through, it will help them and you better understand what you are dealing with, and may give insight into a plan of action for helping your partner. Also, feeling alone is common for a depressed person and anything that combats that feeling will help alleviate the severity and length of the depression.


5. Encourage them to focus on self-care.


Depressed people often stop taking care of themselves. Showering, getting haircuts, going to the doctor or dentist, it’s all just too hard, and they don’t deserve to be well taken care of anyway in their minds. This can snowball quickly into greater feelings of worthlessness since “Now I’m such a mess, no one could ever love me”. Help your loved one by being proactive. Tell them “I’m going to do the dishes, why don’t you go enjoy a bubble bath?” can give them the permission they won’t give themselves to do something normal, healthy and self-loving.


6. Hug them.


Studies show that a sincere hug that lasts longer than 20 seconds can release feel-good chemicals in the brain and elevate the mood of the giver and receiver. Depressed people often don’t want to be touched, but a sincere hug with no expectation of anything further can give your partner a lift.


7. Laugh with them.


Telling a silly joke, watching a comedy or seeing a stand up comedian will encourage your partner to laugh in spite of themselves. Laughing releases endorphins and studies show can actually counteract symptoms of depression and anxiety.


8. Reassure them that you can handle their feelings.


Your partner may be feeling worthless, angry and even guilty while they are depressed. They may be afraid that they will end up alone because no one will put up with their episodes forever. Reassure them that you are in the relationship for the long haul and they won’t scare you away because they have an illness.


9. Challenge their destructive thoughts.


A depressed person’s mind can be a never-ending loop of painful, destructive thoughts. “I’m unlovable, I’m a failure, I’m ugly, I’m stupid”. Challenge these untruths with the truth. “You’re not unlovable, I love you. You aren’t a failure, here are all the things you’ve accomplished.”


10.Remind them why you love them.


Look at pictures of happy times you’ve had together. Tell them your favorite things about them. Reminisce about your relationship and all the positive things that have happened, and remind your partner that you love them and they will get through this.


(via The Darling Bakers)



More people need to know this.



This is so incredibly important. I’ve seen people with depression ostracized so many times, and I cannot stress how much it means to each and every person I’ve tried to reach out to after whatever “falling-outs” they’ve had due to depression. Remember to always be compassionate and kind to all friends like this, because you never know what they’re going through.





@темы: depression

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02:41

Steve Coogan’s pitch-perfect impression of Morrissey in The...










Steve Coogan’s pitch-perfect impression of Morrissey in The Trip To Italy






@темы: steve coogan, the trip to italy

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