Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Thursday, 22 November 2018
Sunday, 18 November 2018
Friday, 16 November 2018
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN’S MARK GATISS TAKES A TRIP TO THE MOON
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN’S MARK GATISS TAKES A TRIP TO THE MOON
Comedian, actor and writer Mark Gatiss has been making quite a name for himself. From working on the new Doctor Who behind the screen (as a writer of 2005’s the Unquiet Dead and later the Idiot’s Lantern) and in front of the camera (in The Lazarus Experiment). He also starred opposite future Doctor Who David Tennant in the 2005 live transmission revival of the Quatermass Experiment. In 2008, he wrote and starred in the Holiday Horror special The Crooked House. From the radio to the TV screen and even the cinema, his work as a member of the League of Gentlemen has nearly made him a household name.
So what’s next?
Gatiss is currently working on a production of H.G. Welles’ The First Men in the Moon and he is beaming with pride about it. Starring as Professor Cavor, Gatiss and Rory Kinnear (of Waking the Dead) travel to the moon using an unlikely element called ‘cavorite.’ The actor is ecstatic to bring to life the turn of the century classic. “I’m completely delighted to have the chance to bring this wonderful, funny, charming and scary story to BBC4. It’s very rare to be able to adapt a genius like HG Wells for the small screen and we hope to do full justice to his extraordinary vision.”
Gatiss’ love of Victorian England is already plain to see in his Lucifer Box series, rumored to be developed into a TV miniseries by the BBC (what IS the story on that??). First Men in the Moon will be played on BBC4. No news yet on a cross the pound presentation.
Sunday, 11 November 2018
Mark Gatiss - A Rare Mind's Different Facets
https://m.weibo.cn/u/5201343009?uid=5201343009&luicode=10000011&lfid=231522type%3D103%26q%3D%23Mark%20Gatiss%23
Saturday, 10 November 2018
Thursday, 8 November 2018
Mark Gatiss - The Madness of George III - my thoughts on the actor and the man behind the character.
Mark Gatiss - The Genius in Action
I have been wanting to write about my obsession with this Master crafter for some time now. But, words never seem enough to express his ingenuity.
There seems to be a rare quality of self-effacement that allows him to blend into any role, overpowering the audience with his on-screen persona, transforming the scene into a whole new Universe.
The spectator feels the emotions rippling away from the character, touching their mind and soul, leaving a lasting impression.
Tuesday, 6 November 2018
Mark Gatiss in The Madness of George III at Nottingham Playhouse: first look photos
 |
© Manuel Harlan |
Adam Penford directs a new revival of Alan Bennett's classic
Photos have been released offering a first look at The Madness of George III, which opens this month at Nottingham Playhouse.
The new revival of Alan Bennett's piece stars Mark Gatiss as the titular tortured king, who is beset by psychological problems during his reign. The show also features Adrian Scarborough as Dr Willis Debra Gillett as Queen Charlotte.
Bennett's show won a string of awards when it first debuted in 1991 starring Nigel Hawthorne, as did the 1994 film adaptation.
Completing the cast are Nicholas Bishop (Twelfth Night) as the Prime Minister, Wilf Scolding (The Glass Menagerie) as the Prince of Wales, Harry Kershaw (Mischief Movie Night) as the Duke of York, Sara Powell (La Peste) as Lady Pembroke, Nadia Albina (Emilia) as Captain Fitzroy, Jack Holden (Ink) as Captain Greville, Amanda Hadingue (A Small Family Business) as Charles Fox and Stephanie Jacob (Absolute Hell) as Sheridan, Louise Jameson (Ten Times Table) as Dr Warren, Andrew Joshi (The Railway Children) as Lord Dundas, Billy Postlethwaite (The Plague) as Braun, Jessica Temple (The Mikado) as Papandiek, David Hounslow (This House) as Thurlow and Adam Karim (East is East) as Fortnum.
The show is designed by Robert Jones with lighting design by Richard Howell, sound design by Tom Gibbons, movement by Lizzi Gee, fight direction by Jonathan Holby, voice coaching by Hazel Holder, wig design by Richard Mawbley and wardrobe by Poppy Hall.
Running until 24 November, the production will be broadcast live from the theatre to cinemas around the world on Tuesday 20 November.
Dracula on Netflix by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat
 | |||
It was announced this week that Netflix and BBC One are teaming up to co-produce a miniseries titled Dracula based on author Bram Stoker‘s novel of the same name.
The miniseries comes from Sherlock creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. And like a season of Sherlock, it will consist of three 90-minute episodes.
Continue below for more info.
Here’s the full announcement from Netflix:
BBC One has commissioned Dracula from the co-creators of multi-award-winning hit BBC drama Sherlock. It will be produced by Hartswood Films and is a co-production between BBC One and Netflix.
A little over a year ago, around the time that the first part of the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s IT directed by Andy Muschietti was set to release, it was announced that Paramount was developing their own Dracula project with Muschietti attached to direct. That film is co-written by Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew, Dacre Stoker. So fans of the character have plenty to look forward to.
BBC One and Netflix Co-Producing ‘Dracula’ Miniseries From The Creators Of ‘Sherlock’
|
Monday, 5 November 2018
Sunday, 4 November 2018
Saturday, 3 November 2018
Mark Gatiss - Man of the Year 2016
Introducing Mark Gatiss, actor, screenwriter, television producer, comedian, novelist, director and Winq’s 2016 Man of the Year, presented with his award by Winq‘s Editor-in-Chief, Matt Cain, at our 2016 awards luncheon, supported by United Airlines.
Most gay men understand gallows humour. It’s the go-to defence when life is at its bleakest. Only one, we suggest, has elevated it to an art form – our Man of the Year, Mark Gatiss. From the attack on the senses that was The League of Gentlemen and roles in Game of Thrones and Wolf Hall, to the craft of taking on the dual roles of co-writer and co-star of the spectacular Sherlock, his work uses darkness to find light. It’s positively inspirational, if occasionally uncomfortable to watch. Out and proud – or “never in”, as he has it – he would be touched by genius, were genius so minded.
Mark on his first paid writing gig: “The first money I ever earned was from writing horror stories at school, in which all the teachers we hated were violently murdered, and I would charge people to read them. A particularly-hateful PE teacher got speared on a javelin. Many years later, when I wrote my first episode of Poirot, a PE teacher – who was shot in the book – got speared on a javelin in my version!”
Mark on his attraction to the darker side of life: “Morbid curiosity! But I think it’s one of those things that changes as you get older. Without sounding like some fucking evangelical, which I’m not, I find life is so dark at the moment that I slightly shrink away from the things I used to enjoy. That’s not to say I think everything should be like a variety show, but I’m less interested in the more obviously-darker aspects of things.”
Mark on same-sex weddings (and his own!): “I was haunted by the spectre of how gay weddings were regarded growing up. It’s still a thing in the popular press – or not-so-popular press. Like when Cameron and Clegg did their press conference for the coalition they still described it as a ‘gay wedding’; there’s something slightly nasty about that. “I was really wary of pink Rolls-Royces and things like that. But it got to the stage where we were outlining our slightly-austere wedding to a friend and she said, ‘It sounds like you’re apologising for it.’ It really hit home and after that we thought, ‘Fuck it!’ We went up the aisle to the theme of Upstairs, Downstairs, our dog was our ring bearer and we exited to our favourite Eurovision winner.”
Congratulations to Mark Gatiss, our 2016 Man of the Year! Pick up your copy of Winq Winter 2016, out now, to read the full eight-page feature, along with all the other interviews with our Men of the Year.
Mark Gatiss - Robert Cecil
How did you become involved with this project?
It’s a murky and interesting time politically and geo-politicallyMark Gatiss
I’d heard whispers of the project on the grapevine, and was really keen to be involved so I went in for an audition and met the director J Blakeson, who then asked me to do it. It’s a really, really good script. I was immediately struck by the way there’s a kind of contemporary parallel too. For example, there’s a scene where I have to persuade the King that the threat from the Catholics is real and that new laws need to be applied to combat it. It jumped out at me straight away that you could imagine Robert Cecil in another administration in a similar situation, trying to convince the leader that they need to suppress an insurgency.
How was working on a story that you must have been familiar with, growing up with the name Guy Fawkes?
Bonfire Night is a big thing, but it feels like all the fireworks and the bonfire itself makes it seem like the actual story is fading in people’s minds. I have talked to a lot of people who have a very muddled idea about what actually went on, so I think it’s a good time to try to tell a version of what happened.
I read The Gunpowder Plot: Terror And Faith In 1605 by Antonia Fraser years ago, and I was struck how a lot of the facts you take for granted are actually quite different - as history is often written by the winners. It never occurred to me as a kid that we were burning a Catholic in effigy, you just don’t really think about those things - it’s just a bit of fun involving sparklers and Roman candles. There’s all kinds of theories about the extent to which Robert Cecil, my character, knew about the plot and allowed it to cook in order to get the maximum dramatic impact when surprising them almost in the act of lighting the gunpowder - to give the King as big a shock as possible.
There’s even a theory that Cecil might have even come up with the plot himself. Who knows…! But what I think is interesting is that Guy Fawkes is the name, but it’s very much Catesby’s story. Rather thrillingly, Kit Harington is descended from Catesby, so it’s his baby and it’s all come together quite interestingly.
Can you introduce us to your character, Cecil?
I play Robert Cecil, who is essentially the King’s chief minister and spymaster. He did the same job for Elizabeth before her death, and his father did the same before him so his loyalty is very much to the crown and state. He’s definitely a ruthless man in ruthless times, but it’s a much more shaded argument than people might think. It’s not just bad Catholics who want to blow up the King, there are terrible things being done against the Catholics in the name of justice and reason. It’s an extremely interesting and murky time politically, and Cecil’s loyalty is absolutely to the crown and he will do anything to make things run smoothly. He’s the archetypal, shadowy, creepy man behind the throne - there because he was born into power.
In person, Cecil is described as being a very small man with a hunchback. I think Queen Elizabeth called him a monkey, and James called him his beetle - all rather unkind references. We can’t be sure what his spinal deformity was, but in order to nod to this I am playing him with his neck locked to one side - which I’m now regretting because it hurts a lot!
What was it like to be involved in the project?
I said this when I was doing Wolf Hall, but Gunpowder is the sort of thing that I grew up watching on the BBC and I was desperate to be a part of it. It was really great to be up in Yorkshire too, as I’m from Durham - which is not far from here. We filmed at all of the abbeys in the area, including some which I had never been to before - it was like an Alan Bennett gazetteer. I saw a tourist watching us filming at the beautiful Fountains Abbey one day, and thought that this is exactly what you want to happen when you visit Fountains Abbey - you hope that someone will be doing a historical recreation of something.
What’s special about Gunpowder?
Well I think it’s a great script, it’s very tight and it’s a thriller really. If you think you know what happened, it’ll teach you that there are all kinds of different aspects to the plot and the reasons why Catesby and the other conspirators wanted to blow up Parliament. There is a real sense of what the consequences would have been if the plotters had succeeded, but there is balance - you also see how the Catholics were suffering at the time. You see a country wrestling with the idea of a new and very much untried monarch who has a very particular way of ruling, mixed with the ever-present threat of invasion from Spain. It’s a murky and interesting time politically and geo-politically. I suppose really, if you think you know the story of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, think again…
What’s your favourite scene?
My favourite scene is a big scene with Peter Mullan, who plays Father Garnet, the chief Jesuit. In the scene, Cecil has got everything he wants and Father Garnet is tortured. I have always been a big fan of Peter’s, so it was a privilege to do it. It was wonderful to see him work and to be opposite it. I’m also looking forward to the fireworks at the end… surely that is how it must finish?!
Friday, 2 November 2018
The Madness of George III
Mark Gatiss in rehearsals for the play The Madness of George III / Nottingham Playhouse / Alan Bennet
"I’m a huge Alan Bennett fan – he’s one of my formative influences. I love the play and I was very flattered and thrilled to do it. I also love being King!"
Thursday, 1 November 2018
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)