Rupert News*

[kcknight]

The Young Victoria will also be closing the New Orleans Film Festival, in addition to TIFF.

"The Oct. 15 closing-night feature -- which the New Orleans Film Festival will share with the Toronto Film Festival -- will be "The Young Victoria," a period drama starring Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend in the story of Queen Victoria's early years as Britain's monarch."

www.nola.com/movies/index.ssf/2009/09/new_orleans_film_festival_line.html

[DizzyMissLizzie]

that's cool...I wonder if Rupert's attending to that one* thanks for the news*

[kcknight]

Rupert is in Toronto now. Watch out for more pics and news tomorrow when he's promoting the Young Victoria.

[DizzyMissLizzie]

Rupert rises above being Keira's Friend

NEW YORK -- You may have seen Rupert Friend in Pride & Prejudice or in The Boy In The Striped Pajamas.

Or you might have seen him in the tabloids with Keira Knightley.

Friend and Knightley, the bright young things of British cinema, have been a couple since they met filming Pride & Prejudice.

Friend is currently promoting Cheri, a May-September love story in which he co-stars with Michelle Pfeiffer, and in person he is so like Knightley that it's as if they are the male and female versions of the same person, all pronounced cheekbones and plummy vowels.

Cheri is set in Paris at the turn of the last century, and Friend is wonderfully louche as the dissolute son of a courtesan (Kathy Bates). He takes up with his mother's old rival, Lea de Lonval (Pfeiffer), who is decades older. It's sort of a lark at first, their relationship, but then it turns into a love story.

Friend, 27, studied ballet for the role.

"I wanted Cheri to have the physical grace of a ballerina. I had this image the first time I read the script of a tom cat lying on a hot brick wall, lazing in the sun until anything got too near. Then -- chhrowr! -- he'd just kill it. I had this thing of laziness combined with danger, a kind of dangerous grace I wanted to imbue Cheri with."

Working with Michelle Pfeiffer was a bit intimidating, he admits, "Because you're aware of this enormous body of work. You can sense the weight and skill of what she brings to work. She's a generous and professional actor, and she was aware that it was going to be hard for me, a big role and a tricky role, and she was incredibly supportive."

And their sex scenes? (We knew you'd want to know, gentle reader.)

"A sex scene is exactly the same as any other scene," says Friend. "You have to believe you are someone else, and if you can do that, then you can believe that you want what they want, and then you're half-way there."

Friend, who was born in Oxfordshire, trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London and rose quickly through the ranks. He was named Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film awards in 2005 for his work opposite Johnny Depp in The Libertine, and "Outstanding New Talent" at the Satellite Awards in 2005 for his work in Mrs. Palfrey At The Claremont.

Friend's other films include Pride & Prejudice, Outlaw, The Moon and The Stars, Jolene and The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. Among his upcoming films is The Young Victoria, playing Prince Albert opposite Emily Blunt as the Queen; that film is directed by Canadian Jean-Marc Vallee, famous for his hit film C.R.A.Z.Y.

The son of a lawyer and an art historian, Friend made a careful choice to become an actor.

He says, "I got frightened when I was very young by the notion that this big decision was creeping up on me and all my peers, which was that you were going to have to select something to do for the rest of your life ... And I didn't like school at all, and the idea of choosing one thing do do, even at university, was abhorrent to me.

"Looking around for a career, and one that would constantly and challenge and surprise me, the only one that came up on top was acting, as I knew I'd get to experience what it was like to be many different people within my lifespan. That's how it started ... it was the idea of experiencing what it's like to be other people. That shape-shifting thing."

The key to what he does, says the actor, "Is to keep your imagination open and active."

Finally, asked what he thinks the moral of Cheri might be, Friend says, "I've been puzzling over it for two years. I hope it's ambiguous. That's one of the things I enjoy in films -- when it's not all tied up in a bow at the end, but you're left to draw your own conclusions."

[kcknight]

Got word from the Brownlee Brothers that The Suicide Brothers is going to the New Hampshire Film Festival. I don't think NHFF has released its schedule/selections yet, but it's in October (15-18). I don't know who (if anyone) is going. And the London Film Festival is showing its short films (including the Suicide Bros) on the 15th and 18th, so they could be shown on the same day. www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/462

[DizzyMissLizzie]

Happy Birthday, RUPERT!!!



Today, on the 1st of October our dear Rupert turns 27 !!!

[DizzyMissLizzie]

Robert Pattinson, Rupert Grint, Rupert Friend: Who Should Play Prince Harry?

Who’s the Best Actor to Play Prince Harry?



”Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson and actor Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame are both reportedly in the running to star in a flim about Britain’s Royal Prince Harry.

The movie would be about the British monarch’s colorful and occasionally tragic life, which includes the loss of his mother Princess Diana in a car accident.

Director Peter Kosminsky is set to begin casting for biopic “The Spare.” It will feature the royal’s life, from losing his mother, his tour as a soldier in Afghanistan and almost surely tales of his womanizing and scandalous behavior.

Harry as a teen dressed up for a costume party as a Nazi officer, complete with a Swastika armband, touching off an uproar in his home country, where so many suffered during World War II at the hands of the Germans.

The filmmaker is said to be considering British actors Grint and Pattinson for the lead, as well as “Pride and Prejudice” star Rupert Friend, according to Britain’s Daily Star newspaper.

"I feel a sense of compassion for the [Prince Harry],” Kosminsky says. “His parents break up in the most spectacularly public way, his mother dies in the most tragic and, again, public way and everything is picked over.

"He’s a man born to no role. His brother’s the heir and Harry’s the spare," he adds, hence the name of the film.

Kosminsky, who also directed “The White Oleander” is refusing to rule out recruiting an American star as well.

"My personal approach as a director is that I read the script and people start to pop into my head."

Rob, of course, is busy shooting the latest “Twilight” sequel “Eclipse,” in Canada, but, as TheImproper recently reported, he is interested in finding meatier roles that test his abilities as an actor.

The 23-year-old star, who shot to fame playing the stunningly handsome, physically perfect, but emotionally conflicted vampire, says it's gotten to the point that he sometimes feels “annoyed” by the roles he’s played or has been offered.

“Annoyingly, there are so few parts I feel I can add anything to, or that I want to do. Acting is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life,” he says in his latest interview with UK magazine Another Man..

"I don’t want to be an actor for the sake of it," he said.

Rupert Grint is also anxious to break out of the Harry Potter mold and move into more adult film roles.

He is set to star in a new movie, “Cherrybomb” that has won rave reviews for its sexy, dark look at drug use in Britain. It’s also Grint’s first lead in a non-"Potter" role. But the movie is having trouble finding a distributor, because of its controversial subject.

A movie about Prince Harry has international hit potential. The 2006 film “The Queen” starring Helen Mirren and “Twilight’s” Michael Sheen was a huge hit. It focused on the inability of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth to come to terms with the death of Princess Diana, and Diana's huge popular support.

Prince Harry has led a hugely colorful life, but the film will also focus on how he must find a role and meaning in his life as third in line to the British throne behind his father Prince Charles and brother Prince William.

*yeah...not sure about this one...our Rupert is a bit too old for the role no? Isn't Prince Harry younger than Rup anyway?* and Rob...well he's too busy to eat his own breakfast so his name was thrown in just for the attention...so Rupert Grint in my opinion is the only reasonable choice...though not sure if the best one...i suppose we'll see*

[DizzyMissLizzie]

MEET RUPERT FRIEND

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY'S HUNKY BEAU IS OK WITH BEING COUGAR BAIT

By SARA STEWART


IF you already know about Rupert Friend, it's probably for one of three reasons: He's extremely good-looking; he played the weasely Mr. Wickham in the recent film version of "Pride & Prejudice;" and, the most likely reason, he's the longtime boyfriend of that movie's star, Keira Knightley (whom he flatly refuses to discuss with the media).

Now Friend, 27, gets his own starring role opposite the long-absent Michelle Pfeiffer, in Stephen Frears' new movie "Cheri," which hits theaters Friday. In it, Friend plays Cheri, the debauched young son of a Paris courtesan who becomes involved with one of her colleagues, Pfeiffer's Lea de Lonval, struggling with middle age and its impact on her career.

We caught up with Friend as he was gamely making some new friends on the morning-show circuit.

You just finished filming "The View." How was that?

Um, it's a very lively show.

Did they paw you? Sometimes they paw the guests. The male ones.You mean, like, stroke me? No, I didn't get stroked. They were very respectful. Maybe I did something wrong.

You were on with Michelle Pfeiffer, with whom you spend a lot of the movie in bed. Did you find her easy to work with on such intimate terms?

We were very lucky, because we became friends early on. We had a trust, which allowed us to fool around and be mischievous and to play. That's very important when you have to do work which is just the two of you.

The movie is about a very specific time and place: Paris in the 1920s. Did you do much research into the era?

Well, it's based on the book [by Colette], so that's the best source I had. But there were also elements of "The Jungle Book" that I found quite useful. Oh, and I took ballet classes.

"The Jungle Book?" How so?

There was something about the lazy danger of Shere Khan that I found was helpful to bring to the character of Cheri.

Speaking of big cats, what's your take on the "cougar" phenomenon? Is that term being thrown around in the UK like it is here?

No, we don't have that word. I learned it on this trip. I suppose I'm less shocked by it than everyone else seems to be. To me, it seems like if you love somebody, their age is irrelevant.

[fernfriend]

Thanks for your kindness.

[DizzyMissLizzie]

Is Renny Harlin's film just propaganda?

Andy Garcia, licensed under the Creative Commons, a, sa: www.flickr.com/photos/hyku/Renny Harlin's film about the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia is being produced by a leading pro-government MP and has already been unfavourably compared to a straight-to-video B movie.

It also appears - despite a week of internet-fed rumours - that top Hollwood actor Andy Garcia is unlikely to star as Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. Instead the (unspecified) lead role is going to English actor Rupert Friend.

The latest issue of "Georgia Today" includes an interview with the film's executive producer and co-writer of the initial storyline, pro-Saakashvili MP Papuna Davitaia, who makes it clear he intends to use the feature to challenge the perceptions created by Heidi Tagliavini's report into the conflict:

Let us take the latest report on the war for example. Who will read it? People keen on politics mostly. The general public will not learn what actually happened. All these articles in the press and news broadcasts are read and watched by those interested in politics. And the youth, the ordinary people, Europeans, Americans, they see what is on the surface.

It is very important to me that they know what actually happened. A feature film gives the public a chance to get to know this story in an accessible way. I would like to point out once more that it is not a documentary. It is entertainment produced on the highest level, an action film for those who like battle scenes, explosions and so on.

A feature film is a way to deliver this story in an accessible way. Watching it they will understand what has actually happened here.

The war is not the most important in the film. It is the personal story of a man set during a war. It is not a film against someone. It is a film against war.

Support for the production is being provided by a company called GoldInvest, headed by Tamuna Liluashvili, who was the director of the Georgian government's inward investment bureau before leaving last year to work for a mining company with close connections to the regime.

*wow...I didn't even know they were in talks of making a film about it*

[DizzyMissLizzie]

great interview*

Interview: Julian Fellowes on The Young Victoria

Julian Fellowes, writer of new film The Young Victoria – in which Belvoir Castle deputises as Buckingham Palace – tells JENNIFER SCOTT what happened when Fergie teamed up with Martin Scorsese...

IT'S a press conference that involves three stars and many more reporters but the man who's taking centre-stage is Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes.

AUDIO: Listen to an extract from the press conference --> i.thisis.co.uk/274198/binaries/ep060309youngvictoriapressconf-final.mp3

Sitting behind a long table in a London hotel, sipping water and eating chocolates, he gives the impression he's hosting his own state banquet – not unlike one of the monarchs who feature in his latest film.

Fellowes' latest scriptwriterly offering is The Young Victoria, much of which was shot at Belvoir Castle.

Actors in the film, which depicts the early days of Britain's famously "not amused" Queen, include rising cover girl Emily Blunt (as Victoria), Keira Knightley's other half Rupert Friend (as Albert) and Jim Broadbent (as Victoria's uncle King William IV)

Emily and Rupert are also present at today's press conference but they're not getting to say that much. Emily's managing the odd anecdote. Soft-voiced Rupert, who sits with his chin buried in his hand, is largely restricted to the occasional: "Yeah, I agree with Emily".

No, the star of the show is, for once, the writer – famous for his script for Gosford Park. He is currently entertaining us with his musings on Hollywood etiquette.

"In Hollywood," according to Julian, "good manners are like a cool drink on a hot day."

He glances sideways at Emily. "Anything to add?"

"No! Nothing!" she says with a splutter. Our Queen Vic actress is very much amused. "As I just said to Rupert, 'You're on fire'."

Rupert, it seems, agrees with Emily.

Julian gallops into the conversation once more, this time on the subject of historical accuracy.

"I was a little worried when King William (Broadbent) told the Duke of Wellington to 'Enjoy the meal'," he sighs. Apparently that wasn't the done thing in the 19th Century.

"Apart from that, I think we were pretty good," he says.

"Is that not in the script?" queries Emily.

"It certainly is not!" retorts Julian. His scripts are anachronism-free, thank-you very much. "That was Jim Broadbent ad-libbing something."

Ah, the ad-libs. Emily decides she'd better come clean.

"I said, 'Yeah, I'm really excited' in one of my ad-libs. And in another one I said: 'OK'," she confesses.

Having worked extensively as an actor, Julian is forgiving. "I said 'OK' once and I was in the 17th Century," he confides.

So what prompted him to write about Victoria in the first place?

"I was very interested in her long before this film. I realised how little I knew of her early years and I never realised what an emotional battle she had to get to the throne.

"The Queen Victoria I knew was short and fat and dark and cross and living in Scotland with a handkerchief on her head."

"I had the opinion she was old and mourning and sour-faced and repressed," adds Emily.

"I agree with Emily," pipes up Rupert.

In fact, despite Julian's interest, the idea for the film originally came from the Duchess of York. She met with one of the film's co-producers who then approached Julian.

"Every good film needs a good idea so we're all very grateful," says Julian. "I think it's also the first time the Duchess of York has shared a credit with Martin Scorsese [another co-producer]. I feel it's not likely to be repeated!"

The Duchess came on set once, with her two daughters in tow. Princess Beatrice even manages a walk-on role in the coronation scene.

"Oh, she was charming!" rhapsodies Julian. "We shot that scene in Lincoln Cathedral. It was absolutely icy and decorated with stuff done for the Da Vinci Code film which was very odd.

"She was very good natured. Being in a film involves a lot of waiting and it's hard for people who aren't used to it. She was very patient. A very nice gal. And very like Queen Victoria to look at."

Emily starts giggling, not sure if this is a compliment. Julian seems equally sure it is.

One reporter asks if the fabulous list of locations were the result of the famous toffish Julian begging favours from his chums.

"Entirely my address book!" he chortles, before adding: "No, I don't think the name 'Julian Fellowes' even opens Julian Fellowes' door!

"They were wonderful locations. Blenheim and Belvoir are the great houses of England. But we didn't get in because of me. We got in because of a handsome cheque book.

"Rupert, what did you feel about our locations?"

Rupert shrugs.

"Have a chocolate, Rupert," says Emily.

"Yeah, I'll press on with these," says Rupert, tucking in.

However, the others clearly feel it's time for him to wake up.

A question flies in about the film's French-Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee.

"Go on. You haven't spoken yet. Go for it Rupe," says Emily, nudging the silent movie-star.

Rupert goes for it.

"I think anyone who isn't ingrained with any preconceptions about monarchy is very useful," he says.

"That degree of modernity is really good when looking at emotions because love is kind of timeless."

"Oh, that's lovely," sighs Emily.

"That's very good," echoes Julian. "'Love is timeless'. A slogan for the poster!"

A question aimed at Emily about the elaborate outfits also gets diverted Rupert's way.

"Rupert wore a corset as well. I think they were more lenient on you than on me," she informs her co-star.

"F***in' weren't," protests Rupert, nearly choking on his chocolates. "I was in a corset for the last scene. Corset, hip-pads and cheek plumpers."

"Don't let's go there," says Julian, hastily.

Our pens are poised. We are on alert. Apparently, Rupert has an anecdote.

"There is a scene," he says, "when Albert leads Vic out to dance in the rain with him. I had my hands in a coat and slipped on a cowpat and fell into another cowpat and Emily was unable to continue working she was laughing so hard and asked the crew to stop working so we could loop the film on a monitor and watch it 20,000 times. It was very funny."

Following his successful "looky-likey" pairing of Princess Bea and Queen Victoria, Julian tries again. This time, it's Rupert and Prince Albert.

"Facially, you're very like him," he muses.

"Really? I thought it was a good wig," replies Rupert.

"Well, don't let's probe the success," laughs Julian.

So how much was Emily like our Queen Vic? Had she ever dreamed of being a princess?

"Definitely not. I was never the girl who dreamed of being a princess. I hated pink and I hated fairies," she says emphatically.

"I love pink! I'm wearing it!" chips in Julian, rolling back his jacket to reveal a tea-rose coloured shirt.

"I love fairies," he continues. "I never dreamed of being a princess though. How about you, Rupert?"

"No. No," says Rupert, as you might expect. "I have to say. I'm with Emily on that one."

[kcknight]

Actually in the Russian-Georgian war movie, Andy Garcia IS playing president Mikheil Saakashvili. Rupert is playing an American journalist that gets caught up in the middle of it. They started filming last week.

[DizzyMissLizzie]

wow...that's fast...Rupert has one busy schedule*

[DizzyMissLizzie]

loads of sites are repeating this quote*

Keira Knightley single again?

LONDON - BRITISH actress Keira Knightley has hinted her relationship with fellow actor Rupert Friend is over, reported entertainment media on Wednesday.

The star of The Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise is currently starring in the West End show The Misanthrope where she portrays 22-year-old movie star Jennifer, reported celebrity website Bang Showbiz.

Knightley has reportedly spoken about the similarities between her and her sexy on-stage persona, admitting they both have love life 'problems'.

'Do I recognise being an extremely well-known young actress? Yes,' Knightley said.

'And she's in the middle of a world full of people who are quite a bit older than her. She's having a problem with her boyfriend. No comment.' -- AP

*welll if you ask me, and i would wish that she just meant the character and to avoid and questions about Rupert, she just said No Comment...no big deal...I think*

www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_461664.html

[kcknight]

Here's an interview with Rupert from the Young Victoria facebook page. (He answered one of my questions!!!!) ;D

THE YOUNG VICTORIA
Interview with Rupert Friend
December 4, 2009

It seems as though you enjoy working on period pieces (The Young Victoria, Pride and Prejudice, The Libertine, The Last Legion, etc.) - what attracts you to these types of films? Do you prefer period pieces to modern day films?

-I think it’s just the stories that have come my way that have interested me and in a sense there’s an element of time travel about it that I really like. Being able to really go back in time and see how people lived in other periods is really exciting for me. As different as it can be from my own experiences the better.

To prepare for the role of Prince Albert, you took dancing, calligraphy, archery lessons, and even worked with a vocal coach to capture an accurate German accent. Out of all the lessons, what did you find the most challenging to learn? What was the easiest to pick-up?

-The hardest was the piano because I had to learn a piece of Shubert which Albert plays for, well he doesn’t actually play it for her, but he plays it in the movie, and that was really really hard but the most rewarding as well because when I cracked it, it was the best feeling ever, so that was the hardest. The easiest in a way actually was the archery. The guy who was teaching me was amazing and he made me my own bow and my own arrows. It came weirdly quite naturally the whole sharp shooting thing.

Do you have a favorite scene in The Young Victoria?

-I really like the scene under the gazebo when she stops him from proposing or rather tells him to wait. There’s a lot unsaid when I read that scene.

What do you find most rewarding when you're part of a film?

-Really experiencing other people doing their work and I get really excited by people that are passionate by their particular job. Whether it’s painting the set or mixing the sound or whatever it might be. It’s really intriguing to me to learn how everybody else does their work and the whole comes together.

Is there anyone you would like to work with in the future?

-I would like to work with Paul Thomas Anderson. I think his films are great.

Which is your favorite of his

-There Will be Blood.

What other films are you currently working on now?

-I just completed a movie called Georgia about the war that Georgia the country had with Russia last year. So I’ve been 7 weeks in the mountains of Georgia with the Army and playing an American war correspondent that gets captured and accused of being a spy. So, very exciting and sort of a recent event that’s still very fresh in the minds of the people that we went to try and explore.

American audiences don’t know as much about Prince Albert and Queen Victoria as British. How do you think the audiences will differ on how they take the film?

-Well I wouldn’t know to speak for the audiences but to be honest I didn’t know much about them at all and I’m a fairly sort of typical, regular guy. I think there’s a few historians from both sides of the Atlantic that will know about them already but for everyone else it’s really realizing that these are two teenagers that had to negotiate this incredible political responsibility and still manage to fall in love.

@meganwest (Twitter Fan): What was the process like for learning the accent? Did they intentionally shift it from beginning to end?

-Well the thing that I really was keen for was first he was a foreigner so he did have an accent, but secondly, that he was desperate to not have an accent. So I learned a German accent and then from that accent I tried to learn an English accent. If that makes sense - so that’s it’s like you’re trying really hard to fit in.

@nanandbags (Twitter Fan): What did you discover by playing prince Albert? Anything new that you didn’t know before?

-I got to know a man very well who I didn’t know before and who I really really liked and would have liked to have known in real life. I suppose rather than learning something about myself I was inspired by his devotion to other people’s causes and I thought his sort of selflessness was very very inspiring.

Lieryn Barnett (Facebook Fan): It seems like there would be more pressure to play someone like Albert because people have preconceived notions of what he was like. What difficulties or challenges are involved when playing a well-known historical figure as opposed to a completely fictional character that you get create yourself?

-Well I think it’s a kind of a twofold answer really because oddly enough people don’t really know what Albert was like so my job was to do him justice and to be as faithful as I could to all of the discoveries that I made about him and not skim the surface of this guy who I thought was so fascinating. That was certainly a responsibility, but, if I’m honest, I feel that responsibility about everyone that I play whether they’ve been written, made up, true, false, period, modern, futuristic, whatever. They’re all real to me.

Melody Schnetz (Facebook Fan): I majored in European Studies- German at University so I'm interested if you tried to learn German or perfect a German accent? Did you have a voice coach?

-Yes, I had a fantastic voice coach who I love and also I asked the director if I could change the lines to be in German when he’s with his brother at home because it didn’t make sense to me that you would speak in English with your brother if you’re both German. He agreed that he wanted that flavor of this was a melting pot of Europe at that time, with this shifting sands of different nationalities. So we brought a German teacher in and changed some of the lines when he’s at home with servants and with his brother to give that sense of, when he leaves and goes to England it’s a foreign place and home is home.