#Rupert Graves looks especially handsome in it

[mihrsuri]

We sat down with Rupert Graves post Season Three of The Tudors (warning - this discussion will contain huge spoilers for the entire season, particularly the finale).

(Or an in universe Tudors OT3 verse version of The Tudors TV show actor interview. Ellie belongs to @nocompromise-noregrets <3)

So, Norwich is really gone?

Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person!

I was particularly taken by the way the show uses the historical reports that a range of emotions apparently played across his face as the axe fell to say that he realised exactly how much the monarchs valued Thomas Cromwell?

It was such a bloody good way to frame it as a narrative - so much of his [Norwich’s] self image is tied up in being the smartest person in the room and to have his utter unravelling end with that realisation that he’d never understood at all - it’s fantastic to play as an actor, because you get to just utterly take apart the character. It was also personally just fantastic to see this odious fucker getting what he deserved, to understand just how disgusting and small he is.

I was going to ask you about that, about how it was playing someone who is a monster with a handsome face and charm?

So not just as a father, though that was a huge part of it, but as a human being? It was horrifying - as an actor I don’t feel like I need to justify a characters actions - and here especially, because ultimately my Norwich is a fictionalised version of a real historical person or even to understand it but I did have to ‘get him’ to make it work - I made a lot of visits to Welles Hall - they were fantastic.

A lot of guidance?

Absolutely! Ellie (Dr Eleanor Richardson, Chief Archivist and the discoverer of the Norwich Papers) and Ahmed (Dr Ahmed Rushton-Bridges, historian and author of ‘John Norwich: A Biography’) gave me a tour and an understanding of his diaries - it wasn’t a pleasant subject but they did an incredible job. And it gave me more of a sense of him, especially as a younger man with that sense of entitlement.

Did you visit his town house?

I did. I will say it’s a beautiful space now in theory but the atmosphere in the actual rooms makes your blood run cold, that’s the best way I can put it - they’ve been blessed and cleansed and a thousand and one things but something haunts that place. But it did give me something to draw on, both James and I.

[James Frain who plays Thomas Cromwell, Duke of Essex in the Show] He visited as well?

Yeah actually. We both found it very hard going honestly but we both felt it was very important that we went - for different reasons for playing these people. Afterwards we went and had a cry together - did that a few times throughout the season and then tried to keep it light. My method was that to play this we actually needed to have that trust with each other - to both be able to be safe.

Also shout out to that scene with Norwich and King Henry - though I don’t suppose you could tell us what Henry whispered in his ear?

Johnny (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and I have agreed to take that one to the grave [laughs]. No, it was done in silence and so you only see Henry’s back for a reason - it was actually specifically Jon’s suggestion that the absence of words and faces actually works better for the menace and for this being a ‘historical rumour’ we use in the show [historical note: King Henry VIII did indeed visit The Tower shortly before the Earl was executed but the rumour that he did so to meet with Norwich is simply a rumour] - it also adds to the mystery!

Did you know there were people swooning over your character and the chemistry you and James Frain had?

I know a lot of people don’t know the history - I don’t blame them for that, it’s not something you’re going to cover in school in detail and it’s pretty recent but, no to answer this once and for all - it’s not meant to be sexy. Or if it is it’s meant to make you think about, well, the discomfort of how predators don’t look like predators - they are charismatic, they can be good looking and smart and present themselves like an ex lover - which Norwich genuinely believes and doesn’t make it any more wrong or repulsive.

It is meant to make you look back and see just how uncomfortable Cromwell is, how predatory it is - I know there were people who got it and I’m glad we didn’t…we didn’t present it through Norwich’s narrative. His narrative is there, but it’s not the one the show actually has, I don’t think.

And of course in lots of ways it makes sense that people swooned over Norwich - it’s how he was seen in the world before everything came out! The people who try to defend him after that though, that disgusts me.

I have to say you and Jeremy Irons Norfolk do have a fascinating something going on…

We joked that it was very much a ‘worst recognises worst’ situation but yes, there’s something there - a mutual respect and ‘only one I’m fond of in this world’ which I don’t think either of them expected. So yes, that was absolutely deliberate!

[wktn]

Synchro Dandies is now traveling all over Japan and finally comes to my town! Lovely booklet but I think nothing new or original in it. Rupert’s bio is about his circus career again but mentioned also his stage career and no Sherlock so it is rather a rare pattern of his bio in Japan. 

I’m happy just watching his handsome face no matter what he is in, Roman armor or nearly naked but…. he looks especially handsome in this, doesn’t he? I also liked the movie itself because I once had a huge midlife crisis feeling like none of my achievements are important and I turned every wrong corner in my entire life so it was touching, really. 

[thisguyatthemovies]

Austen done right

Title: “Emma”

Release date: In theaters Feb. 21, 2020; on disc/streaming March 20, 2020

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, Josh O’Connor, Callum Turner, Rupert Graves, Gemma Whalen, Amber Anderson, Tanya Reynolds, Connor Swindells, Chloe Pirrie, Oliver Chris

Directed by: Autumn de Wilde

Run time: 2 hours, 2 minutes

Rated: PG

What it’s about: Based on the 1815 novel of the same name by Jane Austen, a young, well-to-do woman in early 19th century England meddles in the romantic lives of her friends but, saying she is not interested in marrying, can’t see love right in front of her.

How I saw it: “Emma” is short on originality in the story department but long on just about everything else that matters. Director Autumn de Wilde and screenwriter Eleanor Catton mine familiar source material. Jane Austen’s 1815 novel of the same name has been adapted into more than a dozen movie, TV and stage versions, including the hit 1995 cinematic teen comedy “Clueless.” Catton and de Wilde don’t stray far from Austen’s snappy, humorous, multi-layered satirical take on love, manners and the class system in early 19th century England. They breathe new life into it, however, through glowing cinematography, gorgeous period piece costumes and, most of all, perfect casting and spot-on performances from actors who seem like they are having the time of their lives. “Emma” must have been fun to make because it’s so much fun to watch.

In case you haven’t read the book or caught any of the previous adaptations: “Emma” centers on Emma Woodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy, “Split,” “The VVitch”), a young woman who is “handsome, clever and rich.” She is the lady of the house at Hartfield, an estate in the fictional small country village of Highbury, where she lives with her widowed father, Mr. Woodhouse (Bill Nighy). Emma, because she introduced her governess, Miss Taylor (Gemma Whelan), to the man she is marrying (Mr. Weston, played by Rupert Graves), fancies herself a matchmaker. She is not as good as it as she thinks, however, and her meddling and the nature of romance cause much chaos among the townspeople. Emma has proclaimed herself not ready to get married, though she has a brief flirtation with a wealthy young man who has returned to the village for a visit (Callum Turner as Frank Churchill) and though an older neighbor and estate owner (Johnny Flynn as George Knightley) clearly has a thing for Emma even as he is critical of her.

Austen wove a tangled web of love, and it’s fascinating to watch the story take so many twists and turns that you might need a chart to keep track. Just as an example, take Philip Elton (Josh O’Connor), a young, good-looking vicar who is unmarried early in the story. He seems to be interested in Harriet Smith (Mia Goth), an unsophisticated teenage girl Emma has befriended who has an offer of marriage from Robert Martin (Connor Swindells), a well-to-do 24-year-old farmer. But it is Emma who Mr. Elton wants (he also wants her money), and when he makes a pass at her and is rejected, he goes away and comes back with a bride, Augusta Elton (Tanya Reynolds), a pretentious woman short on manners.

There’s much more where that came from, but the romance bubbling under it all is the one that Emma is too stubborn to see. In the novel, Mr. Knightley is nearly old enough to be Emma’s father, which makes it understandable why he does a lot of what we now call “mansplaining.” Here, Emma and Mr. Knightley seem closer in age (though Flynn is 11 years the senior of Taylor-Joy), and even when Mr. Knightley is being critical of Emma, it is clear that he feels a sense of remorse afterward and is more drawn to her each time.

Their romance blossoms after the centerpiece scene, when most of the main characters go on a picnic. A bored Frank Churchill urges those in attendance to play a game to amuse Emma, who uses the opportunity to insult Miss Bates (Miranda Hart), a talkative, busybody of a woman who came from money but is now living in poverty. Everyone becomes angry with Emma, and Mr. Knightley lectures Emma on her lack of decorum. Emma, perhaps seeing her own shortcomings for the first time, visits Miss Bates to apologize, and that impresses Mr. Knightley. They end up together – as we all knew they would -- and they live happily ever after.

The cast is dazzling from top to bottom. They deliver a witty script with impeccable comedic timing. “Emma” is dialogue heavy (especially, of course, with Miss Bates, and Hart is a hoot playing her), but even when it isn’t, so much of the tone is set through the expressions and body movements of the actors. Little glances, a quick tilt of the head and smirks mean a lot. We also start to get a sense of what is about to happen between Emma and Mr. Knightley during a beautifully filmed and acted dance scene. When the two are wrapping up a dance, the camera moves in on the couple holding hands rested against Emma’s hip. When Mr. Knightley starts to pull away, Emma’s hand reaches for his for just a second, as if she is not ready to let go. It’s a special moment in a film full of them if you pay attention to the details.

“Emma,” because of its engaging story and depth of character across numerous major players, is the type of film that will become only more rewarding with repeated views. And no doubt you’ll want to view it more than once.

My score: 93 out of 100

Should you watch it? Yes. You will enjoy this film even if you aren’t into period pieces and romantic comedies.

[mihrsuri]

I was attempting to find words for this elsewhere but I couldn’t so I ended up here - things I am thinking about in universe re how Norwich’s ancestral home manages the discovery of his papers.

Long story short for you know, not having to understand my ridiculous alt!history AU: an historic home. The most well known member of the family is known for being a traitor (involved as the right hand man of the leader of a later rebellion against the crown) and a spy for the rebellions leader. He is not like, a good guy but it’s more in an anti hero kind of historical spy way. It doesn’t help that he is actually handsome and by all accounts was charming and intelligent (think looks like Rupert Graves).

A lot of your activities and reputation is based around Cool Spy Stuff! Glamour therein! (Weddings and events)! Kids activities!

And then someone finds his private papers during renovations and it turns out he’s An Actual Fucking Monster who brutally abused a Very Prominent Historical Figure for years when this figure was a child.

My current thoughts are:

PANICK

Probably pivot to the other notable figure - his niece who was a really wonderful person. Lean into that.

Obviously press release.

I was going to say like, market for gruesome tourism exploitation money etc but this isn’t [hands] really a thing for even that/this world isn’t one where that’s so much of thing and also even if it was the subject matter is…not even really something you could do that with.

(Absolutely memorial(s) and discussing upsetting and horrific content in history and on historical places is incredibly important I’m Jewish/Biracial/Queer/Disabled believe me I know)

Like there’s Gory History you can do like Gothic Haunted Vibes with and this is Not It?

Though it’s not as hard as for the house that the abuse actually happened in. Because that house is a wedding venue now. Very picturesque. I do not know what they do because like, I do not think a profitable torture museum would work???

(Possibly it just becomes a memorial museum? Honestly I think that might make more sense - this is not a verse in which people would or could get married in places like that because DNW)

The family estate just makes a conscious decision to very much focus on Helen Norwich (the niece) but they also don’t want to erase what her uncle did (pedophile) and who he was? (I would look up IRL examples but I cannot think of them help?)

They include an exhibit about him but it comes with content warnings.

Also there were a lot of kids spy game activities so uh yeah, that’s a thing to deal with.

cc @nocompromise-noregrets especially