Friday, 30 March 2012
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Monday, 26 March 2012
Friday, 23 March 2012
The Lady Magazine photoshoot & article
Colin Morgan, the incendiary young actor from Armagh, Northern Ireland, who stars in Merlin, represents a new breed of icon: talented, charismatic and possessed of a rare emotional and moral intelligence. He shines on screen and has the aura of an old-fashioned star, rather than a 21st-century ‘celebrity’. I make no excuse for declaring him my muse. Next time, it could be Helen Mirren or a brace of Bond girls. What is important is to entertain you – and make you think. To be truly fashionable, The Lady must be ageless.
Colin is certainly an inspiring role model. His appeal is universal. He is interested in society, its moral dilemmas, its ups and downs, and in the natural world. When did you last hear a leading man talk about his heroes, not just about his own brilliant career? For the record, Colin’s hero is Sir David Attenborough.
This is also Colin’s first major outing as a fashion icon, so I hope you enjoy it as much as he did. Colin’s equally alluring co-stars are two beguiling actresses on the very cusp of great careers. Katie McGrath plays Morgana in Merlin and has a truly bewitching look, so evocative of the 1920s. She could be any one of the women who adorned the cover of The Lady during the age of Fitzgerald, Coco Chanel and Hemingway.
Colin is certainly an inspiring role model. His appeal is universal. He is interested in society, its moral dilemmas, its ups and downs, and in the natural world. When did you last hear a leading man talk about his heroes, not just about his own brilliant career? For the record, Colin’s hero is Sir David Attenborough.
This is also Colin’s first major outing as a fashion icon, so I hope you enjoy it as much as he did. Colin’s equally alluring co-stars are two beguiling actresses on the very cusp of great careers. Katie McGrath plays Morgana in Merlin and has a truly bewitching look, so evocative of the 1920s. She could be any one of the women who adorned the cover of The Lady during the age of Fitzgerald, Coco Chanel and Hemingway.
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Armagh native Colin Morgan's star just keeps on rising as Taragh Loughrey-Grant discovers.
Colin Morgan won't forget the shoot of award-winning Irish film Parked in a hurry: "We had 21 days, which was initially the main challenge for everyone. We were filming in January 2010, which, as people will remember, was one of the coldest winters we've ever experienced."
Cold weather aside, it was a wonderful experience for the Armagh-born actor: "We had a great group of people. Darragh O'Byrne the director is a very passionate guy, he had worked on this project for several years with his friend Ciaran Creagh. As I read it, I fell in love with it too, I felt passionate about the characters and getting the chance to work on it was fantastic. When you love something so much and you get given the chance to do it justice, hopefully, you have got to grab it with both hands."
Morgan plays Cathal, a drug addict, who along with Colm Meaney's character, Fred, is living out of his car. He explained how he prepared for the role: "Prior to filming, we had done a lot of research; Darragh and myself went to a drugs rehabilitation centre and got a lot of the technicalities about drug users and drug use. So when we got started up, we felt that we were pretty much on the ball."
"Getting to work with Colm was for me a huge delight. He's an acting legend and working with him in such close proximity was fantastic and we worked really well together. It flew by, it was such a quick shoot - tough and challenging but in the end I think it was very successful."
Parked is wonderfully timed, set just as the crown slips from the Celtic Tiger: "Undoubtedly the story is so current, I would not be surprised to hear of anybody in that situation at the minute. These guys are homeless, they can't get welfare and it's a pretty dire state. That is a very bleak starting point but the film is much more than that, it's about what they do in that situation - their personalities and how they spark off each other.
"It's the characters that really drew me in because they're fighting to survive and fighting to have a home because that's so important, especially to Irish people. When Fred [Meaney's character] returns to Ireland and he can't get that feeling of home, that's the whole drive of the film. Cathal does that for him - he brings back the importance of feeling truly at home to him."
Morgan agrees that while it's a universal story, the humour is very Irish: "Definitely, it's that Irish thing: the darker your situation the more you strive to make it bearable through humour. But what's been interesting, as we've taken it around the world, is how that humour translates internationally. It's amazing, I couldn't believe it, sitting in a little theatre in Italy with all these people laughing and when we were in Germany as well, the humour really translates, maybe that's part of the Irish charm."
Morgan is currently working on the fifth season of Merlin and he's still enjoying every minute: "I love it, it's a fantastic show, they keep getting better and better each year."
However he can't give anything away: "I'd be lucky if I get the script three days in advance. It's pretty up to the wire, we don't get the script until they're 100% finished. There's no rehearsal, it's just straight in and we'll get the first three episodes and then it takes about two and a half weeks per episode to shoot. Once we're coming towards the end of those episodes, we'll get the next three, we only ever know on a three-episode basis."
As to the future of the show, he reveals: "They always had a five-year plan, so I don't know if this will be the end for them or whether they'll want to continue. It'll only become clear to me when I get those final three episodes! That's when I'll know."
Merlin has featured a number of Irish guest stars: "Charlene McKenna was fantastic. She's brilliant and she's got a real endearing look. One of my favourites to work with was John Lynch. He played my father in one of the episodes and he was just amazing. He's someone I'd love to work with again because I learnt a lot from him.
"They could probably cast the whole of Merlin in Ireland because there's a real Celtic influence there and certainly the Celtic look is very much part of that story. It's great to see so much Irish talent, not only working at home but getting opportunities elsewhere as well."
* Parked is available now on DVD; Series five of Merlin will air on BBC One in the autumn.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
The Times on Saturday - 5 Minutes with Benedict Cumberbatch (17 March 2012)
Benedict Cumberbatch is best known for the BBC seriesSherlock but has also appeared as Edmund Talbot in a dramatisation of William Golding’s To the Ends of the Earth. On stage, he was in Frankenstein and his films include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He will voice Smaug the dragon in Peter Jackson’s film of The Hobbit.As well as starring in a dramatisation of Golding you are now appearing in a documentary about him.
What is it about Golding that appeals?
Partly it’s because he lived so many lives, as a sailor and a teacher as well as a writer. And he’s a phenomenal writer. He writes with great wit and he’s very frank in his assessment of man’s inhumanity to man.
You taught in a Tibetan monastery in your gap year. Did you enjoy it?
I was teaching monks but I wasn’t a particularly good teacher. It’s very rewarding but it’s incredibly hard work.
Has Sherlock changed your life?
To the outside world it looks like everything has changed overnight but I have been working for ten years. And I’m still having to prove myself.
In Frankenstein you performed naked. Was that alarming?
Alarming’s one word. But you just have to get over it. There’s a hell of a lot to concentrate on.
One of the critics was rather worried about splinters.
I had no problem with splinters. But [in rehearsals] we originally had a birthing pool and while it was a great idea [the water] meant you couldn’t get any purchase on the stage. So I slid out and went flying across the stage and I cut myself open in several places. Not in that place. But I’ve got a few scars from that production which I’m very proud of.
It’s been announced that you are in the new Star Trek movie — playing who?
An undisclosed role.
Is it an enjoyable undisclosed role?
Very enjoyable indeed.
You learnt the violin to be able to play Sherlock. Was that enjoyable or painful?
I would never insult the musical profession by saying that I had learnt the violin. I am desperately trying to convince people that what I am playing looks realistic. I have had some lessons.
Caitlin Moran has described you in The Times as having “clay-white skin” with a “sexy-sloth face”.
I’ve had some very weird and interesting comparisons to my face — a meerkat, a hammerhead shark … they all blend into one. I don’t take any offence.
It’s been said that you’re similar to Sherlock. Are you?
I’m like every character I’ve ever played. There is an awful lot of me that’s not like Sherlock but that’s the me to share with those I know and love.
What is it about Golding that appeals?
Partly it’s because he lived so many lives, as a sailor and a teacher as well as a writer. And he’s a phenomenal writer. He writes with great wit and he’s very frank in his assessment of man’s inhumanity to man.
You taught in a Tibetan monastery in your gap year. Did you enjoy it?
I was teaching monks but I wasn’t a particularly good teacher. It’s very rewarding but it’s incredibly hard work.
Has Sherlock changed your life?
To the outside world it looks like everything has changed overnight but I have been working for ten years. And I’m still having to prove myself.
In Frankenstein you performed naked. Was that alarming?
Alarming’s one word. But you just have to get over it. There’s a hell of a lot to concentrate on.
One of the critics was rather worried about splinters.
I had no problem with splinters. But [in rehearsals] we originally had a birthing pool and while it was a great idea [the water] meant you couldn’t get any purchase on the stage. So I slid out and went flying across the stage and I cut myself open in several places. Not in that place. But I’ve got a few scars from that production which I’m very proud of.
It’s been announced that you are in the new Star Trek movie — playing who?
An undisclosed role.
Is it an enjoyable undisclosed role?
Very enjoyable indeed.
You learnt the violin to be able to play Sherlock. Was that enjoyable or painful?
I would never insult the musical profession by saying that I had learnt the violin. I am desperately trying to convince people that what I am playing looks realistic. I have had some lessons.
Caitlin Moran has described you in The Times as having “clay-white skin” with a “sexy-sloth face”.
I’ve had some very weird and interesting comparisons to my face — a meerkat, a hammerhead shark … they all blend into one. I don’t take any offence.
It’s been said that you’re similar to Sherlock. Are you?
I’m like every character I’ve ever played. There is an awful lot of me that’s not like Sherlock but that’s the me to share with those I know and love.
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Monday, 19 March 2012
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