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4 articles from 2008

20 June 2008 10:27 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Sir Anthony Hopkins has been confirmed as the latest actor to play King Lear in a big screen adaptation of Shakespeare's great tragedy.

American newcomer Josh Michael Stern has assembled an all-star cast for the ambitious film, which will start shooting in Britain or Ireland early next year.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Watts and Kiera Knightley will play the tragic king's three daughters, and director Stern insists there will be many more suitable big-name surprises in his blockbuster.

He says, "It's going to be really good... The one thing that I'm staying away from is stunt casting, so there won't be the American comedian, but there will be some really great actors playing smaller roles that will make a lot of sense."

Stern also plans to stick to Shakespeare's dialogue in the film in a bid to make sure the movie is as authentic as possible: "I'm not very fond of the modern adaptations... It's pre-Roman, Celtic, very raw.

"It's a period in British history, from which (Lord of The Rings author) Tolkien took a lot of his inspiration, where there were thatched-roof roundhouses and fortresses."

Stern's new Lear will give Hopkins the chance to revisit a character that won him acclaim on stage - the Oscar winner played the king in revered playwright David Hare's King Lear production at the National Theatre in London in the late 1980s.

The director adds, "Hopkins is thrilled."

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19 June 2008 3:09 PM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Hollywood actress Uma Thurman is set to make a move to the small screen - she has reportedly signed up to star in a new BBC TV drama.

The Kill Bill star is expected to take the lead role in My Zinc Bed, an adaptation of a play by renowned dramatist David Hare.

Thurman will star alongside Pirates of the Caribbean actor Jonathan Pryce in the show, according to British newspaper The London Paper.

The 38-year-old has also reportedly signed up for a second play adaptation by the BBC, taking a role in the TV version of Caryl Churchill's A Number alongside Notting Hill star Rhys Ifans.

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19 June 2008 2:53 AM, PDT | From Digitalspy | See recent digitalspy news

BBC Two has signed up star-studded casts for two stage-play adaptations to air later this year. A production of David Hare's My Zinc Bed will feature Uma Thurman as recovering alcoholic Elsa, Paddy Considine as penniless poet Paul Peplow and Jonathan Pryce in the role of Victor Quinn, an internet entrepreneur. The second play - Caryl Churchill's A Number - stars Tom Wilkinson and Rhys Ifans in father and son roles. Bernard, (more)

By Dave West

2 April 2008 12:14 PM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Dame Helen Mirren turned down the chance to perform onstage with late The Who drummer Keith Moon, after he broke into her West End theatre dressing room.

The British actress was performing in a 1974 London production of a David Hare play, when she was confronted by the hellraiser, who was desperate to perform in her backing band.

She tells U.S. talk show host Conan O'Brien, "I did a play about the rock and roll business called Teeth and Smiles. I was playing the Janis Joplin character.

"One night I was about to go on, and I heard this incredible crashing and banging coming from the ally where the stage door is. I looked out the back, and this completely drunken guy was climbing out of a trash can, covered in trash and with a pin-striped suit on. A complete madman. Then I heard the crashing and banging coming through the stage door, and up the stairs. It stopped outside the dressing room.

"I opened the door and it was Keith Moon. He said, 'Hello darling, I hear you're wonderful in this play.'

"I said, 'It's nice to meet you, but I have to go onstage now.' He said, 'That's all right, I'll come with you. I'll come and play in your band.'

"I'm so idiotic. I said, 'No, you can't.' That's why I'm not rock 'n' roll.

"One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't play onstage with Keith Moon."

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4 articles from 2008