Our adult Harry Potter alumni have been keeping busy lately with a multitude of projects, taking part in everything from new films to the theatre–and even one concert!
Toby Jones (voice of Dobby) will join Art Parkinson (Game of Thrones) and Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey) in the upcoming film Zoo, based on the true story of a 12-year-old boy and friends who join up with an older woman to save a baby elephant during the Belfast air raids in 1941.
Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy) has received much praise for her star performance as Hester Collyer in The Deep Blue Sea, which is to be broadcast live to select cinemas around the world during the September 1 performance at the National’s Lyttelton Theatre.
An eerie first trailer for the second season of Fortitude, starring Sir Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore) was recently released. Gambon stars alongside Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who), Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games), and Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow, Frequency) in this Icelandic psychological horror series.
Kelly MacDonald (Helena Ravenclaw) has joined Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley) in the upcoming film Goodbye Christopher Robin, which centers around the life of A.A. Milne (the author of Winnie the Pooh) and Milne’s relationship with his son, Christopher Robin. Domhnall will play the role of A.A. Milne himself, and Kelly will take on the role of Olive, Christopher Robin’s nanny.
Domhnall is also attached to an as-of-yet unnamed thriller–currently referred to as Day 6–alongside an all-star cast consisting of fan favorites like Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Javier Bardem.
The first trailer and movie poster for the highly-anticipated Denial–starring Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew)–were released last week giving us our first look at the film, which is based on the book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier.
The film–which also stars Academy Award winners Rachel Weisz and Tom Wilkinson–is based on the true story of the legal battle of Deborah E. Lipstadt. Lipstadt and her legal team went up against David Irving (Spall), who–when Lipstadt asserted him a Holocaust denier–accused her of libel.
Jim Broadbent (Horace Slughorn) joins an all-star cast in the latest installment of the Asterix series, Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods. The film–which is the first feature-length 3D film in the series–will open in cinemas this August.
The year is 50 BC. Gual is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely…
One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders. Julius Caesar (Jim Broadbent), exasperated by the situation, decides to change tactics. Since his armies are unable to prevail through force, Roman civilisation itself will charm the barbaric Gauls. And so he has a luxurious housing complex built near the village for Roman families, called ‘The Mansions of the Gods’.
Will our Gaulish friends resist the lure of easy money and Roman comforts? Will their village become a simple tourist attraction? Asterix and Obelix are going to do all they can to thwart Caesar’s plans.
Lastly, Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge) joined husband Jim Carter (Downton Abbey) and the folk duo Show of Hands at a concert in Devon commemorating the Battle of the Somme centenary. During the event, Imelda and Jim read poems penned by war poets.
Of their participation, Imelda said:
“We were delighted to be asked to work on the centenary project. The music is beautiful and the poems work so well. It is very moving and we feel very proud to be a part of it.”
Thanks to our friends at Mugglenet for the heads up!
Nominations for the 2016 Irish Film and Television Academy awards were announced this week, and the list features a few names from the Harry Potter series!
Evanna Lynch is nominated for Best Actress in My Name is Emily, Domhnall Gleeson is up for Best Actor in Ex Machina and Best Supporting Actor for Brooklyn. Collin Farrell – who will star in Fantastic Beasts – is also nominated for Best Actor (Drama), for True Detective, and his performance in The Lobster also puts him up against Gleeson for Best Actor. Michelle Fairley (the actress who portrayed Hermione’s mother in the Potter series) is up for Best Supporting Actress for Rebellion.
My Name is Emily received seven nominations, including Best Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Script, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Original Score.
According to Drogheda Independent:
“The story centres on Emily’s 16th birthday and for the first time in her life, doesn’t receive a birthday card from her Dad. After meeting a fellow outsider at her new school, Emily and her handsome ally, Arden, decide to embark on a road trip adventure across Ireland to find her missing father.
They are an odd couple, this pale girl and the boy in the velvet suit, and along the way, they find love as well as some hard and unexpected truths.”
Ex Machina is up for Best International Film, whilst Brooklyn received multiple nominations, including Best Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director.
The IFTA awards will be taking place Saturday April 9th at the Round Room of the Mansion House in Dublin.
The 2016 BAFTA Film awards took place in the U.K. last night, at London’s Royal Opera House. Stephen Fry hosted the event, and Eddie Redmayne, Dame Maggie Smith, Julie Walters were also in attendance, with nominations in the Leading Actor, Leading Actress and Supporting Actress categories respectively.
Dame Maggie Smith also got caught on the kiss cam (see below), with none other than Leo DiCaprio! After the initial shock she pulled him in for a lovely hug – probably the most adorable kiss-cam we’ve seen (Stephen Fry called it “a marriage made in heaven”:
Giving a shout-out to Dame Smith in his opening speech, Stephen Fry joked “If she were any more of an institution, she’d have railings around her!” – we can’t help but agree!
Eddie Redmayne also presented the award for Best Supporting Actress (which went to Kate Winslet). Radio Times caught him on the red carpet, where he spoke about the event’s hype:
“There’s still an adrenaline buzz and an excitement that comes. You give your everything and hope people enjoy it so when you get to these things you hope people have seen the films.”
They also reported on the winner’s press conference, in which Julie Walters admitted to losing her (expensive) earring:
“Julie Walters has been backstage in the winners press conference, discussing her role in the Brooklyn TV spin-off and the worrying misplacement of her earring on the way up to the stage. Apparently it’s borrowed and worth more than her house!”
Halfway through the evening marked the time for a tribute to huge contributors to the film industry who have sadly passed away, which included a touching tribute to Alan Rickman, featuring clips from Harry Potter, Robin Hood and Truly Madly Deeply.
The award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema went to Angels Costumes, who provided costumes for Harry Potter, along with James Bond, Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars.
Domhnall Gleeson presented the Best Film In a Foreign Language award, alongside Star Wars co–star, Carrie Fisher.
Leonardo DiCaprio gave a shout-out to Gary Oldman in his acceptance speech for Best Actor.
Though Maggie Smith and Eddie Redmayne may not have won Best Actress / Actor (losing out to Brie Larson of Room and Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant), Brooklyn – starring Julie Walters and Domhnall Gleeson – won the Outstanding British Film Award, whilst Star Wars: The Force Awakens (also featuring Domhnall Gleeson) won Best Visual Effects – congratulations!
Next up, the Oscars (28th February)! Eddie Redmayne is nominated for Best Actor, his film The Danish Girl is up for Costume Design and Production Design, whilst Julie Walters and Domhnall Gleeson’s Brooklyn is nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay.
The 2015 British Independent Film Awards took place on Sunday evening, with various Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts actors in attendance.
Harry Potter actors in attendance were Helena Bonham Carter, Domhnall Gleeson, Julie Walters, as well as Jason Isaacs and Nick Moran.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them co-stars Colin Farrell and Gemma Chan also attended the awards, with Farrell also answering questions about what it’s like working with David Yates:
Watch the full event and interviews below:
Thanks for the heads up, SnitchSeeker – view more photos from the event in their article here!
As announced earlier, WB will be releasing Harry Potter: Wizarding World DVD game on December 1st, just a few days before the release of Half-Blood Prince and the special Ultimate Collector's editions DVDs. As such Amazon.com has a brand new trailer for the DVD game which you can see right here in our Video galleries. Last month we told of the details for the game which covers elements from Har...
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Over the weekend, nominations for the Emmys were revealed. Congratulations are in order for actor Brendan Gleeson (Mad Eye) for his work on the HBO Winston Churchill film "Into the Storm," and to actor Kenneth Branagh for his work on the BBC series "Wallander." Cheers!
Some fantastic new behind the scenes photos are now online from the making of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In these new and high res photos you can see many rare glimpses of the director David Yates at work, giving direction to his crew, to cast members such as Evanna Lynch (Luna) and Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) as well as shots of the Forbidden Forest set and shooting for Grawp, ...
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