With three new projects shortly to be released, the screen’s favourite hardman gets stuck into politics, family, Sunday lunch and ‘cockney morality’
The actor Ray Winstone, who is best known for his depictions of men muddled in criminality, has a torso so large and legs so thin that seeing him enter the breakfast lounge of a London hotel is like watching a barrel walk in on stilts. Winstone is 67 now. In real life he resembles the characters he has spent a career perpetuating on screen. He maintains the east London accent he developed in childhood. He swears gruffly and nonstop. He chuckles at calling people “fuckers”. It would surprise no one if he were voted film and television’s most specific brand. When, partway through our discussion, I ask if he’s ever troubled by people considering him professionally one-dimensional, he replies, “Not one fucking bit – you typecast yourself.
The actor Ray Winstone, who is best known for his depictions of men muddled in criminality, has a torso so large and legs so thin that seeing him enter the breakfast lounge of a London hotel is like watching a barrel walk in on stilts. Winstone is 67 now. In real life he resembles the characters he has spent a career perpetuating on screen. He maintains the east London accent he developed in childhood. He swears gruffly and nonstop. He chuckles at calling people “fuckers”. It would surprise no one if he were voted film and television’s most specific brand. When, partway through our discussion, I ask if he’s ever troubled by people considering him professionally one-dimensional, he replies, “Not one fucking bit – you typecast yourself.
- 2/25/2024
- by Alex Moshakis
- The Guardian - Film News
Exclusive: Quiver Distribution has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to A Bit of Light, the second feature helmed by Stephen Moyer, on the heels of 2018 family drama The Parting Glass. Starring Moyer’s wife, True Blood co-star and Emmy and Oscar-winner Anna Paquin, as well as Ray Winstone (The Departed), the film is an adaptation by Rebecca Callard of her Bruntwood Prize-winning play of the same name. It’s slated for release in select theaters across the country, as well as on VOD and digital on April 5.
Check out a trailer above.
A Bit of Light unfolds as an intimate story about a recovering alcoholic named Ella (Paquin). A series of tough breaks forces Ella to move back in with her father Alan (Winstone), while her daughters are under the care of her ex-husband Joseph (Youssef Kerkour) and his new partner Bethan (Pippa Bennett-Warner). Mired in guilt, the protagonist...
Check out a trailer above.
A Bit of Light unfolds as an intimate story about a recovering alcoholic named Ella (Paquin). A series of tough breaks forces Ella to move back in with her father Alan (Winstone), while her daughters are under the care of her ex-husband Joseph (Youssef Kerkour) and his new partner Bethan (Pippa Bennett-Warner). Mired in guilt, the protagonist...
- 2/21/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Sky Documentaries release the UK first-look trailer and official poster for ‘Otto Baxter: Not a F***ing horror story.’
The doc follows Otto Baxter, a 35-year-old man with Down Syndrome, over six years, as he writes and directs a foul-mouthed, autobiographical comedy-horror-musical set in Victorian London.
Otto, who has always struggled to explain how he feels, uses his film ‘The Puppet Asylum’ to explore his birth, adoption and his epic battle with ‘The Master’ – an evil magician hell-bent on controlling his life. During the filmmaking process, Otto’s birth mother dies and he finds himself confronting life in the real world, including his future. Otto’s filmmaker friends Bruce Fletcher and Peter Beard help him to bring his vision to life, but also learn more about his unique perspective on the world and how they can play a role in his future.
Set in Victorian London, ‘The Puppet Asylum’, is...
The doc follows Otto Baxter, a 35-year-old man with Down Syndrome, over six years, as he writes and directs a foul-mouthed, autobiographical comedy-horror-musical set in Victorian London.
Otto, who has always struggled to explain how he feels, uses his film ‘The Puppet Asylum’ to explore his birth, adoption and his epic battle with ‘The Master’ – an evil magician hell-bent on controlling his life. During the filmmaking process, Otto’s birth mother dies and he finds himself confronting life in the real world, including his future. Otto’s filmmaker friends Bruce Fletcher and Peter Beard help him to bring his vision to life, but also learn more about his unique perspective on the world and how they can play a role in his future.
Set in Victorian London, ‘The Puppet Asylum’, is...
- 8/11/2023
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Jointly represents North American rights with The Gersh Agency.
Ddi has come on board for worldwide sales starting at EFM on Stephen Moyer’s drama A Bit Of Light starring Anna Paquin, Ray Winstone and Youssef Kerkour.
Moyer’s (True Blood) second directorial outing follows Ella (Paquin), nearly in her 40s, who moves back with her father Alan (Winstone) and tries to stay sober after ceding custody of her young daughters to her ex and his new partner.
A Bit Of Light filmed entirely on location in Suffolk and Scarborough in the UK. Phin Glynn and Axel Kuschevatzky produced through...
Ddi has come on board for worldwide sales starting at EFM on Stephen Moyer’s drama A Bit Of Light starring Anna Paquin, Ray Winstone and Youssef Kerkour.
Moyer’s (True Blood) second directorial outing follows Ella (Paquin), nearly in her 40s, who moves back with her father Alan (Winstone) and tries to stay sober after ceding custody of her young daughters to her ex and his new partner.
A Bit Of Light filmed entirely on location in Suffolk and Scarborough in the UK. Phin Glynn and Axel Kuschevatzky produced through...
- 2/3/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Commissions
“The Freedom Orchestra” (working title), a documentary film presented by Clive Myrie, will tell the story of Ukraine’s newly formed Freedom Orchestra. In the midst of the ongoing war with Russia, 75 of Ukraine’s noted musicians have come together to bring a message of defiance and hope. Some of their family members are on the frontlines, and many have fled Ukraine since the war began.
Myrie follows the stories of the musicians from rehearsing, often alone, in Ukraine, to coming together for their first rehearsal as an orchestra in Warsaw for their inaugural concert — ahead of a tour of Europe and the U.S., including a performance at the BBC Proms on July 31.
Myrie said: “There has always been a cultural frontline in this war and I wanted to reflect that struggle. This documentary, I hope, shines a light on Ukraine’s artistic achievements as well as creative spirit,...
“The Freedom Orchestra” (working title), a documentary film presented by Clive Myrie, will tell the story of Ukraine’s newly formed Freedom Orchestra. In the midst of the ongoing war with Russia, 75 of Ukraine’s noted musicians have come together to bring a message of defiance and hope. Some of their family members are on the frontlines, and many have fled Ukraine since the war began.
Myrie follows the stories of the musicians from rehearsing, often alone, in Ukraine, to coming together for their first rehearsal as an orchestra in Warsaw for their inaugural concert — ahead of a tour of Europe and the U.S., including a performance at the BBC Proms on July 31.
Myrie said: “There has always been a cultural frontline in this war and I wanted to reflect that struggle. This documentary, I hope, shines a light on Ukraine’s artistic achievements as well as creative spirit,...
- 7/29/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Oscar winner Anna Paquin and International Emmy winner Ray Winstone are leading the cast of A Bit of Light, the sophomore feature from director Stephen Moyer, who is best known for playing vampire Bill Compton in HBO series True Blood.
Pippa Bennett-Warner (Gangs of London) and BAFTA nominee Youssef Kerkour (Home) are also starring in the movie, which is now shooting in the UK. Deadline can reveal a first image from the set above.
The film was written by Rebecca Callard, based on her own stage play. It follows Ella (Paquin), now living with her father Alan (Winstone) and newly sober having temporarily given up custody of her young daughters to her ex-husband Joseph (Kerkour) and his new partner Bethan (Bennett-Warner). She strikes up an unlikely friendship with a mysterious teenage boy (newcomer Luca Hogan) whose belief in her as a mother helps her rediscover her self-worth.
Moyer, who...
Pippa Bennett-Warner (Gangs of London) and BAFTA nominee Youssef Kerkour (Home) are also starring in the movie, which is now shooting in the UK. Deadline can reveal a first image from the set above.
The film was written by Rebecca Callard, based on her own stage play. It follows Ella (Paquin), now living with her father Alan (Winstone) and newly sober having temporarily given up custody of her young daughters to her ex-husband Joseph (Kerkour) and his new partner Bethan (Bennett-Warner). She strikes up an unlikely friendship with a mysterious teenage boy (newcomer Luca Hogan) whose belief in her as a mother helps her rediscover her self-worth.
Moyer, who...
- 10/12/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Series five took Inside No. 9 to new and unusual places: the changing room at a premier league football match, a Louisiana prison, a cemetery at night, Wood Green… In fan-treat episode ‘Death Be Not Proud’, it even revisited an old haunt. Co-creators Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith welcomed new guest stars including David Morrissey, Ralf Little, Jenna Coleman, Phil Davis and Maxine Peake.
The series earned Bafta nominations for Best Scripted Comedy and Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme, to go with Steve Pemberton’s 2019 Bafta win for the previous series. It offered laughter, tears, blood, a gristly beheading, and most of all, it offered variety. Streaming now on BBC iPlayer in the UK, find all the series five episode details and links to our spoiler-filled reviews below.
The Referee’s a W***er
Directed by: Matt Lipsey
Guest cast: David Morrissey, Ralf Little, Dipo Ola, Steve Speirs...
The series earned Bafta nominations for Best Scripted Comedy and Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme, to go with Steve Pemberton’s 2019 Bafta win for the previous series. It offered laughter, tears, blood, a gristly beheading, and most of all, it offered variety. Streaming now on BBC iPlayer in the UK, find all the series five episode details and links to our spoiler-filled reviews below.
The Referee’s a W***er
Directed by: Matt Lipsey
Guest cast: David Morrissey, Ralf Little, Dipo Ola, Steve Speirs...
- 5/13/2021
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Mackenzie Crook is a triple threat at the Emmys as the writer, director and star of the critically acclaimed comedy “Detectorists.” He’s already won a BAFTA as the creator of this character study, in which he plays Andy, a would-be archaeologist, who spends his free time with his pal Lance (Toby Jones) in search of buried treasure.
This gentle half hour explores the friendship of two men who are misfits as well as the women in their life played by Rachael Stirling and Rebecca Callard respectively. Stirling’s mother, Diana Rigg, plays her on-screen mother in season three of this Britcom. The Emmy favorite could well reap her first bid on the comedy side for her scene-stealing supporting role.
See 2018 Emmys calendar: Two-week voting starts June 11, nominations on July 12, ceremony on September 17
The first season of “Detectorists” won Best Scripted Comedy at the BAFTAs in 2015 against three strong competitors:...
This gentle half hour explores the friendship of two men who are misfits as well as the women in their life played by Rachael Stirling and Rebecca Callard respectively. Stirling’s mother, Diana Rigg, plays her on-screen mother in season three of this Britcom. The Emmy favorite could well reap her first bid on the comedy side for her scene-stealing supporting role.
See 2018 Emmys calendar: Two-week voting starts June 11, nominations on July 12, ceremony on September 17
The first season of “Detectorists” won Best Scripted Comedy at the BAFTAs in 2015 against three strong competitors:...
- 6/21/2018
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Mackenzie Crook pulls triple duty on the comedy series “Detecorists.” Besides writing and directing each of the 19 episodes, he stars as Andy, a would-be archaeologist, who spends his free time with his pal Lance (Toby Jones) in search of buried treasure. As he explained in our recent interview (watch above), he didn’t intend to wear so many hats. Rather it was his pal Ricky Gervais, with whom he’d co-starred in “The Office,” who told him that he just had to direct his scripts. “He was right. The idea of handing this over to someone else to direct after I had poured so much into it became unthinkable.”
Despite the overwhelming critical acclaim for the show (it merits a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes), Crook was content to make just two seasons of the show, as Gervais had done with “The Office.” But he thought there was more story...
Despite the overwhelming critical acclaim for the show (it merits a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes), Crook was content to make just two seasons of the show, as Gervais had done with “The Office.” But he thought there was more story...
- 6/15/2018
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Thanks to Acorn TV, the third and final season of the hit Britcom “Detectorists” is eligible for Emmy consideration. The Us-based streaming service co-produced the last six episodes of this delightful slice-of-life created by “The Office” star Mackenzie Crook. He has written and directed every episode and stars as Andy, a would-be archaeologist, who spends his free time with his pal Lance (Toby Jones) in search of buried treasure.
In just 19 beautifully crafted episodes spread out over three seasons (plus a Christmas special), Crook tells a compelling story of male friendship. While both men find love with understanding women — played by the luminous Rachael Stirling and the wry Rebecca Callard — it is their bond that resonates most with viewers (and critics).
The BAFTAs have embraced this heartfelt show, awarding it Best Scripted Comedy for season 1 in 2015 with Jones then winning Best Comedy Actor for season 3 at the recent ceremony. Although...
In just 19 beautifully crafted episodes spread out over three seasons (plus a Christmas special), Crook tells a compelling story of male friendship. While both men find love with understanding women — played by the luminous Rachael Stirling and the wry Rebecca Callard — it is their bond that resonates most with viewers (and critics).
The BAFTAs have embraced this heartfelt show, awarding it Best Scripted Comedy for season 1 in 2015 with Jones then winning Best Comedy Actor for season 3 at the recent ceremony. Although...
- 6/12/2018
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The ever-watchable Stephen Graham isn’t enough to save this gloomy and insubstantial British drama
This gloomily lit drama (shot in Newcastle, seemingly on the darkest day of the year, with only a sputtering 20w bulb for illumination) revolves around Benjamin (Stephen Graham), who was once a proud son of an Orthodox Jewish community but now finds himself on the edges of its society. Benjamin has been semi cast out for pursuing his passion for boxing – now indulged for money in grubby illegal bare-knuckle fights – and for marrying a non-Jew (Rebecca Callard). He reaps yet more grief when he agrees to help his slimy goy manager (Michael Smiley) burn down a slum property, owned, it just so happens, by the menacing leader of the Orthodox community (Christopher Fairbank, channelling a cross between Don Corleone and Fagin).
It’s absurd material, very obviously overstretched, beyond breaking point, from its origins as a short.
This gloomily lit drama (shot in Newcastle, seemingly on the darkest day of the year, with only a sputtering 20w bulb for illumination) revolves around Benjamin (Stephen Graham), who was once a proud son of an Orthodox Jewish community but now finds himself on the edges of its society. Benjamin has been semi cast out for pursuing his passion for boxing – now indulged for money in grubby illegal bare-knuckle fights – and for marrying a non-Jew (Rebecca Callard). He reaps yet more grief when he agrees to help his slimy goy manager (Michael Smiley) burn down a slum property, owned, it just so happens, by the menacing leader of the Orthodox community (Christopher Fairbank, channelling a cross between Don Corleone and Fagin).
It’s absurd material, very obviously overstretched, beyond breaking point, from its origins as a short.
- 2/18/2016
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
'Coronation Street' actress Beverley Callard would ''love it'' if her daughter were to star in a rival soap. Rebecca Callard has revealed her mother, who plays Liz McDonald in the ITV soap, is a huge fan of rival dramas such as 'EastEnders' and 'Emmerdale' so would have no issue with her working on them. She exclusively told Bang Showbiz: ''My mum loves 'EastEnders', absolutely loves it. In fact my mum watches 'Emmerdale' and she watches 'EastEnders' and I think she watches 'Holby' [Holby City] as well, religiously. So I think, I mean she absolutely loves it, so I think she'd love it...
- 3/13/2015
- Virgin Media - TV
Michelle Keegan and Jason Manford are to star in a new BBC One drama.
Ordinary Lies comes from the creators of Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax Red Production Company, and Shameless director Danny Brocklehurst.
Max Beesley, Mackenzie Crook, EastEnders actress Jo Joyner and Rebecca Callard will also star in the ensemble series, which will air in 2015.
Sally Lindsay, Belinda Stewart-Wilson, Shazad Latif, George Bukhari, Cherrelle Skeet, Shaun Dooley and Fisayo Akinade round out the cast of the dark thriller with comedic undertones.
The series will be set on the shopfloor of a motor showroom, and how a series of each character's lies and secrets can lead to life-changing consequences.
Beesley plays boss Mike, whose marriage to Alison (Stewart-Wilson) is in trouble as he appears to be interested in Head of Sales Beth (Joyner). Beth is still struggling with the disappearance of her husband, while handling her sales team...
Ordinary Lies comes from the creators of Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax Red Production Company, and Shameless director Danny Brocklehurst.
Max Beesley, Mackenzie Crook, EastEnders actress Jo Joyner and Rebecca Callard will also star in the ensemble series, which will air in 2015.
Sally Lindsay, Belinda Stewart-Wilson, Shazad Latif, George Bukhari, Cherrelle Skeet, Shaun Dooley and Fisayo Akinade round out the cast of the dark thriller with comedic undertones.
The series will be set on the shopfloor of a motor showroom, and how a series of each character's lies and secrets can lead to life-changing consequences.
Beesley plays boss Mike, whose marriage to Alison (Stewart-Wilson) is in trouble as he appears to be interested in Head of Sales Beth (Joyner). Beth is still struggling with the disappearance of her husband, while handling her sales team...
- 9/23/2014
- Digital Spy
Coronation Street villain Ruth Walsh finally starts to lose patience as Fiz remains on the warpath over the prison's drug problem in tonight's double bill of the soap. After discovering that her cellmate Ginny is already back on the drugs, Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) is appalled and confronts Ruth - claiming that she's exploiting the vulnerability of the inmates. However, Ruth (Rebecca Callard) has had enough of Fiz's preaching and gives her a stern warning to back off. Later, as the governor calls Fiz in (more)...
- 8/22/2011
- by By Daniel Kilkelly
- Digital Spy
Coronation Street's Fiz Stape gets a disturbing glimpse of Ruth's true colours in tonight's double bill of the soap. When Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) finds her cellmate Ginny unconscious following a drug overdose, she's shocked by the reality of life behind bars and shares her horror with Ruth during another day working at the mother and baby unit. However, when Ruth (Rebecca Callard) strongly advises her to turn a blind eye to any drug issues at the jail, Fiz becomes suspicious and goes searching through her room. Fiz is soon stunned (more)...
- 8/19/2011
- by By Daniel Kilkelly
- Digital Spy
Coronation Street guest star Rebecca Callard has revealed that she would like to return to the soap for more episodes in the future. The actress recently filmed a short guest stint in the role of Ruth, a convict who will soon befriend Fiz Stape behind bars before things turn sour when it emerges that she has been dealing drugs at the prison. Speaking to Inside Soap about her time at Coronation Street, Callard admitted: "It was so much fun to play a baddie because I'm not hard in real life at all. A few people have said to me that I'm going to be hated, so maybe I'll change my hair now!" Discussing the chances of a comeback for Ruth, she continued: "At the moment, I have the summer off to look after my children, (more)...
- 8/12/2011
- by By Daniel Kilkelly
- Digital Spy
There've been a couple of previous teaser clips for Studio Ghibli's gorgeous looking animation, but this English-dubbed trailer for Arrietty is actually our closest look at the movie yet. brightcove.createExperiences();Based, like Howl's Moving Castle, on a British source novel (that one was by Diana Wynne Jones), Arrietty is, of course, adapted from Mary Norton's The Borrowers, familiar from everyone's school library, and from a 1990s BBC series starring Rebecca Callard as Arrietty and Ian Holm as her father Pod. There was also a movie in 1997.It's about, more or less, as the trailer rhymingly puts it, "a world beneath our own, where little people have made their home". The Borrowers are a family of Liliputian-like tinies who get by on stuff they've liberated from the full-sized world of the "human beans". But Arrietty's friendship with one of those giants, in the form of a boy newly arrived...
- 7/5/2011
- EmpireOnline
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