The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
London Spy: Ben Whishaw, dreamy lover/genius Ed Holcroft and sage Jim Broadbent
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Aloysius J. Gleek on March 14, 2016, 10:00:52 pm ---Well, you know, Jeff--
as the saying goes,
he ain't ugly! ::) 8)
--- End quote ---
No, he ain't. :)
Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on March 14, 2016, 10:19:24 pm ---No, he ain't. :)
--- End quote ---
Here's something you might like/be interested to watch, Jeff.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHw0dtk-1js[/youtube]
Sophia Whitfield in conversation with Tom Rob Smith, bestselling author of CHILD 44 and THE FARM.
Published on May 20, 2015
Tom Rob Smith with his parents Ron and Barbro photographed by Jude Edginton in London
Aloysius J. Gleek:
LONDONSPYTOMROBSMITH
https://twitter.com/tomrobsmith?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
This must have been
posted just a few days
after the first broadcast
of the first episode, which
was November 9--he
must have been so
proud and excited--
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfriars_Bridge
In Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), Heath Ledger's character Tony is found hanging under the Blackfriars Bridge, described by Terry Gilliam as "an homage to Roberto Calvi".[8]
:o :'(
Aloysius J. Gleek:
More:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FntZhUYErkY[/youtube]
To celebrate the release of The Farm, novelist Tom Rob Smith dishes on everything from his love of
screenwriting to his first taste of literary rejection in Google Play's video series Five Questions
Published on Jul 29, 2014
Aloysius J. Gleek:
http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2016/01/28/tom-rob-smith-on-london-spys-appeal-as-both-mystery-gay-love-story/
Tom Rob Smith (Ben Whishaw on screen) talking 'London Spy' January 8 2016 at the TCA Press Tour in Pasadena, CA.
Tom Rob Smith, creator, joined by Ben Whishaw (via satellite and projected on the screen) onstage during the London Spy
panel as part of the BBC America portion of This is Cable 2016 Television Critics Association Winter Tour at Langham Hotel
on January 8, 2016 in Pasadena, California.
http://whishawnews.tumblr.com/post/136931955216/tom-rob-smith-creator-joined-by-ben-whishaw-via
Great interview! :) ;)
http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2016/01/28/tom-rob-smith-on-london-spys-appeal-as-both-mystery-gay-love-story/
TV Blog
Tom Rob Smith on London Spy’s Appeal
as Both Mystery and Gay Love Story
by Jim Halterman
January 28, 2016 at 9:39 AM
BBC America, LGBT
If you’re looking for both a great mystery and a love story, then you should be watching “London Spy,” which premiered last week on BBC America.
The story introduces Danny (Ben Whishaw), a party boy looking for stimulation who randomly meets and falls in love with Alex (Edward Holcroft). However, when Alex disappears and is presumed dead, Danny digs deep to find out that Alex is really Alistair and there’s a lot more to him than meets the eye.
The mystery continues this week as Danny seeks help from his friend Scottie (Jim Broadbent), who may know a thing or two about the spy world, which it appears Alex is a part of. Was the love between Danny and Alex real? Can he be found or is he gone forever? And why is Charlotte Rampling (as Alex’s mother) so damn good? OK, that last question is rhetorical.
At the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour earlier this month, I sat down with out series creator Tom Rob Smith to talk about casting, creating the story at the heart of “London Spy,” and why a mainstream, straight audience loves this show (and should) as much as a gay audience.
What are the origins of the project? I feel like it’s a disservice calling this a gay series. It’s so much more!
Tom Rob Smith: It’s interesting trying to pick into that question because I’ve written various stories, and this is the first story that has a gay protagonist. There was a real case in England about a spy who was murdered in Pimlico and they found his body in a bag, and it was curious because as soon as I heard that it felt like a murder, and then suddenly I got all this information that he was into escapology and he was into, like, dressing up in women’s clothes and I was like, “What is this about?”
Actually, we don’t know whether that guy was gay or not. We don’t know anything about his personal life at all. But I thought, what if you did a story where someone falls in love and they’re absolutely convinced that this is the love story of their life, and then suddenly they die and you’re told a completely different story about them. You’re like, “That’s not the story of our love story,” and it struck me that it had to have two men because if it was a man and a woman you wouldn’t have been able to attack that love story with the same prejudices and stereotypes.
It was actually beautiful that you find out it’s also Alex’s love story. For him, it wasn’t just a dalliance, it wasn’t just something fun. He’s never had this kind of love, either.
TRS: Their love story is about two people who are broken in very different ways, coming together. I never saw it as, “Oh, that’s just a gay, inverted kind of story that’s only going to appeal to a gay audience.” I just thought it’s a really interesting love story and the truth is gay people have been watching straight love stories forever and engaging with them, and it struck me it’s actually condescending to a straight audience to think that they couldn’t do the same with a love story between two men.
When we launched on BBC Two, we got an audience of 3.3 million. We got up to 4 million with iPlayer. We were not a niche. We found this big audience, we got a huge response on Twitter, we trended number-one every week. The world has changed, and I think it was fun to feel like the show was one part of that change.
What do you think drew in a mainstream audience: the mystery, or are we at a time where a love story can be a love story, no matter who’s involved? What do you think?
TRS: I think people love a mystery, and that was the reason I knew it was mainstream. I think had it been a story [about] two men, following their relationship, then I think it becomes intrinsically a smaller proposition, not actually because of two men. If you do that just with a straight couple and it’s just this very intense sort of personal, smaller story…it’s not about that, but this was a genre. We had a big murder mystery element. What happened to this person? It was this big genre-thriller drive, and I was like, there’s no reason why this can’t connect to a large audience.
There are so many interesting elements, for example, the older man-younger man relationship. It wasn’t romantic and you weren’t trying to make an issue out of it, but it is still a compelling part of the story.
TRS: You’re right, the issues that are touched on come from the story, and the story is if you’re going to destroy this person’s love story, you’re going to attack it from any angle. So, you’re dealing with lots of difficult stuff, but you’re not dealing with it as the sort of central “we’re now going to talk about this issue,” and then “let’s talk about this one.”
I love Jim and Ben’s characters. Their relationship in truth is complicated and muddled and full of ambiguity, and there’s a real emotional connection there. They are very much in love with each other without it being…it’s almost like a love story with this huge gap. Had they been of the same generation, they would’ve been perfect for each other, but they’re not and so they’re sort of close but distant.
Walk me through how casting came together. Was Ben first or…?
TRS: Ben was first. It was very early. I mean it was this sense of, in writing the script, we needed someone who is as good as Ben because the whole show depends upon that performance, and there were some scenes…I knew it could work, but only if we had no trickery. We’re not going to cut to something. It’s purely on a face, and this face has to tell a story which will hold us. At that point I thought we just should send it to Ben and find out if he wants to do it because I need to know. He came aboard at that point, and he became involved in the entire genesis of the project, really.
You really feel that passion and that longing that Danny and Alex have for each other. How hard was it to find your Alex?
TRS: It was hard, actually. A, it’s hard to write love. You dance around it for a long time, but you know that these things are tricky. Ed [Holcroft] came in and we did a scene on his own and I was like, “He’s a really interesting actor.” He was so relaxed with the role. I mean, lots of people came in and played the genius, and he came in and played the love story, because the truth is if you’re a genius you don’t act genius-y all the time. You don’t walk around solving equations. We’re telling a love story. The fact that you’re a genius is a fact, but it’s not going to define everything.
He came in and he really did that and then when we put him together with Ben, there was just this moment where they’re together on the beach and I was watching it, thinking, “Are these two actually going to kiss?” It’s the moment where they almost kiss on the beach, and then they don’t quite, and you’re kind of watching it and sort of thinking, “Are they going to do it, are they going to do it?” And it was tense watching them.
And you want them to.
TRS: You’re desperate for them to. That was how that came out, and then they actually did really get on as a pair…it just sparked. When someone is as good looking as [Ed] and he is very attractive, you had to then think, “How is he a virgin and it not be ridiculous?” And you believed it. You thought, “You’re very handsome, but you’re emitting this energy that is not pulling people in.” What is so wonderful about the love story is that Ben sort of sees through it and says, “I can see you’re jagged and broken and that doesn’t worry me, and I can see that part of your pushing away is because you’re scared of admitting all that."
Is it safe to say you’re a romantic?
TRS: I think I am. A battered romantic. All writers should be, you know.
“London Spy” airs Thursdays at 10 pm on BBC America. If you’d like to hear audio portions of this interview, listen to the Hollywood QCast, hosted by Jim Halterman & AfterEllen’s Trish Bendix.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hollywood-qcast/id1033614867?mt=2
Tom Rob Smith London Spy 1/21/2016 Free View In iTunes
Got a comment for the LGBT site? Tweet @JimHalterman or his Facebook page with your question.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version