Here are some photos of Kenneth Branagh at last night’s LA premiere of Cinderella, which he directed. This is the live-action version, starring Downton Abbey’s Lily James as Cinderella and Cate Blanchett as the Wicked Stepmother. Ahead of the premiere, Kenneth sat down for a lengthy conversation with The Hollywood Reporter about this film and his previous films, like Thor. He talked about Shakespeare too, of course, and said that the adaptation that he will definitely make at some point is The Winter’s Tale. He also said that as a director, it all starts with casting, even when the studio isn’t 100% convinced of his choices. Branagh used his Thor casting as an example, and discussed how Kevin Feige really wasn’t into casting Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston as Thor and Loki.
He said his decision not to direct the sequel to Thor had nothing to do with Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige’s considerable input. “It was a long time [making the first film] and they were way too quick for me to get straight back into another,” he noted. “[But] it was a pleasurable experience and a film I’m very proud of.”
Speaking of Feige, he added: “Kevin is a muller, he goes away and he thinks. When we came to cast the two boys, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, that was a long process. And even on the morning in which we made the calls, we came in, and I remember Kevin wandering around this tiny little conference table. It’s just me and him and one of the executives on that Saturday morning. I’d already booked a call to Hemsworth and to Hiddleston — and he still wasn’t sure whether we were going to go with this. I kept saying, ‘It’s these guys. It is these two guys. Chris Hemsworth is Thor. Tom Hiddleston is Loki. You’re going to be OK.’ And he knew it. We made the call and it was lovely, but it takes a long time to do it. Working with Kevin is very, very enjoyable. I regard him as a very, very dear friend, [but] that process is very unusual.”
It’s still weird to me that Kenneth Branagh has become a go-to director for the studios, but I guess we should give him credit for giving us Tom Hiddleston as Loki. I bet Marvel is grateful for it too, because Hiddles is one of the most popular and fan-friendly actors working in the Marvel universe. But yeah, they were taking a big chance on two relatively unknown actors. And for that, Branagh should be applauded for going with his gut.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
A long time ago in my angstridden teen years, I was really into shakespeare. Whilst I don’t read or watch any versions of it anymore, I do enjoy that Branagh always uses it as inspiration for his films. I thought THOR was much more enjoyable for the shakespeare inspiration, and I will go see CINDERELLA for similar reasons.
I think he’s still hot. He was really hot when he was in Frankenstein. I love that movie.
Well, at least Feige is open-minded enough to accept when someone else is right–there’s hardly a bigger Hiddleston Fanboy at Marvel now!
After years of trying to go bigger at each successive SDCC, Feige knew he couldn’t top Tom’s 2013 Loki appearance and Marvel did a rather quiet panel this year.
yes Fergie cannot get enough of Tom now and cites himself as being set on him in the first place.Good on Branagh for sticking to his guns
yes Fergie cannot get enough of Tom now and cites himself as being set on him in the first place.Good on Branagh for sticking to his guns.
I wish Tom could be in the Winters Tale but he pretty much ruled it out at the Nuffield,
I thought his ‘gut’ said Stuart Townsend at first for the Loki role? 🙂
I actually would have been happy with Townsend as Loki, too. Sad that he doesn’t have any luck in keeping/staying in blockbuster films.
really? Stuart Townsend? I didn’t know that. I like Stuart, whatever happened to him after that dire Queen of the Damned film.
I’m always surprised when I see Stuart Townsend in any role. Nothing to do with him except that he was sort of hot career wise a decade ago, then seemed to fizzle out except for the Charlie Theron connection and now meh!!
Where is he?
Ps: I have no opinion on whether he’s a good actor. That’s how completely i’ve forgotten him.
I thought Townsend was cast as Fandrall, not Loki, and behaved like a complete jerk, blowing off costume fittings and meetings, so they replaced him with Josh Dallas.
I just checked on the film history. Townsend was cast as Fandrall, not Loki, and he thought the part should have been bigger.
Well that sounds like a good reason for his career stalling
he got himself sacked from Lord of Rings was the last I heard about him.
I only heard that Townsend was supposedly too young for Aragorn (which is true) so they replaced him. I didn’t know he got sacked for being unprofessional. Actors like that baffle me. In Hollywood, there’s 50 great and 250 average actors waiting in line for every role. Why would the bosses bow to his fits?
Townsend’s an idiot for being such a diva. He deserved to get booted. No director should put up with that when there’s plenty of hungry, talented actors waiting to take his place.
Look at Hiddles cheesy smile on that photo! before all the Loki-fan girls aged him by a 100 years. #joke. He hasn’t changed a bit. Same hairline, sun kissed skin and beaming smile.
God! I am desperate for some decent Hiddles gossip and a release date for High Rise.
Did we get a post last Friday?
Why would we have has a post last Friday? He hasn’t been in the news at all. The Nuffield Theatre thing was relatively just a quiet Q&A with no press pictures or anything. I’m hoping he does some publicity in another week for Will Shakes Henry V. And I’m dying to see that; it looks adorable.
@lilac, that was my wishful way of thinking. *yawn* news have been so slow lately that Kim K the catface gets two posts today… Maybe one every day. I am not counting. Let’s hope High Rise will release a trailer soon. What about Henry V? For a charity event or a play?
Just say “Hiddleston” and *voila* here we are…
That Will Shakes Henry V production looks downright adorable. I wish my kids could see that, but appears to be just for UK schools.
I’m biding my time pulling out my old Hank records and drinking myself into oblivion as I wait for ISTL news…
Actually, while it is targeted at British schools, if you look at the website, it is accessible to families outside the UK.
For those who don’t know, Will Shakes Henry V is a short film that will be shown in British schools during Shakespeare week. Tom is the narrator. It is basically children, six and up, performing a modified version of Henry V. There is a trailer and it is adorable
I was hoping it would be available for rent/purchase like other Digital Theatre productions. I just saw the trailer and skimmed the Plus site and didn’t catch that.
Tom is looking awfully young (and orange) in those photos. Last year’s filming schedule and weight fluctuations seems to have taken a toll on him, poor guy. He looks quite a bit older now to me.
@mtnrunner, drastic dieting and busy schedules can do that to someone. Hopefully with proper rest (I’m not sure how much he gets given his upcoming projects.) and food he can bounce back a bit.
@lilacflower, the trailer looks so adorable!
I really like the sound of the HV kids events-so great to see them targeting kids with something accesible. You can see why Tom jumped at it,
I thought Tom looked pretty much recovered in the blue sweater charity video,wedding photos and stage awards.He is five years older after all and coming up 30 is when you see more changes.
Well of course he looks older than those pictures above. But I think he’s aged in the past year in particular. How he wears his hear or how much is on his face certainly makes a difference.
“Our little baby’s all grows up!”
What trailer? I missed a lot.
jammypants–here’s the link they are rererring to:
https://www.digitaltheatreplus.com/news/bringing-the-bard-bang-up-to-date
Digital Theatre is going to have available a fifteen minute, all-kid production of Henry V from Short Form Film Products. It’s focussed towards classrooms and all in support of the National Trust’s celebration of Shakespeare’s birth (if I’ve got that right.)
Anyway, Tom is the narrator.
More information and the trailer can be seen at the link above.
TB, thank you!
@jammy–you’re totally welcome!
I presume since no one has said anything here P’enny, that no one knows where Tom took off to last week? I’m also presuming that the tweet that was referenced on his last post was legit.
I want to see pics from TNM set even more than a High Rise trailer, which doesn’t have my lady bits excited as of yet.
I try not stalk his every move [lying] however, if I was to take a guess it would be either back to Lilacflowers because she’s had enough of our rough shenanigans or he’s off doing preproduction work somewhere. He has to learn the art of being a hotel manager to joining the army, is it?
Personally, I have fantasies that he is holed up somewhere with Hugh Laurie sharing casting coach moments with who ever is auditioning for the lead female role in the Night Manager. #cough me
@ Penny, don’t put that fantasy in my head! This is Hugh Laurie who insists that he and Stephen Fry met in a brothel back in Cambridge (which sadly didn’t happen that way but I like his way of thinking). Now imagine what tales they can come up with when Tom and Mister Laurie sit on a couch together!
Speak for yourself, P’enny. Tom gets no rough treatment from me. Well, he does try to get out of doing hillwork by going all “Oakley” on me. Damn him. He needs a shirt that says “Suck it up, Buttercup”– I say it to him enough. Sheesh.
Mmmm… Hiddles on the casting couch. That’s a nice thought as I head out to work.
He is with me. He is relaxing. He is happy. Some of you are still on probation
Maybe he was travelling to San Diego. We know that Jordan Vogt was there last week.
@VogtRoberts:
I’m in San Diego. I literally have a date with a Gorilla tomorrow. Life is weird.
Hugh and Tom can talk about music – Hugh and his Copper Bottom Band have recorded and toured with Warner Brothers Music. Hmm, who works there again?
P’enny, you should have staked out the San Diego Zoo… Vogt-Roberts and the boys may be spending quality time with the big hairy fellas there.
I think Lilac is lying.
Tom is the best part of the franchise, other than RDJ, of course.
Amen to that! He is the mist fan – friendly actor in the Marvel Universe. No one shills for Feige like Hiddles.
Kenneth Branagh worked with Tom Hiddleston on “Wallender” this great BBC series about a Swedish dectective–and Hiddleston played a junior dectective named Magnus Martinsson in the early few seasons of the series. Tommy H. had serious star shine then–we were just watching some of the old episodes on Netflix. But he and Branagh clearly had a working relationship and Branagh saw his range and charisma.
They also had done theater together.
Wallender S4 is out soon! yipeee. I am still hoping for a Magnus cameo, but highly unlikely. I watch it for Ken though, and the cinematography.
Because murder is exhausting. And Wallender still needs to thank Magnus for saving his daughter’s life in the first season.
Wallender needs Magnus for putting the chair in the boot and answering the phones, kicking in doors and working a computer. 🙂
And questioning everything he does…
Plus toast!
My complaints with Wallender were not enough character development among the rest of the cast and more importantly, not enough bitchy Magnus. Harrumph.
Stuart Townsend was also cast as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. Rumors of diva behavior but ultimately Jackson didn’t like the result… Booted him and reshot quite a bit of the first movie…
Seems to be a pattern. Queen of the Damned was hot!!
Hiddles is hotter.
Branagh has known Hiddles for years – they were on stage together , Wallander – they love each other.
Say what you will about Kenneth (and there’s a lot to say) but he is a talented actor and director. I can’t imagine anyone else in the role of Loki. I so thoroughly enjoy him in that role! So, I’m glad he convinced the studio chief.
Bless you, Ken. You kickstarted my Hiddleston obsession. Now I can’t get away from it…
But seriously – I love Branagh. His Hamlet was my introduction to Shakespeare as a child and I grew to love it.
Sometimes you only need one person in your corner, or on your side. KB was that person but ultimately TH made that role his own. The stars were aligned.
Let’s not forget about Hemsworth. He may not blow my skirt up like Hiddleston does, but he is the perfect Thor. It’s a compliment to him that I can literally think of no one else playing the part. And two unknowns as your leads in a Marvel movie was a huge risk at the time.
Branagh is now responsible for my love of Shakespeare (Henry V and Much Ado were brilliant), and my crush on Tom. Thanks Ken, let me know where to send the flowers.
ChemBoy is Thot indisputably
They complimented each other very well. I also love how Chris Hemsworth acted with grace and dignity about the whole ‘Loki is more popular than Thor’ thing even though it’s been thrown to his face during press conference.
That’s a tough spot for Hems to be placed in by the press and just plain rude. If Tom’s star continues to rise with the varied projects he has coming out in the next year, I hope it won’t strain their friendship. Tom will be gracious of course, but Chris seems moody and whiney. If his non-Marvel work doesn’t do as well as Tom’s over the next year, questions like the Loki vs Thor popularity could really grate on him and understandably so.
It may not mean anything at this point, but Tom is billed first in the casting for Thor 3 on IMDB. Previously, he was third billed.
Heh, Chris is getting the jobs–even more than Tom. I think he’s kind of done with Marvel, and doesn’t really care so much about Loki vs Thor except to see the humour in it. After all, if he DID care–he’s in AoU, and Tom really isn’t (except at BEST quite briefly.)
Has his non-Marvel movies done well at the box office? I know Blackhat didn’t, but I haven’t followed his career, since Thor bores me.
@MtnRunner. Rush barely break even, but Huntsman did very well and it’s getting a sequel and Chris is paid $10M to do that sequel. All eyes are now on In The Heart of the Sea to see how it does. Good that they moved the date from March to Dec, to be further away from Blackhat I assume.
In the Heart of the Sea was moved to December, not because of any other Hemsworth film, but because once he had completed it, Ron Howard decided that he thought it should be an Oscar contender and films released in March tend to be forgotten come Oscar time. Also in the film: Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw, Michelle Fairley, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Holland, and Jordi Molla. It has a strong cast.
@Lilacflowers. I see. I assume wrong. Although I did read some film sites suggesting that the move has to do with Blackhat tracking very badly before it was opened in Jan, and it was one of the factors that was considered for moving the movie away from Mar. They did move it before Blackhat was opened. But Dec definitely is better than Mar for Oscar movies. It takes an amazing movie like The Grand Budapest Hotel that opened in March to still be remembered by the voting parties by Jan.
Well, for a guy lacking the range of Hiddles, he’s making good bank and Huntsman as well as the whale movie sound like guaranteed hits.
Nothing against Hemsworth cos I like him, but I think he’s been given too much credit for his star power. Reading Forbes, they did a valuation thing “To compile our rundown of Hollywood’s Best Actors for the Buck, we look at the last three films each actor starred in before June 2014. We don’t include animated films or movies where the actor appears in a cameo or a very small role, or movies that were released on fewer than 2,000 screens s for best buck thing”. http://www3.forbes.com/business/hollywoods-best-actors-for-the-buck/9/
The last 3 films for Hems were TTDW, Rush and Red Dawn. Red Dawn budgeted at $90M and made $51M worldwide. Rush budgeted at $63M and made $90M worldwide. TTDW budgeted at $235M and made $644M worldwide. So really, it’s all bcos of TTDW that bumped up his valuation. I looked up the cost from boxoffice.com, they have production + marketing cost. Blackhat is a disaster though, $100M cost and made $17.5M worldwide. It will be offset by Age Of Ultron though because that movie will make $2 billions and Hemsworth will probably make this list again next year.
He did make Red Dawn before he became a household name, so he probably get paid peanut for that. Then again, since that movie didn’t actually make money, so the bang for buck effect should be negative anyway.
Agree that CHemboy is the only Thor, but he does nothin’ to my lady bits. Too dumb and beefcake for my taste. Loki’s way more fun.
Branagh kickstarted my love of Willie Shakes way back with Much Ado and indirectly led to my entry into Hiddles fandom with The Hollow Crown. I loved his Prince Hal and Henry V and started watching his other work after that.
His Shakespeare and independent work are what I love best. Loki’s fun, but I don’t care much for the rest of the characters outside of RDJ and Coulson. I did enjoy Winter Soldier however. That was one of Marvel’s best films, I think.
@MtnRunner:
I agree with you. Chris is handsome, seems to be a good person and this is all i can say about him.
Oh, and you can tell that he really loves his family.
Here is Chris with his little girl. They are so cute together!
womansday.com.au/celebrity/photo-galleries/2015/3/chris-hemsworth-hits-the-beach!/chris-hemsworth-hits-the-beach!-image-1/
It’s wonderful casting for both Thor and Loki. They can’t find any other actors better fit for these 2 roles.
That makes sense. I’m friends with some rabid Marvel fans, and the reaction to Hiddleston and Hemsworth being cast wasn’t exactly angry, but it was along the lines of, “Who the hell are those guys?” and “So, Thor is some Australian soap opera guy and Loki is a theater actor no one (in America, at least) has ever heard of?” It’s always a little hard to cast actors who aren’t well-known. In this case, it was definitely the right call.
Marvel also wanted unknowns because of cost. What’s really funny is Feige didn’t know who Tom was but Whedon did because he had seen Othello. He had no say in casting that film but was excited because he had wanted to work with Tom and would be able to do so in Avengers
Another good reason for the casting. These days, Marvel can get very high profile actors to agree to work for less because people know how much exposure the movies bring, but in the early days, I suspect negotiations were more difficult.
I can see why Olivier lite is a go to director for studios. He makes movies better than they should be considering the material.
So then, hands up, Ken B is shilling for Thor 3 directorship? mmmm me thinks.
I wouldn’t mind he took the job, actually. And yes, he’s shilling. *hand raised*
Yes to the shilling (hand up) and YES to his success at that shilling!
Yes, he is shilling! Yes. They should hire him! Let’s bring this adaptation of King Lear to its tremendous, brutal close.
I’m not sure about it.
Right now Kenneth B. seems to be enjoying the world of fairly tale and romance. His next project is Romeo and Juliet in the theater.
dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2951555/BAZ-BAMIGBOYE-Red-hot-Cinders-Prince-Charming.html
I wish Marvel bring someone that can bring the Thor’s movie to another level like the Russo’s brothers did with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Allegra, I wasn’t on the Capn Sexy train until Winter Soldier and I agree, Thor 3 could use some Russo magic.
Yes, and I agree with Lilacflowers that he should get the job. The first Thor wasn’t classic cinema, but it was a fun, charming movie. I thought The Dark World was kind of a mess – the Odinson family drama was interesting as always, but villain was a bore and watching London get smashed up seemed like a repeat of something The Avengers did better. Branagh seems like he has a better grasp on what’s enjoyable about this subfranchise.
Feige had to be talked into Chris Evans, too, iirc.
No Evans said Marvel offered him Captain America again and again. Finally Evans’ agent convinced him and said it would help him to do other kinds of projects.
That last picture with an orange Tom Hiddleston – I hope he’s fired his makeup girl. She’s not even qualified to do makeup on corpses for funerals.
I think he did. Orange Tom hasn’t been seen in over a year, thank God. I’ll take pastey white Tom any day over that.
Ah, Kenny. He will forever be the perfect Benedic. He’s an alright director, too.
😉
Sighs, have you seen David Tennant’s Benedick? I watched it on Digital Theatre and thought his was even better. And I loved Ken and Emma together.
Three cheers for Tennant’s Benedick. Admitedly, I’m biased. He’ll always be my Doctor, but his delivery of my favourite Benedick line, “Love me? Why?” managed to be both funny and a little heartbreaking, and he really reminded me of Ten when he challenged Claudio, speaking of whom, the actor playing him did even less to make him likable than Robert Sean Leonard.
I have not. It’s gonna be hard to beat my Branagh love, though. The man just understands his Shakespeare like nobody’s business.
AMC’s ‘The Night Manager’ Casts Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander and Elizabeth Debicki:
variety.com/2015/tv/news/night-manager-olivia-colman-tom-hollander-elizabeth-debicki-amc-bbc-1201446908
Well, that’s a bit of all right!
Finally… some casting news. Olivia I’m familiar with from Broadchurch.
Now for Pine’s love interests…
I know Tom Hollander from Pirates of the Caribbean and Pride & Prejudice.
And I never saw a tv show or movie with Olivia nor Elizabeth . The funny thing is that i never heard about Olivia until i saw an interview with her and Tom back in 2013.
I had to Google Elizabeth Debicki – she is a stunner, and extraordinarily tall! Gives Gwen Christie a run for her money. I’m planning on making a big dent in The Night Manager this weekend and now I have a good mental image for Jed.
Did anyone else see the Daily Mail photos of Hugh Laurie out shopping with the NM costume designer and her assistant from a few days ago? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2979988/What-Dr-House-say-Hugh-Laurie-indulges-cheeky-cigarette-shopping-trip-costume-designer-latest-project.html
Surely they must be getting close to filming – starting end of March/early April maybe? Will Laurie have to do the press tour for Tomorrowland (assuming there is one)? It premieres in May.
Tom looking adorable starting at :34 of this video for the Comic Relief Red Nose Day campaign.
http://www.digitalspy.com/celebrity/news/a633469/see-lily-allen-dermot-in-comic-reliefs-fashion-shoot-video.html#~p65X6D29mBcvP1
He looks great without the glasses. Man, that thing is ugly!
And the sad thing about that video is t there is no much of Tom.
Like, he was there for less than 4 s, and he didn’ t say a word.
AND in the Red Nose Online shop, two out of five sizes of the shirtTom modeled are already sold out. Admittedly, he had the coolest quote (except perhaps for Oscar Wilde)
It got bumped, but Torrilla has the link to an online gallery of their selected tee shirt shots–the Hiddles is SO darn chipper! And hot. Of course. Did I mention HOT? She has gifs from the vid as well. My previous post just didn’t make the grade; hopefully this one will!