There’s something suitably retro about the church hall in a Pimlico council estate that is the rehearsal space for the cast of Betty Blue Eyes, the new musical of Alan Bennett’s well-loved film A Private Function. While I wait for Richard Eyre, the director, to finish his morning session I am handed the script to read at …
John Hurt’s familiar nicotine-honed voice – “Come on up… it’s on the next floor” – echoes down the wide staircase of the old-fashioned block of flats that was one of his first homes in London, along with fellow student Ian McShane at RADA, half a century ago. In his contrary way, he prefers not to …
Slovenly, ignorant, inept – his attacks on fellow actors are legendary. Does he have a softer side? You definitely don’t want to be around Johnny Friendly when he smiles, and the same could be said of Steven Berkoff, who plays the murderous, most unfriendly, union boss in his play of Elia Kazan’s classic film On …
George Clooney’s easy banter and high-brow films have made him the thinking person’s heart-throb. But what do we really know about him? Ginny Dougary has a close encounter with a most elusive superstar. George Clooney is a guys’ guy, a gays’ guy and, obviously, a ladies’ man. It’s not just the looks and the voice, …
Robert Redford was the screen heart-throb of his generation, but he never quite played the Hollywood game. Back in the director’s chair, he talks about being an outsider, his looks and why he is in mourning for his country. It’s a measure of Robert Redford’s enduring appeal, even at the grand age of 70, that …
The role of snowy-bearded Gandalf in Lord of the Rings reinvigorated Sir Ian McKellen’s career and afforded him national treasure status. Now he’s taking on the father of all grumpy old men – King Lear. Ginny Dougary meets him on a break from rehearsals. Sir Ian McKellen is in his underpants, which is surprising in …
Few lives are as dramatic or traumatic or just plain strange as Kelsey Grammer’s. From the violent murder of his father and his sister, to his own drug addiction and vicious physical and mental abuse at the hands of a string of ex-lovers, the star of Frasier could well do with some therapy from his …
From honorary Rat Packer to early-adopting New Ager, Shirley MacLaine has always been an unconventional broad. In a wonderfully frank interview, she talks to Ginny Dougary about politics, sex, and brother Warren Beatty. Shirley MacLaine is holding court on a Malibu cliff-top terrace with plunging views of the ocean far below. It is she who …
Jennifer Saunders is the unrivalled queen of British comedy. Here she talks, absolutely frankly, to Ginny Dougary about age, Eddy, shyness, weight – and the importance of being English. Poor Jennifer Saunders. How can she possibly be expected to live up to her creation? As a fully paid-up member of the Edina Fan Club, I …
Despite her frail beauty, Naomi Watts has overcome the pain of her father’s untimely death – and the label ‘Nicole Kidman’s best friend’ – to become a star in her own right. Naomi Almost-Mega Watts is quite right when she says that she’s not the sort of actress who lights up a room. Admittedly it …