Matthew Macfadyen visits Georgia January 12th, 2013 by Ketevan Mghebrishvili (DEMOTIX)

SUBMITTED BY Ketevan Mghebrishvili Tbilisi, Georgia, Asia

Famous British actor Matthew Macfadyen visits Georgia to participate in film Epic, an international co-production between the UK, Germany, Russia and Georgia.

As it is mentioned in official press release of the Georgian National Film Center, Tbilisi-based production company 20 Steps Productions will soon begin shooting film Epic. It is an international co-production between the UK, Germany, Russia and Georgia. Principal photography begins in Georgian capital Tbilisi on December 20th. EPIC is supported by the British Film Institute (UK), the HessenInvestFilm fund (Germany), Metra (Russia), and the French-German cultural channel Arte, as well as the Georgian National Film Center.

READ MORE: http://www.demotix.com/news/1733051/matthew-macfadyen-visits-georgia/all-media

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. DARCY!!!

Famous Actors Behind William Darcy of ‘Pride & Prejudice’ (ABC NEWS)

By Jennifer Abbey

Laurence Olivier

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of “Pride & Prejudice,” a story retold dozens of times in novels, films, TV shows and now a popular Internet video series.

Colin Firth has played Darcy three times

It’s often said that women like Jane Austen because they LOVE Mr. Darcy, the unlikely romantic hero of “Pride and Prejudice.”

Matthew Macfadyen

He’s the opposite of an action hero.  The anti-James Bond.

Brooding.  Aloof.  And socially awkward.  A rich, slightly finicky, older man, imprisoned by good manners.   But inside lurks a smoldering romantic flame others just don’t notice.

Martin Henderson

For the past 200 years, Fitzwilliam Darcy has been the Thinking Woman’s Dream Guy, stealing the heart not just of  Austen’s heroine Elizabeth Bennet but generations of young women.

So…. who’s your favorite Mr. Darcy?

READ MORE; http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/01/famous-actors-behind-william-darcy-of-pride-prejudice/

Review of Ripper Street ‘The Weight of One Man’s Heart’ By Neela Debnath (INDEPENDENT)

Charlene McKenna as Rose (BBC)

On this week’s installment of CSI: Whitechapel or “Ripper Street” as it is more commonly referred to, viewers were finally given an insight into Sergeant Drake’s dark past. There was of course the regular dose of sex, violence and anachronisms that come as standard with each episode.

Thus far Drake has been somewhat of a mystery to the audience and there have only been small hints of the man he used to be. During the lockdown at the orphanage in episode 2, Drake spoke about his nightmares and revealed a tattoo of an Egyptian goddess.

For those who may have wondered what lay beneath that cool, uptight and very proper Victorian exterior need wonder no longer. Drake was a former soldier who experienced all the horrors of war and more after slaying his captors when he was taken prisoner.

There is a reason he is Reid’s muscle and essentially tethered to a leash but it is a self-imposed restriction. Jackson may mock him for being too serious but perhaps he would be less cocky if he knew what Drake was capable and what he has done in the past.

It was a great story in terms of character development and the parallels it created between the treatment of veterans returning from the front line in the Victorian era and in 2013. It served as an interesting angle and way in for viewers. Drake’s former brother-in-arms Colonel Madoc Faulkner (Iain Glen) gave a fierce critique of the ‘reward’ former soldiers are given when they return home after serving. He made a compelling argument and raised an issue that applies both then and now.

READ MORE: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/01/27/review-of-ripper-street-the-weight-of-one-mans-heart/

Matthew Macfadyen talks 'Ripper Street' and 'Anna Karenina' New BBC America drama premieres on Saturday night BY DANIEL FIENBERG SATURDAY, JAN 19, 2013 3:33 AM (HIT FIX)

Like many a British thespian, Matthew Macfadyen has reliably bounced back and forth between the big screen and television, whether wooing Elizabeth Bennett in "Pride & Prejudice" or battling international intrigue in "MI-5."

Fresh off a well-received supporting turn as Oblonsky in Joe Wright's "Anna Karenina" this winter, Macfadyen is back on TV on Saturday (January 19) night fighting crime in Victorian England in BBC America's "Ripper Street."

During the Television Critics Association press tour this month, I sat down with MacFadyen to talk about his role as Detective Inspector Edmund Reid on "Ripper Street," which was created by Richard Warlow and co-stars Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg. We also talked a bit about Wright's highly theatrical Tolstoy adaptation, as well as his creative process.

Click through...

HitFix: I know you said on the panel that it was the script that attracted you, but what was the kernel that piqued your interest?

Matthew Macfadyen: It's the whole thing, I think. I wasn't a kernel. It was the writing, the character, the idea of doing a series sorta appealed and it took me by surprise, because it wasn't my plan to do another series. I wasn't looking for a series to do and it just sorta ticked a lot of boxes and it was... yeah.


HitFix: How much was it that you didn't want to do a series and you were surprised to find one that appealed to you and how much was it just that you weren't specifically looking to do another series?

Matthew Macfadyen: I just read it like this [he mimes flipping through the pages swiftly] and thought, "This is fabulous." That's the acid test, whether you want to read it and want to be in it.


HitFix: It seems like there are these rules that America actors often seem to stick to, like "I don't want to do television, I want to do..." And British actors seem not to feel bound by that same restrictions. And that always seen a little odd.

Matthew Macfadyen: Yeah. I feel like an actor. I'm not a movie actor or a theater actor. I'd like to work in all three mediums.


HitFix: But when you have a pile of scripts, does your eye go to what medium an individual project is destined for?

Matthew Macfadyen: No. A little bit. You sorta factor it in. It's a combination of practicalities and the script and also how much it's going to stretch you or how different it is to the thing you've done most recently. Those kinds of things.


HitFix: So tell me about how the character here, about how Reid stretched you from the thing you did previously?

Matthew Macfadyen: Well, what was the last thing I did? I'd played this buffoon in a movie before that, so it was a very different kind of character. He's quite a solid detective part. I just wanted to be part of the show.


HitFix: Is this a time period that you have an interest in? Or does that factor into your decision?

Matthew Macfadyen: Sure. Yeah. More and more I found it fascinating and I looked at a lot of... I spent hours looking at photographs before we started shooting and during the shoot, which I found endlessly fascinating. You're sorta looking to see how different it is, because I know the streets, I know the area where we were shooting, so it's fascinating life. They had these big pictures of London life in the period. So... ummm... Yeah. It's all interesting stuff.


HitFix: Where were you doing this research?

Matthew Macfadyen: At home on my computer.


HitFix: Just Googling...

Matthew Macfadyen: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.


HitFix: How does that kind of research inform you when you're actually putting together the character, what you can learn from looking at pictures?

Matthew Macfadyen: I don't know. I don't know how my performance would have been any different had I not looked at the photographs, but it's just interesting. You can't play "research." You can kind of have ideas, but it was just sort of interesting and allows your imagination to work, I suppose.

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/matthew-macfadyen-talks-ripper-street-and-anna-karenina#5GpDdYDQ06hqVFrM.99 

'Ripper Street' Stars Macfadyen, 1880s London by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS January 18, 2013 5:42 PM (NPR)

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Matthew Macfadyen is perfectly presentable in jeans and a crewneck sweater that coordinates nicely with the blue of his eyes.

But the look is far from the elegant attire he wore as Mr. Darcy opposite Keira Knightley's Elizabeth in the 2005 film "Pride & Prejudice." And his posture is just as casual, which he acknowledges might offend the aristocratic character's diehard fans.

"You're slouching! What are you doing? Stand up straight, man!" Macfadyen says, teasing himself.

He looks back fondly on what he calls the "iconic" role drawn from Jane Austen's novel. But the British actor who's also known to audiences for his part as an intelligence officer in the series "MI-5" ("Spooks" in the U.K.) welcomes the chance to switch gears.

"I, as most actors, want to mix it up and do different things. Otherwise it gets boring and tiresome, not only for yourself but for everyone else seeing you do the same kind of thing," he said. "The joy of being an actor is to play different parts, do something different."

Macfadyen's latest chance for diversity comes in "Ripper Street," an 1880s police drama set on the gritty and untamed streets of London's East End around the period that serial killer Jack the Ripper terrorized the area.

The series, starring Macfadyen as Detective Inspector Edmund Reid, debuts Saturday (9 p.m. EST) on BBC America after starting its British run this month. BBC America is home to another rough-and-tumble, 18th-century police drama, "Copper," set in 1860s New York City and the channel's first original scripted series.

The mysterious and brutal Jack the Ripper has been recycled throughout pop culture in films including 1979's "Time After Time" and 2001's "From Hell" with Johnny Depp. But series creator Richard Warlow said the killer is a backdrop and invisible character for "Ripper Street."

"What we wanted to do really was to tell stories about the streets down which he walked and committed his crimes in the wake of those terrible murders," Warlow said, "and how it affected the community and, most importantly, the police that tried and failed to catch him."

Each episode will include what he called a "stand-alone crime" as well as pull at the thread of Reid's life, including those surrounding him at work and at home.


READ MORE: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=169740291

Victorian sex & violence is gRIPPING - Says Matthew MacFadyen (THE SUN)

EXCLUSIVE By LAURA ARMSTRONG

MATTHEW MacFADYEN has defended Ripper Street against claims it is too graphic – insisting that most Brits RELISH Victorian sex and violence.

Nearly 90 viewers have complained since the BBC1 crime series, set in east London in the Jack The Ripper era, started two weeks ago.

But former Spooks actor Matthew, who plays detective inspector Edmund Reid, reckons the gritty reality shown on screen is an essential part of the show’s appeal.

He told TV Biz: “I think people are fascinated by Victorian attitudes towards sex and society. And back then in the East End there was enormous poverty.

“Actually, it was the Ripper murders that brought to light the dire poverty in the East End. They showed them up to a greater audience.”

He added: “Ripper Street is a very original thing really. The script grabs you because it is bombastic, big and colourful and grimy as well. There’s lots of stuff in there.

“And being able to go back to seedy Whitechapel is brilliant.

“The show designer is a supremely talented man and his team have been fantastic.

“All of the sets are as it was back then. There’s a toymaker’s shop, a pub, an orphanage and an asylum and all kinds of different things, so it’s great.”

He said: “My character, Reid, is a very dedicated and forward-thinking policeman. What I find interesting is that there’s nothing jaded about him.

“I wanted to get away from the classic ‘seen it all, done it all’ copper and he’s definitely not that.

“He’s progressive and interested in the innovations of the age.

“But he has also got quite a lot of anger and a fairly dark past.

READ MORE: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/4746229/exclusive-matthew-macfadyen-defends-bbc-drama-ripper-street.html

Claire Foy Cast Opposite James McAvoy in Traf Transformed's MACBETH on West End (Broadway World)

As reported by the Daily Mail, Claire Foy has been cast as 'Lady Macbeth' opposite James McAvoy in new West End theatre company Traf Transformed's production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. The show will run Feb 9 through April 27, 2013, directed by Jamie Lloyd.


The show will play the Trafalgar Studio in Whitehall Theatre, as one of four plays to be produced in the new space featuring designer Soutra Gilmour. Lloyd is considering hiring an all-Scottish cast for the show, which will be set in a "distopian separatist Scotland".

Read more: http://westend.broadwayworld.com/article/Claire-Foy-Cast-Opposite-James-McAvoy-in-Traf-Transformeds-MACBETH-on-West-End-20130103#ixzz2H2kg0JIr

Happy Birthday, Mr. Darcy!! (HEROLD SCOTLAND) Barry Didcock Senior features writer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ArRWExbbM

One of English literature's most enduring characters – thanks in part to his embodiment on screen by that troika of male totty Colin Firth, Laurence Olivier and Matthew Macfadyen – Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy celebrates his 200th birthday this month.

He is, of course, the romantic lead in Jane Austen's novel Pride And Prejudice, first published in three hard cover volumes on January 28 1813. But you probably knew that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVChdOFevEo

You may not have known that Austen was paid only £110 for the copyright, miserly when you consider the effect her creation would have on generations of readers, particularly those on the distaff side. In a 2004 poll for the Orange Prize for Fiction, Darcy was voted the romantic icon women would most like to date and the fictional character most women would like to invite to a dinner party.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHv4eHp_gUM

Men tend to look a little less favorably on him, however. "I never met a man who likes Darcy, though most women seem to," wrote literary critic John Carey. Olivier himself was unmoved by Darcy too. "I was very unhappy with the picture," he wrote in his autobiography of his 1940 film portrayal. "It was difficult to make Darcy into anything more than an unattractive-looking prig."

Maybe that's the appeal of Darcy, however. He isn't obvious, or easy or even particularly likeable. But, in the words of Martin Amis, he exhibits the ability of men to be "chastened, deepened, and finally democratized by the force of love."

READ MORE: http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/in-praise-of/in-praise-of-mr-darcy.19779751

Matthew Macfadyen, Tom Conti: Guards Chapel Christmas Concert (WE CLIMB MOUNTAINS)

2012’s 25th Anniversary Concert

The evening comprised a mix of musical performances, readings and congregational carols followed by a post-concert reception at Wellington Barracks.

Three outstanding artists with flourishing international careers performed at 2012's event – Guy Johnston (Cello), Hannah Stone (Harp) and Kate Royal (Soprano), accompanied by the award-winning Academy of St Martin in the Field.

They were joined on the night by the Scots Guards band and their pipers, together with the Royal Military Chapel choir and the Eltham College Trebles.

The concert was introduced once again by Martyn Lewis, and celebrity readers included Penelope Wilson, Matthew Macfayden, Tom Conti and Ronni Ancona.


(Big thank you to May at Matthew Macfadyen Topix for finding this)

READ MORE: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Fundraising/LondonSpecialEvents/GuardsChapelChristmaslConcert.aspx

It’s a Ripper! You can almost smell the fear on the set of frighteningly fantastic new crime drama Ripper Street (TV MAGAZINE)

By ANNE-MARIE HAMILTON Published: 27th December 2012

DENSE fog swirls above the cobbles as chickens in wooden cages let out high-pitched squawks and a pair of bloomers swings from a washing line high above the street.

Welcome to the mean streets of Whitechapel in 1889 where corpses, violence and general squalor abound.
It’s a lawless place ruled by fear and the setting for a new crime drama focusing on the terrifying aftermath of the Jack the Ripper murders.

TV Magazine is on location at a former army barracks in Dublin that’s doubling for London’s East End.
And as we peer past a crowd of extras, a familiar figure emerges in the gloom – former Spooks star Matthew Macfadyen, all broad-shouldered and reassuring in a well-cut check suit.

“Everyone has got this terrible hangover from not finding the Ripper – and they’ve got real hangovers as well,” says Matthew, 38, who stars as Detective Edmund Reid. “There has been a little bit of Guinness...”
Within minutes on set, it’s clear that pints of the black stuff have created a tight bond between the show’s three male stars, Matthew, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg.


“There is a lot of giggling,” admits Jerome, 49. “I have to admit, one of the reasons I wanted to be in the series was because Matt was doing it. I’m a big fan of his and thought: ‘Well, he’s not going to involve himself in anything that’s going to die.’ I think made the right decision.”

“It’s nice being away from London,” muses Matt (here’s hoping his actress wife Keeley Hawes, 36, isn’t offended). “Dublin feels very contained. And the set feels like a playground.”


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/tvmagazine/tvmagazinefeatures/4714805/Its-a-Ripper-Matthew-Macfadyen-Jerome-Flynn-and-Adam-Rothenberg-star-in-Jack-the-Ripper-drama-Ripper-Street.html#ixzz2GOcA0RZU

EXCLUSIVE: Matthew Macfadyen shares all the GORY details from his new TV series Ripper Street (MAIL ON LINE)

By DAVID WIGG

Matthew Macfadyen has been tempted back to a major TV series for the first time since the long-running Spooks ended two years ago, in which he played a very modern role as counter-terrorism chief.

Now he has re-emerged as Detective Inspector Edmund Reid, a late 19th-century policeman whose beat is London’s East End, haunt of the notorious Jack The Ripper.

The time is April 1889, six months after the Ripper has claimed his last victim, hacking a fifth young woman to death -  and people are beginning to venture out after dark again, in the cautious hope that his murderous reign of terror is over.

But is it? After all, the series is called Ripper Street.

The famously buttoned-up Macfadyen reacts with mock horror: ‘I couldn’t possibly give anything away’, he says.  ‘But I will say that Inspector Reid is a very modern policeman, and what he investigates takes him beyond the Ripper’s crimes.

'He is beginning to see huge new advances in forensics and pathology as for the first time police work becomes truly scientific, and he can see that this is the future’.

I watched the opening scene as Macfadyen as Reid – tall, imposing, well-dressed in  a long heavy coat and a black bowler hat, and sporting distinctively fashionable sideburns - sips his beer in Whitechapel’s packed Brown Bear tavern.


He smiles as his fellow drinkers cheer on a brutal bare-knuckle fight. It’s all good fun - or what passed for fun in the late 19th century - but Reid’s off-duty moments are numbered.

Suddenly, a scream echoes through the fog-shrouded warren of streets. The naked body of a young prostitute has been found with her throat cut. The murder has all the Ripper’s hallmarks, and panic once again grips the East End.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2254341/Matthew-Macfadyen-shares-gory-details-new-TV-series-Ripper-Street.html#ixzz2GNrw2erg 
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