68 m. ago Jared Harris: ‘Dad knocked out an Irishman then brought him round by throwing Guinness in his face’

Ahead of his new film Brave the Dark, the star of Mad Men and The Terror (and the son of Richard Harris) answers your questions about his favourite pub, feeling seasick in Hamlet and playing John LennonYou seem to have a predilection to play real-life characters who die prematurely. Who would you like to play who lives to old age? NeilHVWell, I don’t know if that’s true. Captain Crozier [from The Terror] didn’t die, and Lane Pryce [from Mad Men] wasn’t real. I would love to play [the 19th-century US president] Ulysses S Grant. His history has largely been written by southern US historians and so his achievements have largely been denigrated. But his campaigns are taught in all the military academies around the world. Despite a pretty disastrous presidency, he still managed to [sign a] Civil Rights Act – and he destroyed the Ku Klux Klan.When the civil war broke out he sold firewood by the side of the road to try to put food on the table for his family. Eight years later, he was pres...

Politics

2 h. ago Alicia Vikander: "I'm rehearsing my play with an AI Andrew Lincoln!"

The Oscar-winning actor is making her theatre debut in a new version of Ibsen at the Bridge. It’s still a work in progress — and she’s freaking out

Politics

3 h. ago Alicia Vikander: on motherhood, her new London play and life with Michael Fassbender in Lisbon

The Oscar-winning actor is making her theatre debut in a new version of Ibsen at the Bridge. It’s still a work in progress — and she’s freaking out

Politics

8 h. ago Alicia Vikander hints at London move as she reflects on family life with Michael Fassbender

After eight years in Portugal, the couple are now considering a fresh chapter in the capital while juggling work and family life

Politics

50 h. ago Alicia Vikander rehearsed with 'AI Andrew Lincoln' before West End debut

The Ex Machina star admitted she used an AI version of her co-star to prepare for her role in The Lady from the Sea

Politics

50 h. ago The play that changed my life: ‘Pinter’s Betrayal made me think: this is how I want to write’

In his reverse-chronology play about a married couple dealing with an affair, Harold Pinter asked the audience to find meaning in unspoken wordsI didn’t see Harold Pinter’s Betrayal on stage until after I’d read it. I’m pleased about that – it means I’d “seen” it for myself first. The play is about a married couple, Robert and Emma, and the affair that she has with his best friend, Jerry. It has a reverse chronology, starting in the present day when the affair is over and ending years earlier as it begins, and shows what each of them knows or doesn’t know over the course of that time. I immediately thought: this is how I want to write.I loved its spareness and economy. How taut the language was. Unspoken words filled the room, giving it energy and unpredictability and drama. It showed me how much you can leave for the actors to work out and play with. How much the words matter, but the silences, too. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago ‘It will be frightening but you have to do it’: Andrew Lincoln and Alicia Vikander’s nerve

Can two world-famous actors and auteur Simon Stone bring 19th-century Norway screaming into the modern world? They talk mean directors, bathtub revelations and reinventing Ibsen’s The Lady from the SeaEntering the almost silent rehearsal room, I fear I’ve blundered into a private moment. The Lady from the Sea cast are seated in a tight circle and at least two of them have tears in their eyes. The quiet murmur of conversation suggests something heavy has just gone down. So I’m relieved when I realise they’re reading a scene – and stunned to discover the scene was written only yesterday.Simon Stone’s modern take on Ibsen’s play is still under construction, and he has had his actors together for less than a fortnight. “Most people really take six weeks to connect to scenes,” the Australian writer-director says during the lunch break. “Often an entire rehearsal process can be the slow marking out of stuff, and it takes until your first run-through to feel anything at all. We are connect...

Politics

3 d. ago EastEnders fans’ mind blown as they find out real ages of Yolande and Patrick stars

EastEnders fans have been left stunned after realising the real-life age gap between the actors who play Patrick and Yolande Trueman on the BBC One soap

Politics

3 d. ago BBC EastEnders fans baffled by Patrick and Yolande star’s real

EastEnders fans have been left stunned after realising the real-life age gap between the actors who play Patrick and Yolande Trueman on the BBC One soap

Politics

5 d. ago Obsession review – nasty horror sees a wish for true love go horribly wrong

Toronto film festival: Writer-director Curry Barker follows up $800 YouTube hit Milk & Serial with a frighteningly effective, and head-smashingly gory, cautionary taleThis year’s Sundance saw the real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie play with the grotesque reality of being literally stuck to one another in the body horror Together, a wincingly effective lark that turned codependency into a curse. It didn’t really find its audience upon too-wide release this summer, a campaign that couldn’t succinctly explain the plot or convey a tone that went from horror to comedy and back again.At Toronto, YouTuber turned film-maker Curry Barker’s similarly themed Obsession should be an easier sell when it gets swiftly bought and packaged (it’s entering the festival as a sure-to-be-fought-over sales title). It’s a cleaner, more concise pitch – love spell gone wrong – and its reaction-securing moments of horrible violence even more alarming, a Midnight Madness winner that will probably ...

Events

8 d. ago Woman who 'lives life as a dog' hits back at haters who think puppy play is weird

A woman who wears ears and a tail to feel comfortable says puppy play is 'really fun', but there are some people who just don't get it. However, she's got a message for the haters

Events

1 week ago John Cleese confirms Fawlty Towers sequel stage play with classic episodes including Basil the Rat

The 85-year-old comedy legend brought the BBC classic back to life last year with Fawlty Towers: The Play

Politics

3 w. ago Natalie Portman becomes frontrunner to play Sinead O'Connor in biopic about her life

The Irish Grammy-winning singer passed away from natural causes at the age of 56 in July 2023 - just 18 months after the death of her son.

Politics

3 w. ago Alicia Vikander on Making Her London Stage Debut, Battling Mom Guilt, and Life With Michael Fassbender

Alicia Vikander on Making Her London Stage Debut, Battling Mom Guilt, and Life With Michael Fassbender  Vogue

Events

3 w. ago Alicia Vikander calls The Danish Girl ‘extremely dated’ for portrayal of trans people

Movie was considered controversial at the time due to its portrayal of trans people and for Redmayne’s casting as lead

Politics

3 w. ago Alicia Vikander opens up about ‘mum guilt’ after working long days away from children

The actor and her husband, Michael Fassbender, share two sons, aged four and one

Politics

3 w. ago Alicia Vikander says trans film The Danish Girl ‘feels extremely dated already’

In the film, Eddie Redmayne plays Lili Elbe, a character based on a transgender woman, who lived in the 19th and early 20th century.

Politics

3 w. ago Stirling's historic businesses and personalities to be celebrated in new collaboration

Go Forth Stirling BID, Historic Environment Scotland and Stirling Council have joined forces to celebrate the role that local businesses play in local life.

Culture

3 w. ago Together review – Alison Brie and Dave Franco make this an icky body

The real-life couple play a fictional couple teetering on the brink of destruction, who then find themselves experiencing a very disgusting conundrum

Politics

4 w. ago Play inspired by real life prisoners performed in Greenock jail on break from Fringe run

The play was taken to Greenock prison

Events