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vanessakirbyfans · 3 years

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There’s a singular vision that director Kornél Mundruczó had in constructing “Pieces of a Woman,” and he had the full trust of his actors, particularly Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn. The film had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival where Kirby won the Volpi Cup for best actress. Just ahead of its Venice bow, Oscar-winner Martin Scorsese joined the film as an executive producer.

The phrase “it’s difficult to watch” is often spoken in various cinephile circles when referring to dour, less-than-pleasant movie experiences. I can recall having those same conversations around films like “Requiem for a Dream” and “Son of Saul.” Similar words have been uttered about Mundruczó’s portrait of loss and grief.

The role of Martha, a woman whose home birth ends in an unfathomable tragedy, demanded a lot of the 32-year-old Kirby. She’s received rave reviews for her performance, planting herself near the forefront of this year’s best actress race.

Burstyn has been a staple of the cinematic industry for more than five decades. She’s managed six Oscar nominations over her career, winning best actress for Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” from 1974. Her passion and vigor for her craft is as clear as any thespian working today. When discussing her character Elizabeth, and her daughter Martha, who is a third-generation Holocaust survivor, drawn from screenwriter Kata Wéber’s own family experience, she becomes visibly emotional.

“Pieces of a Woman” marks the English-language debut for Mundruczó, who gained a passionate following with his breakout film “White God.”

On Thursday evening, in collaboration with the American Film Institute, Netflix will be hosting a screening with industry professionals, critics, journalists and Academy members.

Variety sat down with both Kirby and Burstyn prior to the screening.

You have had an incredible career, and are still working consistently. Do you have a method to choosing roles at this point in your profession?

Ellen Burstyn: Whenever I’m asked a question like that, I have the impression that people feel I get a million offers and I pick my favorite and that’s not quite true. I don’t have to turn down many films. If I like the director, writers and the actors, I’m prone to take it because in fact, there aren’t many roles written for a woman of my age. So when I get one, I’m usually very happy to get it.

In this case, I saw “White God,” Kornel’s film, and I adored that film. And I have seen Vanessa [Kirby] play Princess Margaret [on “The Crown”] and I don’t watch television very much. When I saw Vanessa, I went “who’s that?” I could see right away she was a special, really accomplished, talented actress. Unusually talented. I was very impressed with her. So when I have a filmmaker I like, a script I like, and an actress like Vanessa where I get to play her mother. It’s a win-win-win situation. That doesn’t happen very often. The roles that are written for a woman my age aren’t plentiful.

This role demands a lot of you, not just as an actress, but as a human. Can you talk about your experience filming?

Vanessa Kirby: Well, firstly, Ellen is one of my heroes. I was so excited that she agreed to do it. She’s always had this trailblazing fire in all of her performances. I so looked up to that, like Gena Rowlands, the same kind of dynamism. I’m so happy to have her in my life now and she’s someone I love very deeply.

How demanding it was on paper, and the idea of knowing that I would need to understand, and go into the psychology of that level of grief, while trying to honor all of the women that I spoke to, and that went through similar things, it felt like a responsibility. I’m always looking for something that scares me and that is seemingly insurmountable, and that alone was the birth because I haven’t given birth myself. I knew I owed to women to try to portray as true-to-life as possible. I was very lucky to watch someone do it for real, which helped me incomparably and I wouldn’t have known how to do it without her giving me the gift of allowing me to be there with her.

The 23-minute one-shot sequence of you giving birth is incredible. How many takes did you do and can you talk about that experience?

Kirby: The actual filming of it was just exhilarating. It was the best film experience of my life. We did four takes the first day and two the second day. I think Kornel used the fourth one. It was like doing a play. Shia is also a real theater animal, so is Ellen, and we all understood what it would require. It was exciting setting up, preparing and then launching into it freefall. And then at the end, to slowly missing word? Out of it – taking a long time to come out of it – and then reset everything. We would blast music around the house and dance around the house just to clear what had happened. By the end of it, your psyche does know any different and you feel like you actually went through this.

Your character is deeply flawed but with a lot of love for her daughter. Did you draw on anything from your own life as screenwriter Kata Weber did?

Burstyn: I always draw from personal experiences. It’s just part of what we do. I don’t know how to not do that. She’s a funny type of character [Elizabeth]. The story Kata wrote about how she was born, with the Holocaust aspect of the film, is from Kata’s family. The idea of being held upside down by your feet and the doctor saying that if she picks up her head, she’ll survive. That’s such a…deeply moving concept how one comes into the world. With the will to live, despite the frail condition of the body. It’s so moving to me. It explains so much about her character and her drive forward. That wonderful introduction of the character that Kata wrote. It’s kind of a pathetic version of whatever it is, make it better, go for it, do it. Don’t be satisfied with blandness. I think she’s a very strong character despite her limitations. She’s not in tune with her daughter but sometimes mothers aren’t.

Talk about Kornel’s vision of the film and how it compares to other directors you have worked with in the past.

Kirby: I knew that the film would be special. I always feel like his movies have a lot of soul and I love movies that have lots of soul. I knew that this was a personal story for Kornel and Kata. He had such a clear vision, and it’s so relaxing when someone has it. He had such a burning vision of Martha and needing that story to be told. It’s not about the loss of a baby, it’s more of a character study of someone that this happens to. How someone reacts to trauma and how individual grief is and he allowed me to really shape that. I felt a lot of respect and trust because of that. It was really profound collaboration.

Burstyn: I just feel his sense of sensitivity and is such a dear human being. Kind and a visionary. I felt like he allowed me to give what I had to give. I never felt interfered with. Sometimes directors come up with an idea and they say “maybe she does xyz” and you say “what?” I deeply fond of him.

If nominated, Ellen Burstyn you will set a record as the oldest acting nominee ever at 88 years and 98 days old on nomination day. How does that feel?

Burstyn: That’s a wonderful thing. I actually have a strong desire to be the oldest person ever nominated. That’s an encouraging thing for me to say to the women of the world, keep on trucking, as long as you can. Don’t give up, don’t retire, don’t sit back and say “well I guess it’s over,” it’s not over, until you declare it’s over. I pray that I get to be that example.

Ann Roth, the costume designer for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” also a Netflix feature, who if she’s nominated, she will be oldest nominee, of any category, at 90.

Burstyn: I’m jealous.

How do you feel about the reviews you are receiving and the possibility of being in the awards conversation?

Kirby: The film felt so much bigger than any of us. This is a subject about neonatal death. The women I spoke that had stillbirths and multiple miscarriages and it’s still a subject that’s really hard to talk about. The fact that you’re saying this conversation is happening around this [film], that means so much to me. If that means that a few more people watch it or more conversations start happening, and that was everyone’s intention with it. The best moments of my working life was doing that birth. It’s hard to articulate. I’m unbelievably grateful and touched that it’s for this film. It’s my first lead role too and I knew I that was ready. I waited a long time. I watched other people do it and I absorbed everything and felt really ready.

Burstyn: Honey, you’re a glowing example of what a fine actress is. You studied well and you came up the right way on the stage, which as far as I’m concerned, everybody who ever wants to be an actress should learn what is on the stage. You’re an absolute glory as an actress, and as a person I might add.

I wish you were my mother.

Burstyn: I can’t tell you how many people say that to me. After “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” I became some type of archetypal mother that people never had and wish they did.

“Pieces of a Woman” will stream on Netflix on Jan. 7.

#Vanessa Kirby #Pieces of a Woman #Ellen Burstyn #Interview #Articles

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jamesginortonblog · 6 years

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He may be the frontrunner to replace Daniel Craig as the new James Bond, but James Norton is currently back in the 1930s shooting a new dramatic thriller on the streets of Edinburgh.

The Happy Valley and McMafia star is the lead role in Gareth Jones – playing a British journalist who exposed the genocide-famine in Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union.

The Capital will recreate London in the 1930s with the production crew taking to Cafe Royal, Freemasons Hall in George Street, Lothian Chambers on Royal Mile, Moray Place and Hill Street in New Town, Hopetoun House and Medical Quad at Edinburgh University, during five days of filming. East Neuk will also been showcased on the big screen, becoming Barry in Wales.

Angus Lamont, co-producer on the film, told the Evening News: “Everyone had a great time in Edinburgh. It’s an enchanting city that helped us bring the Gareth Jones film to life. We all had a great time on and off the set and felt very privileged to film in this beautiful city and in Fife.

“The footage has been incredible, and it was a very bittersweet moment to end the film in Scotland after such a long journey. One of the highlights included Hopetoun House where we happened to be shooting on Lord Hopetoun’s birthday and celebrated by surprising him with a cake and candles and singing Happy Birthday in both English and Polish.

“The film has been shooting for 41 days and is now wrapped. All went smoothly, the various authorities, local businesses and the public were all welcoming and helpful.”

While in Russia, Jones is tipped off by a fellow reporter, Ada Brooks (played by The Crown actress Vanessa Kirby), about the Soviets’ oppressive policies towards Ukraine.

Norton wore a period flannel grey suit in keeping with the drama’s 1930s setting as he prepared to shoot his latest scenes as late journalist Jones in the Capital.

The film, by Oscar-nominated Polish director Agniezska Holland, will explore how the reporter from the Western Mail newspaper in Wales uncovered an international conspiracy after setting out to interview Stalin. It will chart his “clandestine” mission to Ukraine to witness the atrocities of the man-made famine in 1933 which were thought to have claimed more than three million lives and his encounter with a young George Orwell, which would lead him to write Animal Farm.

Supported by Creative Scotland, cast and crew have been in Edinburgh having shot scenes in Ukraine, where temperatures dropped to -25C, and Poland.

Rosie Ellison, film manager for Film Edinburgh said: “It’s always great to see Edinburgh used as a filming destination for big-screen productions and the recent filming of Gareth Jones will help showcase Edinburgh’s beauty and charm.

“From superhero fantasy franchises like the Avengers right through to period dramas like this, it proves just how adaptable our capital is for filming and the contrasting atmospheres that can be created across the city.

“We’re confident the city will look positively stunning in the film and can’t wait to see it when it’s released.”

#james norton #Gareth Jones #article

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

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Bafta TV awards: What to look out for at this year’s ceremony – BBC News

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Benedict Cumberbatch (The Hollow Crown) and Claire Foy (The Crown) are in the leading actor and actress categories

The Bafta Television awards take place on Sunday, with the lavish royal Netflix drama The Crown dominating the nominations.

The event at the Royal Festival Hall will be hosted for the first time by former Great British Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins.

Here are a few things to look out for on the big night.

Who can we expect to see on the red carpet?

Image copyright Getty Images

The glittering guestlist includes Alan Carr, Amanda Holden, Ant and Dec, Benedict Cumberbatch, Claudia Winkleman, Daniel Mays, David Walliams, Ed Balls, Jessica Raine, Kim Cattrall, Louis Theroux, Nicola Walker, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Olivia Colman, Pearl Mackie, Sarah Lancashire, Scarlett Moffatt, Suranne Jones, Thandie Newton, Tom Hollander and Zawe Ashton.

And by the look of the seating plan (above), The Crown’s Claire Foy will spend the ceremony sitting next to EastEnders’ Danny Dyer.

She can tell him about Queen Elizabeth. He can tell her about the Queen Vic.

But why’s Graham Norton not presenting as usual?

Sue Perkins is taking the reins this year because Norton will have been busy presenting the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine one day earlier.

When she was announced as host in March, Perkins tweeted: “Beyond chuffed to be the one keeping the inestimable @grahnort ‘s seat warm this year.”

Cheeky.

Which shows have the most nominations?

Image copyright BBC/Minnow Films/Joe Albas

Image caption Damilola, Our Loved Boy (BBC One) has three nominations

The Crown – 5

Damilola, Our Loved Boy – 3

Fleabag – 3

Happy Valley – 3

See the full nominations list

What can we expect from the winning speeches?

Not just a long list of “thank yous” if 2016 is anything to go by.

At last year’s Baftas several winners used their speeches to defend the independence of the BBC. The ceremony took place just days before the government published a white paper on the corporation’s future.

This year a general election is looming.

Bafta is reported to have emailed nominees asking them to offer “a short anecdote or an interesting detail about the production” in their victory speeches.

According to The Guardian, some of its recipients have dubbed it “a ham-fisted attempt to avoid controversy”.

Will The Crown reign supreme?

Expect plenty of right royal headlines if the big budget show scoops the drama category.

The Crown’s first 10 episodes launched on Netflix in November. Writer Peter Morgan intends to tell the entire story of Britain’s monarchy from the reign of George VI, the Queen’s father, over 60 episodes.

Claire Foy is up for leading actress for her portrayal of the young Queen Elizabeth.

Jared Harris, who plays George VI, John Lithgow (Winston Churchill) and Vanessa Kirby (Princess Margaret) are all nominated for their supporting roles.

Last year Bafta changed its rules on eligibility which has allowed shows with international funding, such as The Crown, to be entered outside the international category.

The best actress race is one to watch

Image copyright AP/Getty Images

Image caption Leading actress nominees (clockwise from top left) Claire Foy, Sarah Lancashire, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Jodie Comer

This is Claire Foy’s second consecutive nomination for lead actress. Last year she was nominated for her role as Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall, but lost out to Doctor Foster actress Suranne Jones.

This year’s competition is just as tough.

She’s up against NW’s Nikki Amuka-Bird, Happy Valley’s Sarah Lancashire and Jodie Comer for BBC Three abduction drama Thirteen.

Could streaming services win big?

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption The cast of Netflix’s Stranger Things

Yes, we’re talking about those shows that weren’t made for the traditional broadcast channels.

Netflix has never won a TV Bafta, so victory for The Crown would be a big deal.

It has another shot at glory with sci-fi hit Stranger Things, a strong contender in the international category.

Last year that category went to Netflix rival Transparent, on Amazon Prime, about a Los Angeles family who discover that their retired father is a transgender woman.

And who did it beat? Netflix’s Narcos, among others. Ouch.

Transparent is nominated again this year – but there’s also stiff competition from HBO’s crime drama The Night Of and the Golden Globe-winning The People v O J Simpson: American Crime Story.

And let’s not forget all the nominees from online-only channel BBC Three.

Will the stars of Fleabag be jumping for joy?

Image copyright PA

Image caption Phoebe Waller-Bridge is up for best female comedy performance

Talking of BBC Three, its breakout comedy hit Fleabag has three nominations.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who adapted her own one-woman theatre show, plays a sarcastic, sex-obsessed young woman attempting to navigate modern life in London.

Fleabag is nominated for best scripted comedy, while Waller-Bridge and Fleabag co-star Olivia Colman are up against each other for female comedy performance.

They are up against Lesley Manville for Mum and Diane Morgan for Cunk on Shakespeare.

Joanna Lumley won’t be going home empty-handed

Image copyright PA

It’s already been announced that the Ab Fab star is being honoured with the prestigious Bafta Fellowship.

Perhaps best known for playing champagne-sipping Patsy Stone, Lumley has had one of the most varied careers in British entertainment.

After starting out as a model she was propelled to fame in the 1970s as Purdey in The New Avengers.

She once took 27 takes to kiss Leonardo DiCaprio when they were filming a scene for The Wolf of Wall Street.

Surely that deserves a Bafta all of its own.

When can I watch the ceremony?

The Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards will be broadcast on BBC One on Sunday at 20:00 BST.

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].

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jadexbooks · 7 years

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The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: 4/5

“Not everyone gets a happy ending, however deserved it may be. Life had been doing its damnedest to teach me that, starting with my first saltwater breath, the day my mother died at sea.

But that didn’t mean we were giving up.”

In Sarah Ockler's modern day retelling of “The Little Mermaid”, Elyse d’Abreau loses her voice and her chance at international stardom. No longer able to sing, she falls victim to depression and moves from Tobago to Oregon to escape her past, living with her aunt and cousin at Atargatis Cove. It seems that no one can see her as more than an injured girl, until she meets Christian Kane--the only person who seems to be interested in her story. Elyse told herself that she’d never be happy again, but maybe she was wrong.

Honestly, I was not impressed when I started reading this book, but I was pleasantly surprised that it eventually peaked my interest and I read on. Turns out, I was not disappointed.

Cons:

--Elyse’s hopelessness: This isn’t Elyse’s fault and I don’t blame Sarah Ockler either. Elyse was depressed, so the author had to show that. But hearing Elyse complain and watching her push everyone away became tiring after a while. It also made it seem like there was no progression in the story.

--Slow pacing: Like I said before, the pacing in the beginning of this novel is very slow. Keep in mind that Elyse is mute, so we were in her thoughts for the majority of the novel. Her thoughts seemed to repeat until halfway through the novel when she started to let others in, instead of pushing them away.

--Vanessa and Christian’s relationship: It was unclear whether Vanessa and Christian were best friends, dating, or if they dated in the past. I think it’s safe to assume that they dated in the past and are best friends now. Ockler doesn’t really clear this up, so I wasn’t sure if they broke up sometime before Christian and Elyse started dating or if they were still technically together.

Pros:

--The protagonist is a POC: I was originally drawn to this book because Elyse is Tobagonian, which isn’t common in YA.

--No insta-love: Elyse doesn’t let Christian in that easy, which I appreciated. Insta-love in YA is overdone and unrealistic.

--A non-stereotypical heartbreaker: Christian Kane, I would like to thank you for NOT having a personality that completely makes a 180 after you meet Elyse and NOT stalking her.

--Diverse characters: To name a few examples: Christian and Elyse are an interracial couple, Vanessa is Southern, and Sebastian is gay (and that’s not his main character trait).

--Characters who aren’t flat: All of the characters in this book (main and minor) have flaws, they make mistakes, and they don’t succeed on their first try. They have a good and a bad side--just like in real life.

--True feminism: It features female characters who are strong. Both males and females are given equal opportunity, and when they aren’t they fight for their rights.

If you like a contemporary romance that doesn‘t solely focus on the romance, this one is for you. Elyse isn’t totally dependent on Christian, and Christian isn’t totally dependent on Elyse; they just choose to depend on each other when they need encouragement. They weren’t each other‘s identities and they weren’t “one soul”. They actually had a healthy relationship and Christian wasn’t a stalker (so, so thankful for that)!

Kirby and Vanessa were true friends. Yeah, they made mistakes. Yeah, they pushed Elyse too hard sometimes. Yeah, they argued. But in the end, they were all better because of it and closer together. They didn’t force Elyse to do anything they knew would be impossible for her. Instead, they encouraged her to take chances and do what was possible (more than Elyse imagined), proving to Elyse that she was still capable of doing something impactful.

And little Sebastian kept the magic alive! His interest in mermaids helped to weave mermaid lore into the story. It was cute that he thought that Elyse was secretly a mermaid, too. Who knows? This book isn’t a fantasy, but Elyse could have been a mermaid at heart. There are tons of beautiful metaphors of the ocean in this novel that couldn’t convince me otherwise.

I also appreciated that in the acknowledgements Ockler explains the meaning behind the book and shares encouraging words for her readers; it was kind of her, and showed that she cares about her fans.

Warning: This book does include multiple sex scenes and female masturbation. (I know that some people aren’t comfortable with that, so I wanted to include that in my review so they know what to expect.)

Overall, although there was a slow start, “The Summer of Chasing Mermaids” proved itself to be an enjoyable read. Sarah Ockler gives us a great romance filled with action and adventure, that shows the importance of friends and family. It also encourages breaking boundaries to fight for what’s right and never silencing your voice at the expense of others. If you’re looking for a summer romance that’s more than a romance, I recommend “The Summer of Chasing Mermaids” by Sarah Ockler.

#the summer of chasing mermaids #sarah ockler #jadexbooks review

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empressofkalumina · 3 years

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Her royal Kirbyness and the evolution of “turtlenecks” in Zoom interviews.

#vanessa kirby #vanessa x turtleneck = otp #happy international vanessa kirby day #i can only fit so much lol #there are heaps out there #the way i struggled to sc coz she moves every second

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vanessakirbyfans · 6 years

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When I went to see Vanessa Kirby starring in Julie at the National Theatre, it turns out I picked “a really bad night. Oh God everything went wrong,” she says when we meet a few days later, in a café in Chelsea where she has just ordered scrambled eggs. In one climactic moment she has to kill a budgie on stage, but the blood capsule didn’t burst until well after she whizzed the fake bird up in the food processor. “That happened two nights in a row! But it was better than before, when we used to start the scene with a real budgie and then kill a fake one, because one night the real one started tweeting after the lights went down, when he was supposed to be dead. I was trying to shut him up. He was called Gordon. We had to get rid of Gordon. There have been letters to the theatre: ‘We need to know that Gordon has not been harmed.’”

Kirby is a 30-year-old actor from London, a galloping laugh a minute, and quite probably the future of British acting. You may know her as Princess Margaret from Netflix’s The Crown, a role she describes happily as “the gift that I was given”, and which turned what could have been a staid drama about duty and class into something much more delicious. She gave Margaret a youthful vulnerability – we saw the damns she had to give before she stopped giving any – and now, after two series and winning a Bafta, she is handing the role over to Helena Bonham Carter, who will play the older incarnation. And Kirby is gutted.

“The Crown was the best time of my life,” she says, in her quick voice. “Saying goodbye to it was awful, I really grieved it, actually.” Kirby kept a photo of Margaret on her bedroom wall and used to gaze at it, wondering What Would Margaret Do? “The easy route would have been for me to just play her as the version of her who comes later, the public persona of her that is so – I don’t know the right word – gauche?”

They could have sent you to Mustique!

“I know! Livid! But I wanted to try and find the person she was before she hardened, before she became bitter and self-loathing, which is what I sensed. I wanted to find the torment that’s underneath those things. That, for me, made a real woman, even though the circumstances were ridiculous.”

She played opposite Claire Foy as the Queen. Both of them have just been nominated for this year’s Emmy awards for The Crown. I ask what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the enigmatic, brooding looks that Foy’s Elizabeth so regularly deploys.

“Oh, she used to give me the look in our scenes together and I’d just be feeling, aaaargh – you’re so internal! You’re so good! You’re so subtle and I have to try so hard to rein it in! But Claire was much better about the show ending than I was. She said it was because I had such a personal synergy with Margaret, whereas the Queen remained a mystery to her.”

It transpires the real Queen is a fan, though. Kirby only knows this because a friend of hers was at a fancy party recently, “where he didn’t know a soul so when he heard some people discussing The Crown he was like: ‘Actually I know someone in that.’ They were like: ‘Cool.’ He goes: ‘No, but I really know someone in it,’ and, meanwhile, this girl says: ‘Well my granny likes it,’ and he suddenly realises her granny is the Queen. It was Princess Beatrice. Although, I told someone else recently it was Eugenie,” she laughs, “but I got that wrong.”

Kirby grew up in Wimbledon, south London, the middle child of three, and attended the private Lady Eleanor Holles School. Her mother, Jane, had been the editor of Country Living and her father, Roger, one of the country’s leading prostate surgeons, “always watched loads of films with me – totally inappropriate ones like Midnight Express when I was about six. He put all films on. I think my sister was five when he took us to the cinema to see A Perfect Murder.” They were also taken to a lot of plays, “and I got really bored until I was about 11 and then suddenly it clicked for me, like: oh, when theatre’s really good it can be transformative. More than anything, it made me understand people.”

At school, “It was always the drama side of things where I felt the most alive,” she says. “The most myself. I was quite badly bullied for a few years and I became self-conscious about everything I did in relation to the bullies. But drama was the place where I didn’t.”

Was it other girls?

“Yeah it was… systematic. Quite awful. A teacher said to my mum on my very last day of school: ‘She survived it. She’s done it,’ which means they knew it was happening.”

Strangely, Kirby doesn’t sound remotely bitter about it and mutters a half-finished thought about it perhaps being a useful experience now. She describes her childhood as very happy and she knows how socially and financially privileged she was, but she also suffered from giardia, an intestinal parasite, which went undiagnosed for a long time and made her feel permanently nauseous, as if she was about to vomit. “All these nightmare injections, pills up the bum, all of it. Prodded around from age nine to 11.”

At school there was a noticeboard with a picture of Ben Whishaw as Hamlet at the Old Vic on it. Kirby stole it for her bedroom wall, went to see the play three times and became obsessed with him, which was not helped by bumping into him on a London bus. She was in amateur local productions at the time, but after studying for an English degree at Exeter and then giving up a place at Lamda to go straight into work as an actor some years later, her first big chance was on The Hour – starring… Ben Whishaw.

The director was tough on her, which may have been because: “I wasn’t paying any attention to the scene. In my head it was just alarm bells going: ‘Oh my God that’s Ben Whishaw.’” Afterwards she had to tell him everything. “And it felt good to finally confess my infatuation. Of course, he was with his boyfriend.”

Hollywood came calling and she’s had to become better at dealing with famous men since being cast in the sixth instalment of the Mission: Impossible films, out this month and starring Tom Cruise. I ask what he was like. “Such a pro. Absolutely disciplined; super enthusiastic. Always wants everything executed at a super-high level, so you have to train really hard.”

With him?

“Oh God no, without him.” She laughs, groaning. “I think that would be… I did say to him at one point: ‘I am never getting on a running machine with you.’ But I learned a lot about work ethic from him. I never thought that stunts and action would be my genre, but I’m understanding now that you can transcend genre, as long as you try and find the real woman behind the part.”

It struck me, watching Julie – which is Polly Stenham’s rewrite of the Strindberg play Miss Julie, and set at 3am at a druggy party in a wealthy house in Hampstead – that Kirby could have played the heroine in a much sexier fashion. Instead, she chooses to drag her body around with her as if it brings her discomfort. The reviews have been kind to her, but not to the script or production, which tend to say it all lacks chemistry. Kirby diplomatically says the problem is: “It’s such a huge space, it’s not an intimate theatre and sometimes the space dictates the parameters.” I’m not convinced she’s enjoying it all that much.

Still, the current feminist awakening of Hollywood has had a real impact on Kirby, who has risen to fame at the perfect moment to seize it. She is working on her own ideas, too. The week after we meet she will fly off to work on an unnamed film project she’s developed with Adam Leon. “He’s the best New York film director, I think.” It’s inspired by an article in the New Yorker about a woman who entered a fugue state and went missing in the big city. They have cast a group of renegade, gender-fluid young Brooklynites to play her new friends, and Kirby scrolls through her phone to show me photos of these genderless kids she finds so mesmerisingly beautiful. She is also developing a film of her own with Ben Caron, who directed her in episodes of The Crown, and making “something about babies who are born addicted to drugs and how society treats those mothers”.

Partly this seems like an attempt to get away from the wealthy-woman-in-gilded-prison roles. “I feel like now, more than ever, it’s all of our responsibility to have other things represented on screen. There have been somany male stories on screen, or stories of women written by men, so she’s the wife of someone, the girlfriend of someone… It’s only now I realise that looking back, all the scripts I’ve read over time, unless they’re really small indie films, the women have always been fantasy figures, always viewed through the male lens, almost cartoony.”

Her boyfriend, Callum Turner, is also an actor, and recently they were on a plane together, both with a pile of about 10 scripts to read through. “In every single one he was the central protagonist and the women were helping the leads. Out of mine, about two of my parts were the leads – and then you knew that someone like Jennifer Lawrence would be doing it. So we women have got to be the generators of the material and, in order to do that, we have to understand the system we’re in, which I’m really trying to do.”

Kirby has a friend called Sarah, “who says it just pisses her off, all these Hollywood actresses getting on the red carpet and sounding off about #MeToo, etc. She says, what are they actually doing? I say I know, but these are the women who will be on the front pages of newspapers, for better or worse, and then it leads to real change in other industries, too. Media is the controller of everything.”

Another close friend is the writer Dolly Alderton. They even share the same therapist, which made Kirby very amused to read all about said therapist in Alderton’s recent bestselling memoir, Everything I Know About Love. Yet another friend is Anna, with whom Kirby and her sister share a flat in Tooting. “So we’re like three sisters. No idea why we live in Tooting, though. I think it was cheapest.” Their home has calmed down a lot since Kirby became so busy. “It used to be mad parties non-stop and the vibrations going through to the little old lady who lives next door – her house was constantly shaking at 4am.” I can’t imagine Kirby upsetting old ladies – she seems too sweet. Did the woman complain? “Sometimes, yes,” Kirby admits, with a shamefaced twinkle in her eye.

Still, she seems entirely unafraid to call the shots on the big guys now. “My only little area of change is to be in a big movie and say no, I’m not wearing a short skirt, I’m not showing any skin, I don’t want slapped-on make-up,” she says.

And if the action film wanted to give you robo-tits? “I would say absolutely not. I don’t care any more. I feel more able to say that now. I’m in a slightly luckier position, but also the times now support it. I don’t want an arse shot – well, not that they’d want one of my arse. But I don’t want to be shot through a lens of sexualisation. That’s not me. That’s the distorted feminine and the distorted masculine that is creating so much of the toxic energy in our society.”

It is unusual to hear an actor ask quite so many questions in an interview. As she says, she is fortunate to have risen to fame in a time that allows it, with other women having begun to push the boundaries. But Kirby is questioning everything. Still, you can only fight off so much of the culture. We say goodbye and she picks up her bag of M&S shopping and heads home to watch Love Island, during which, she says happily, she will “feel my brain turning into disgusting nothing”.

#Vanessa Kirby #The Crown #Mission Impossible Fallout #Articles

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Bafta TV awards: What to look out for at this year’s ceremony – BBC News

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Image caption Benedict Cumberbatch (The Hollow Crown) and Claire Foy (The Crown) are in the leading actor and actress categories

The Bafta Television awards take place on Sunday, with the lavish royal Netflix drama The Crown dominating the nominations.

The event at the Royal Festival Hall will be hosted for the first time by former Great British Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins.

Here are a few things to look out for on the big night.

Who can we expect to see on the red carpet?

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And by the look of the seating plan (above), The Crown’s Claire Foy will spend the ceremony sitting next to EastEnders’ Danny Dyer.

She can tell him about Queen Elizabeth. He can tell her about the Queen Vic.

But why’s Graham Norton not presenting as usual?

Sue Perkins is taking the reins this year because Norton will have been busy presenting the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine one day earlier.

When she was announced as host in March, Perkins tweeted: “Beyond chuffed to be the one keeping the inestimable @grahnort ‘s seat warm this year.”

Cheeky.

Which shows have the most nominations?

Image copyright BBC/Minnow Films/Joe Albas

Image caption Damilola, Our Loved Boy (BBC One) has three nominations

The Crown – 5

Damilola, Our Loved Boy – 3

Fleabag – 3

Happy Valley – 3

See the full nominations list

What can we expect from the winning speeches?

Not just a long list of “thank yous” if 2016 is anything to go by.

This year a general election is looming.

Bafta is reported to have emailed nominees asking them to offer “a short anecdote or an interesting detail about the production” in their victory speeches.

According to The Guardian, some of its recipients have dubbed it “a ham-fisted attempt to avoid controversy”.

Will The Crown reign supreme?

Expect plenty of right royal headlines if the big budget show scoops the drama category.

Claire Foy is up for leading actress for her portrayal of the young Queen Elizabeth.

Jared Harris, who plays George VI, John Lithgow (Winston Churchill) and Vanessa Kirby (Princess Margaret) are all nominated for their supporting roles.

Last year Bafta changed its rules on eligibility which has allowed shows with international funding, such as The Crown, to be entered outside the international category.

The best actress race is one to watch

Image copyright AP/Getty Images

Image caption Leading actress nominees (clockwise from top left) Claire Foy, Sarah Lancashire, Nikki Amuka-Bird and Jodie Comer

This is Claire Foy’s second consecutive nomination for lead actress. Last year she was nominated for her role as Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall, but lost out to Doctor Foster actress Suranne Jones.

This year’s competition is just as tough.

She’s up against NW’s Nikki Amuka-Bird, Happy Valley’s Sarah Lancashire and Jodie Comer for BBC Three abduction drama Thirteen.

Could streaming services win big?

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Image caption The cast of Netflix’s Stranger Things

Yes, we’re talking about those shows that weren’t made for the traditional broadcast channels.

Netflix has never won a TV Bafta, so victory for The Crown would be a big deal.

It has another shot at glory with sci-fi hit Stranger Things, a strong contender in the international category.

Last year that category went to Netflix rival Transparent, on Amazon Prime, about a Los Angeles family who discover that their retired father is a transgender woman.

And who did it beat? Netflix’s Narcos, among others. Ouch.

Transparent is nominated again this year – but there’s also stiff competition from HBO’s crime drama The Night Of and the Golden Globe-winning The People v O J Simpson: American Crime Story.

And let’s not forget all the nominees from online-only channel BBC Three.

Will the stars of Fleabag be jumping for joy?

Image copyright PA

Image caption Phoebe Waller-Bridge is up for best female comedy performance

Talking of BBC Three, its breakout comedy hit Fleabag has three nominations.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who adapted her own one-woman theatre show, plays a sarcastic, sex-obsessed young woman attempting to navigate modern life in London.

Fleabag is nominated for best scripted comedy, while Waller-Bridge and Fleabag co-star Olivia Colman are up against each other for female comedy performance.

They are up against Lesley Manville for Mum and Diane Morgan for Cunk on Shakespeare.

Joanna Lumley won’t be going home empty-handed

Image copyright PA

It’s already been announced that the Ab Fab star is being honoured with the prestigious Bafta Fellowship.

Perhaps best known for playing champagne-sipping Patsy Stone, Lumley has had one of the most varied careers in British entertainment.

After starting out as a model she was propelled to fame in the 1970s as Purdey in The New Avengers.

She once took 27 takes to kiss Leonardo DiCaprio when they were filming a scene for The Wolf of Wall Street.

Surely that deserves a Bafta all of its own.

When can I watch the ceremony?

The Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards will be broadcast on BBC One on Sunday at 20:00 BST.

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