#Archived Interviews

[oscarwetnwilde]

Manchester Evening News - Saturday 26 November 1988

James Wilby loves to play life dangerously. Never an actor to take the easy option, he didn’t work for five months after the award winning title role in Maurice.

It wasn't the film’s homosexual love scenes that kept him on the dole however. James's own lust for the right project to advance his career made him reject all the offers that poured in. “It just takes one bad film and it can put you back miles,’’ he says.

Now following the major success in the starring role of the classic story of A Handful of Dust, blond, handsome James Wilby is taking chances again.

Not content with dominating all the dashing British screen roles in the Jeremy Irons mould, he's starring in A Summer Story, a distinctly unfashionable love story in an age when violent cop thrillers and special effects films top the box office.

“The challenge -- and it is quite a challenge-- is to get the mood absolutely right,’’ he says of the turn-of-the-century West Country story.

“What’s interesting about a love story is not two people falling in love it’s two people falling in love, in a particular way. And it's getting that right.”

No time was it harder than in nude scenes played between James and his pretty co-star Imogen Stubbs in a freezing West Country river and a hay loft at dead of night with temperatures plummeting.

“You have to be relaxed because the camera picks everything, every tensing muscle. It’s not easy to be totally relaxed and gaze lovingly into somebody’s eyes with technicians standing around watching!

Born in Rangoon and after an itinerate early life in Burma Ceylon and Jamaica James eventually took up acting as a hobby while studying maths at Durham University.

His hobby turned into an obsession and he ended up being accepted by RADA, which in turn led him straight into the West End cast of Another Country, the story of spy Guy Burgess, which also launched the careers of Rupert Graves (Dance With A Stranger) and Colin Firth (Tumbledown), and a vital Equity’ card.

Following that run the die was cast and Wilby started getting calls for roles that demanded his fresh-faced public schoolboy look.

“Am I worried about being typecast in classical roles? Yes, but all my parts so far have been very different, it’s only journalists who want to lump them all together.”

After a day spent as an extra on the worldwide Merchant/Ivory hit A Room With View-- “I was furious, my agent was promised it was a speaking part,” -- he was offered the lead in E M Forster’s autobiographical Maurice.

“I’ve no regrets at all about doing Maurice,” says James, who despite not having a holiday in four years managed to take one day off from work marry his long-time girlfriend.

“I don’t think I’ll play such a fascinating role for years. You get one those that fits you like glove every years or once in a lifetime.”

[skyrigel]

[astrangetorpedo]

Julien Baker covers No Children by the Mountain Goats + an introduction from John Darnielle

➕

Excerpt from “I Hope We Both Die: How The Mountain Goats Wrote The Ultimate Anthem To Dysfunction” an interview with John Darnielle

[soracities]

Alice Notley, The Art of Poetry No.116

[fukutomichi]

∙ Favorite Trope - Headbutt of Love ∙ Suite Française (2014) ∙ The Old Guard (2020) ∙ Pacific Rim (2013) ∙ Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022) ∙ Interview with the Vampire (2024) ∙ The Rings of Power (2022) ∙ The Legend of Tarzan (2016) ∙ The Punisher (2017) ∙ Captain Marvel (2019) ∙ Fallout (2024) ∙ The Mummy (1999) ∙ Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) ∙ All the Light We Cannot See (2023) ∙ Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) ∙ The English (2022) ∙ Strange Days (1995)

[dearmash1975project]

It was fitting that Brian was the first person I spoke to for this. It was his letter, after all, and the age written on it (age 11), that touched me so deeply that it sparked this whole project. I’ll keep my methods on how I tracked him down close to the vest, so as not to illustrate how easy it is to find anyone in this digital age; needless to say– getting an email back that read “Dear Lily, Yes I did!” was thrilling. We scheduled to speak on the phone and did on July 15th, 2024.

{Interview continued under the cut}

Brian Nores was no longer 11 when we spoke on the phone. Between the passage of time and the life that fills the mind since age 11, he didn’t remember writing the letter until my email.

An email, he told me, that his partner advised him not to answer as it was “probably a scam.” Thankfully for me, Brian is “always getting himself into trouble” and answered my inquiry about a letter he may or may not have sent while living at X address in 1975. In hindsight, his partner was definitely right for being wary.

Brian credited his late father for the letter’s existence and described memories flooding back after reading the words he wrote nearly 50 years earlier. Not long before he wrote the M*A*S*H letter, Brian was a boy scout who wanted to quit. His father instructed him that he could quit, but he had to write a letter to the scout master explaining why he wanted to leave the troop. His dad ‘never let him off the hook for that,’ and it was likely this instillation of values that gave Brian the confidence to speak his mind after the fateful episode aired. [In a fascinating ending to the boy scout anecdote– Brian, who still lives in the area, was at the local frame shop years later where the owner recognized his name and produced the letter, which the scout master was having framed.]

When I asked if he remembered the episode he responded how anyone who has seen it would; he remembered it very well. He recalled being “disturbed” and “shocked” by it. In a world before spoiler alerts, he explained, “the whole world saw that episode and reacted in real time.” As an 11-year-old, but also as an American youth raised on American narratives of war, he remembered expecting Henry to “go off into the sunset” and be okay.

“For me, M*A*S*H ended after that episode.”

Brian watched occasionally after season 3 but had no idea the series continued for as long as it did (M*A*S*H aired from 1972-1983). “It was never the same, certainly.”

Brian was in 5th grade in 1975, and at his young age he had never seen something on TV that disturbing. He told me he reached out to an old friend to discuss the letter, and they reminisced about their lives at that time. “Age of innocence” was the term he used with me. At that point in his life, he had never lost any relatives or experienced any hardships. “The most shocking thing that I had experienced prior to that was a large earthquake in ’71.” For Brian, this episode marked one of the first experiences he had had with death.

It's an extraordinary level of influence to have, that the simple ‘writing off’ of a character can have such an impact on a young life. We often characterize television as a sort of hobby, one that has less of a cachet than movies; but the mechanism by which media compels our emotions is the same.

Brian reflected more on this impact when telling me that The Mary Tyler Moore Show was his favorite series, and he recalled crying at the finale in 1977. He remembered thinking “How could they end this?”

To Brian, television was “taken a little more seriously then.” With one TV, there were fights over who got to hold the clicker when you sat around the set as a family. “You got one chance to watch it.” He explained. “What a different world we live in now.”

Brian still lives in the area where he grew up and drives past his old house and “down memory lane” often. He is still close to two of his childhood best friends. He shared with me some of his thoughts on aging, a topic that still feels “surreal” to him. “Only recently have I started to experience change. Restaurants etc. going away. Everything that we grew up with has changed. TV, movies, roads, politics. I don’t like this!” He laughed. “You look in the mirror and think.”

Brian had no idea that his letter ended up in the archives of our country’s National History Museum. “Really surprised” is how he described his reaction to the news; one of the aforementioned childhood friends was “blown away.”

“What it said to me (...) was that it reaffirmed/reinforced some of the things that my dad told me. Doing the right thing and following through.” Brian shared.

“What a difference it can make. That this moment is occurring because I spent a few minutes writing.”

~~~~

Thank you so much to Brian for granting me this interview.

Subject photos courtesy of Brian: Letter-era Brian/current-era Brian, Huntington Library Garden, California.

Accession information: Photo taken by me, 3 July 2024. “Letters from viewers regarding the death of Henry Blake.” Box 22, Folder 4. M*A*S*H Television Show Collection, 1950-1984, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. https://sova.si.edu/record/nmah.ac.0117/ref359?s=0&n=10&t=C&q=NMAH.AC.0117&i=0

[notyourmusebby]

Back in Bahrain, Ollie was asked by Channel 4 who he’s friendly with in the paddock and of course the answer was Carlos

“I cycle quite a bit with Carlos. We push each other forward on the bikes, which is really fun.”

- He’s pretty good in the bike, is he not?

“Yeah, he’s very good.”

- And competitive.

Exactly! Which is annoying because I should be a little better since I’m younger. But no, I got some time to catch up. We have a lot of fun cycling together.

(x)

[vimflam]

"yeah, now which one of you guys is the one with the, uh, obsession about the World's Fair?"

JL: uh oh ... wow.

[sonofcelluloid]

i love in fics when Louis calls Daniel on the vamp-phone and is like: “hello Danny:) i love you and i hope you are eating well:) you looked very handsome on the tv last night:) oh, Armand is there?:( tell him if i see him he’s losing two teeth for every second he’s in my presence:( tell him i hate what he’s doing with his hair lately:( tell him there ain’t a Hell bad enough to take him:( Danny share your location. share your location. share your location.”

[oscarwetnwilde]

Filming of A Tale Of Two Cities (1989) and the birth of James Wilby's son, Barnaby.

But in reality he was celebrating the unexpected arrival of his first child Barnaby on the day before shooting was completed in November. Blonde-haired James, aged 31, explained: "I missed the birth and I had to drive down the motorway from Manchester to London through the night to see my wife Shana and the baby. Then I drove back for the last days' filming and the scenes were all in the tavern so I was celebrating for real. It was totally unexpected because he was seven weeks early and my wife Shana didn't believe the doctor who told her she was going into labour!"

Linconshire Echo, Saturday, May 20, 1989

His wife, Shana, was at their home in London when she suddenly went into labour. "While I was filming in Manchester, she was giving birth to our son Barnaby. He was not due for another seven weeks and I knew nothing about it until it was all over. Fortunately, everything went fine. Barnaby is six months old now and is marvellous," he added.

Manchester Evening News, Saturday, May 20, 1989

James Wilby, who plays drunken lawyer Sydney Carton in the Anglo-French production, said he deeply regretted not being by his wife's side during the birth of Barnaby, now six-months old. "I really wanted to be there but I knew nothing about it until it was all over," recalled James, 31. "The problem was that Barnaby arrived seven weeks early so my wife Shana had no idea. The doctor just told her she'd give birth within the next two hours and she said "I can't, I haven't had my breathing classes yet!," he laughed.

Daily News, Friday, May 19, 1989

[skyrigel]

“That ship is toxic ! They're so unhealthy—”

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

❝ I wish I could say fanfic writing as a part of my special skills while applying for a job ❞ and what if I say you actually can? because writing fanfic can actually be used as a part of your special skills while applying for a job and it is valid. writing is writing. literally the only thing differentiate fanfic writers from writers who publish and sell original works is that fanfic writers can’t publish and sell their works. that’s all. that’s the only difference. don’t let anyone tell you “fanfic writers aren’t real writers because their works aren’t as good as those of writers who write and sell original works” because that’s utter bullshit. I’ve read so many well written fanfics that are so much better than some published original novels. (here’s the proof.)

wanna know the trick? if you don’t think you’re gonna be taken seriously if you say you write fanfics while in a job interview, then say creative writing. because writing fanfics is considered creative writing. it is creative writing.

fanfic writers can write novel-length fiction, fanfic writers can write as good as any other writers who write original works if not better. fanfic writers are writers and they are just as valid.

you, a fanfic writer, may even be more dedicated and passionate than writers who sell original works because, while they write because it’s their job, you literally write 👏🏻 for 👏🏻 free 👏🏻 out 👏🏻 of 👏🏻 pure 👏🏻 love 👏🏻 and 👏🏻 passion.

that’s a whole novel and you wrote that with pure love and passion. that’s pretty mind blowing.

so yes, you absolutely can and should say creative writing while applying for a job, and say it proudly. you are a writer.

[inkpotsprite]

It always makes me sad when people use fanfic as an insult, not only because I personally write it quite a lot, but because I've read works on ao3 that are pure art. That makes these worlds, characters and relationships really feel real, no matter how crazy the scenario is.

There are works that have made me laugh, cry and even heal a little. Works with gorgeous prose, brilliant character arcs, hilarious jokes and heart wrenching scenes; all being put down because they're 'just fanfiction.' As if fanfiction doesn't come from a place of love, inspiration, creativity and passion.

Yes, there are cringe works out there, but let's not act like the publishing industry has a leg to stand on with that either. Fifty Shades, anyone? Twilight? All those old racist, sexist and homophobic books that we call 'classics?'

Part of the beauty of fanfiction is the freedom and experimentation that comes from it. That it's just a community of people writing what comes into their head and seeing how it turns out. And a lot of times it turns out to be amazing.

So, yeah. It makes me sad when I see people putting fanfic down. Because so many authors have impacted me through their writing, haven't gotten a penny for doing what they do and are getting sneered at by both fans and so-called 'real' writers on top of that.

Anyway, please share and comment some of your favourite fics/authors below or in reblogs. I'm adding my collection full of works and authors I love from a mix of different fandoms.

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/CarefullyCuratedWorksOfArt

[sorrysamgirls]

spn + faceless s1-5

[eyeux]

Noel Gallagher’s 5 1/2 shoe size

Noel: “Shoes are all important. Women have the best selection of shoes.” Jarvis: “Too true, too true:” Noel: “The amount of times I’ve walked into a shop and said, ‘Can I have them in a six?’ and they’ve said, ‘They’re womens.’ Women are so fucking lucky. They get periods, but they’ve got better shoes. Yours are good though, Jarvis.” Jarvis: “These are doing it. These are from Notting Hill Chungarama.” Justine: “I haven’t found it to be the case that women have a better selection of shoes. Women do generally have a better selection of clothes, but is that a blessing?” Jarvis: “If only they made stilettos in a size nine.” Noel: “I’m pissed off. I’m size five-and-a-half. I can’t get any shoes.” Justine: “Five-and-a-half! Is that all?” Noel: “You know what they say? Small shoes, small socks. How big are yours?” Justine: “Seven.” Noel: “That’s a disgrace! I bet yours are big, too. You’re about a nine.” Jarvis: “Yes, I’m about nine. Yes, I’m rather large.” Justine: “You don’t want to wear high heels, though, Noel, because you fall over all the time.” Noel: “But I want some nice flat women’s shoes. Blokes always have to wear chunky brown geezer boots or trainers, and I’m pissed off with that.” Andy: “Did you ever have Derry boots?” Noel: “No, that’s more our kid’s sort of look.”

NME Originals: NME Juke Box Fury Interview, 1994

[ohmyoldheart]

PLEASE 🙏 I FORGOT TO POST MY LAPTOP STICKERS, HOW COOL ARE THEY!!!! 🥳