toby-stephens

[toby-stephens]

TOBY NEWS : MAY 2019

Toby reprieved his role as James Bond for Martin Jarvis’s eighth production of his versions of Ian Fleming’s novels for BBC Radio 4.  This time ‘Live and Let Die’ which was broadcast on Saturday 4th May

Toby was slated to appear at EM-Con Nottingham at Motorpoint Arena 4th/5th May 

In preparation for the broadcast of ‘Summer of Rockets' Toby appeared on Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 2 on 13 May 2019.

‘SUMMER OF ROCKETS’

‘Summer of Rockets’ was launched on BBC on May 22nd

Set during the summer of 1958 this cold war espionage drama centres around Samuel Petrukhin, based on Stephen Poliakoff’s own grandfather, and played by Toby.  Samuel is a Russian Jewish emigre, an inventor who owns a factory that manufactures hearing aids and who has recently invented the ‘bleeper’.

The Telegraph said it was a promising start and of Toby commented, “A restrained, enigmatic Stephens reminded us why he was once so feted”

IN TOBY’S WORDS:

On ‘Summer of Rockets’:

“It is the advent of space exploration, but it’s also the height of the cold war, high paranoia within the UK about Russian infiltration, spies within MI5, MI6, and huge paranoia about nuclear annihilation.  So what happened was, and this is based on Stephen Poliakoff’s parents, especially his dad and his grandfather.  They were electronic engineers, they started up a business over here, they came over just as Stalin was taking control of Russia.  They made deaf aids initially but they also came up with the first paging device but they were terrible  business men and it never really caught on.  There’s a real blend of fact and fiction in this.  He gets sucked into this right wing reactionary plot to take over the government which actually did happen at the time, there was this coup attempt after the suez crisis when they were a right wing group that was convinced the government was riddled with spies and they needed to get rid of it and take control.”

“He’s attracted to this aristocratic family cos he loves everything English and he wants to be more English ad he gets sucked into this plot and then MI5 are countering this plot and are using him as well to spy on them and this poor guy is just stuck in the middle of this whole thing.”  

“It does have traction within the plot.  The right wing faction want to use the pager cos then they can communicate without using telephones or whatever so that’s their interest in him so he gets sucked into that and at the same time MI5 are using him to spy on them.  This is based on a shred of truth in that S’s father used to service Winston Churchill’s deaf aid.  This is true.  And this contract was withdrawn suddenly with no explanation.  But years later when MI5 released all this information SP was contacted and told they had withdrawn it because they believed SP’s father was a Russian spy and was bugging…also this paranoia was based on fact.  There was also a very interesting social reason why  never caught on.”

“They wanted it to be for the professional classes, so surgeons for example, and doctors.”

“But at the time they didn’t want to be run like servants.  It never really caught on.”  

Source: Steve Wright in the Afternoon, BBC Radio 2

“Stephen has created this character out of the kernels of his own family story”

“Samuel is an immigrant, but he wants to be more English than the English. Over the course of the show you see how he has this over-reaching idea of himself, but then he comes to realise who he really is, and what he should be proud of.  Stephen's father did in fact service Winston Churchill's hearing aids, and was stopped from doing that for a period of time. They never got to the bottom of it, but years later some secret papers were released and sent to Stephen. They said that there had been suspicion that his father was a Russian spy.”

“Even though his family had fled from the Communists, the paranoia at the time was so intense that they actually feared he could be bugging Winston Churchill's hearing aid. He also invented, with Stephen's grandfather, a paging device and Stephen has used this to bring in a story about a far-right-wing plan to 'take back' the running of the country from the government. The plotters are interested in Samuel because they want to use his pagers.”

Source: dailymail.co.uk

“For me, it’s identity — the characters are all searching for who they are. For my character Samuel, it’s about him coming to terms with who he is. He’s a Jewish émigré but he totally worships England — he’s in love with the whole idea of being English. It’s all about fitting in.”

“I thought that was part of what makes him such a wonderful character. He’s based on Stephen’s grandfather and it is in part biographical. He ran a factory that was full of deaf workers and I loved his pragmatic approach. He just saw them as good workers, he wasn’t bogged down in some kind of social project.”

“They’re a kind of society unto themselves, they are a very tight unit. I feel that comes across. And they are happy because they are a community, they don’t get caught up in that other stuff, all the social palaver that goes on. They are classless, they live a kind of parallel existence. It was evident that they had a very strong sense of themselves — and I don’t think the story in any way patronises them.”

Source: metro.news

“The idea of this Russian Jewish émigré wanting to be more British than the British but yet not being allowed to or not being accepted fully.”

“Certainly there is the strand of immigration and how immigrants are made to feel in this country.”

Source: inews.co.uk

On working with Stephen Poliakoff:

“It’s great to be working with Stephen Poliakoff again after such a long time.  I loved working with him on Perfect Strangers; he’s such a unique and original voice in British television. It’s also good to be filming something back home in the UK for the BBC. It’s been a while.”

Source: denofgeek

“He has a very clear idea of what he wants to achieve and he’s going to get what he wants — and, by hook or by crook, he’ll get you there. It’s what makes him a unique voice but at times it makes it hard as an actor. You may not agree on how to handle a scene but you can’t argue with him — after all, it’s his vision. Even though I was playing the lead, there was no licence, there was no negotiation. But I have enormous respect for him and the way he works.”

Source: metro.news

On the Cold War:

“There was a hysteria about nuclear Armageddon. Today’s nuclear threat is nowhere near as serious and has been superseded by the terror of climate change. We’re really up against it and we’re not doing anything.”

Source: inews.co..uk

On the right wing:

“These people are trying to take the country backwards. And you can’t. You can’t do that. You can’t rewind cultures.”

Source: inews.co.uk

On being a double agent:

“It’s the moral ambiguity of it. You have to be able to swallow your own sense of morality and do what is required. And I think it would be very difficult to do that.”

Source: inews.co.uk

On the analogy with Brexit:

“Yes, I know that’s there, but I know that Stephen [Poliakoff, writer and director] wanted to stay away from making too much of an analogy. But it’s there and it’s right that it should be there. The attitude to how we view immigrants and what makes us belong is central to the story.”

Source: news..co.uk

On the 1950s:

“There seems to be a hankering after a past that didn’t really exist. It was a time that was riddled with paranoia about the Cold War, the Suez Crisis — and spies were all working for Russia and lurking everywhere. Happy days!”

Source: metro.news

On ‘Lost in Space’ 2: 

“I believe it’s going to be Christmas time.  I actually have been non stop for the last 7 years and I just wanted to stop for a bit and see my family for a bit.  I've got 3 kids and they barely know me  it’s like who are you?  I could page them once in a while.”

Source: Steve Wright in the Afternoon, BBC Radio2

On going from ‘Lost in Space’ to ‘Summer of Rockets’:

“They are very different projects. I’m not in space in ‘Summer Of Rockets’.”

On the Mars mission:

“No way. ‘Lost In Space’ showed me how harsh that would be. It’s not the kind of place you could live easily — and it takes so long to get there. When they’ve got a spa up there, then I’ll go. When you can get a massage on Mars, sign me up!”

On starting out:

“Most people were getting up, doing a rendition of Jabberwocky, and just getting from the beginning to the end was enough.  I remember doing these poems and people were looking at me like I was a freak because I would invest them with emotion.”

“It’s something innate within you. It’s an instinct that you have. You can’t learn it.”

Source: inews.co.uk

On his mother’s help in the industry:

“She gave some advice. There’s no leg up in this industry. If you can’t do it, you can’t do it.”

On whether his children will follow in the family line:

“I know how difficult it is. And I think it’s getting harder.”

Source: inews.co.uk

On having children:

“I need to put bread on the table.  The idea of suddenly becoming a painter decorator or something… I would if I had to. But luckily, touch wood, I never have.”

Source: inews.co.uk;

On working in America and feeling British:

“Yes, definitely British. But you can’t help but be troubled by what’s going on and where it will all end. I thought I was part of some sort of open, forward-thinking society and then it turns out that I’m living among a lot of people who don’t think like that. You have to accept that, though. I’m not about to become American — it’s not much different there, in any case!”

On being an action man at 50:

“Christ, I can’t keep doing all that stuff, the body won’t take it. I’m still recovering from ‘Black Sails’ and we finished filming ages ago. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to that kind of thing. It’s funny, it’s not really what I’m most comfortable with — I somehow got sidetracked into playing pirates and astronauts and Bond villains.

I think I imagined that by 50 I’d get to do a load of different jobs. But, to be honest, the last ten or 11 years it’s been all about paying the bills — that’s what happens when you have kids, that’s a massive motivation. But then you start to think, ‘Hey, there’s only a certain amount of time left to do what I want to do.’ So it’s great when you get the chance to be doing something that’s more grown up.

Source: metro.news

[toby-stephens]

TOBY NEWS : APRIL 2019

EM-Con confirmed that the show in Nottingham in May would feature guests including Toby “currently featuring as former US Navy SEAL John Robinson in the hugely successful Netflix show ‘Lost in Space’. He is also recognised for his role as Bond villain Gustav Graves in ‘Die Another Day’ and as Captain Flint in the Starz original series ‘Black Sails’”

TOBY SIGHTINGS

Toby rocked up at “the Melbourne edition Supanova” - a celebration of fandom.  As thematic.com.au reported, “The low-key Toby Stephens is British acting royalty, his mum Dame Maggie Smith. Prolific and versatile, he's materialised in everything from Tilda Swinton's subversive ‘Orlando’ to the ‘Cambridge Spies’ mini-series to Agatha Christie's ‘Poirot’. Yet Stephens hit the con circuit having starred in ‘Black Sails’, a cult Starz pirate epic inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's ‘Treasure Island’. A panelist in the FilmInk Features Theatre on Saturday morning, the Londoner suggests that UK actors will try anything, including audiobooks, to earn a crust. He's just wrapped shooting season two of Netflix's sci-fi ‘Lost In Space’.”

“Stephens is a classic raconteur. The opening audience question relates to Bond, Stephens' breakout role that of the villain Gustav Graves in 2002's Pierce Brosnan-led ‘Die Another Day’. Later, he voiced Bond himself for BBC Radio. Reading Ian Fleming's original 007 spy novels, Stephens was unnerved, describing them as "sexist" and "racist". Stephens is likewise probed about portraying Edward Rochester in the BBC's 2006 adaption of ‘Jane Eyre’, saying he was "very flattered" to be touted for the part – and enthusing about co-star Ruth Wilson. However, Stephens talks extensively about playing the broody Captain James 'Flint' McGraw in ‘Black Sails’, revealing that it was "taxing". He was away from his family and the job was physically demanding. "My body was ruined by doing that experience." Stephens was "relieved" when the show ended in 2017.”

‘SUMMER OF ROCKETS’

The BBC finally released the trailer for ‘Summer of Rockets’, with no firm broadcast date.

‘LOST IN SPACE’

‘Lost in Space’ Series 1 was confirmed for release on DVD on 4th June.

[toby-stephens]

TOBY NEWS : MARCH 2019

As it was a slow news month, some pics from the archives.....

[toby-stephens]

FEBRUARY 2019: TOBY NEWS

‘Lost in Space’ Series 2 should be ‘wrapped’ by 1st March 2019, and is still slated as having a possible release date as early as late 2019, although some rumours suggest first half of 2020. 

‘Summer of Rockets’ air date is still listed as ‘Spring 2019’.

[toby-stephens]

JANUARY 2019 : TOBY NEWS

News appeared about Season 2 of ‘Lost in Space’ which will open up with the Robinson family and Dr. Smith thrown away in a completely new galaxy.

The filming for “Lost in Space” season 2 was reportedly scheduled from September 2018 to the end of January this year. Last year, one of the outdoor filming sites was the Alberta Badlands in Canada. Theyalso filmed in the Skógafoss Waterfall in the southern parts of Iceland as well as in the eastern parts of Dyrhólaey, which is known for its beaches.

Assuming there were no hiccups in the filming of season 2, it is safe to assume that the show has entered the post-production phase which  gives it enough time to have a late 2019 release date but some also consider it possible to premiere in the first half of 2020.  Will report soon as we have news.

Meanwhile, the official comic book of the series was issued.

News is still awaited on the air date of ‘Summer of Rockets’.  

[toby-stephens]

DECEMBER 2018 : TOBY NEWS

Not a lot happened in December.  On Twitter Toby confirmed he’d been busy doing very little.

There was news however that Toby was “confirmed” as a guest at a new Comic Con in Junction City, Ogden between 7 - 9 June 2019.  Again, we’ll see.

Hoping for a news-heavy 2019!

[toby-stephens]

NOVEMBER 2018 : TOBY NEWS

The first names for Supanova Comic Con & Gaming in Melbourne and Gold Coast were confirmed.  Next year’s event will take place at the Melbourne Showgrounds April 6-7, and Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre April 12-13.

Amongst those cited as making the trip will be Toby Stephens - time will tell!

‘HUNTER  KILLER’

The reviews continue, and continue to be mixed.  thefederalist.com writes, “The classically trained Toby Stephens never convinces that he is a Navy Seal commander. As shown in films like “Cambridge Spies” and the Bond film “Die Another Day,” Stephens is better at lurking villainy. Here he doesn’t come off as someone soldiers would follow into certain death.”

[toby-stephens]

OCTOBER 2018 : TOBY NEWS

‘BLACK SAILS’

Starz/Anchor Bay announced the release of a 12-disc set containing all four seasons of ‘Black Sails’ on Blu-ray.

Along with the 38 episodes from 2014 through 2017, each disc contains previously-released bonus material such as production featurettes, season/show recaps, and roundtable discussions.

‘HUNTER KILLER’

Very mixed reviews of ‘Hunter Killer’, and of Toby’s performance.  uk.ign.com say that “Stephens and his Navy Seals team are also very endearing and add a rough, knockabout charm to the otherwise sincere proceedings”.  The Standard reports that “It's actually a relief to meet Bill (Toby Stephens) a Navy Seal, because - Shock! - he's just manly.”  Whilst nowtoronto.com consider the entire cast “over-qualified for their roles”. 

chicago.suntines.com write, “Toby Stephens is fantastically over the top as Lt. Bill Beaman, who leads a small team that parachutes into Russia to extract the kidnapped President Zakarin from his captors so Zakarin can tell the world his traitorous defense minister is trying to manipulate Russia and the USA into firing upon each other. I loved this Bill Beaman guy. I swear, he pulls off feats of daring and strength and heroism that would have Captain America standing and applauding.”

vaildaily.com comments that “Toby Stephens is solid as the grizzled captain, and a round of applause to the English actor for a solid Southern U.S. accent.”

On the less positive side, newsok.com comments “Toby Stephens’ idea of an Alabama drawl is almost as convincing as Sean Connery’s Scottish brogue as a Russian accent in “Red October.”

acedmagazine.com however were quite complimentary saying that Toby is “far more dynamic than Gerard Butler, and it’s really not Butler’s fault. While he’s stuck giving orders in a tin can, Stephens gets to infiltrate a high level Russian base with just four guys and what they can carry on their backs. All of the film’s tension and drama plays out on the ground, even if it doesn’t take as much screen time to deliver. When that operation starts to head into those same unbelievable moments, I was a tad more forgiving, because I was so much more invested in those characters, and Toby Stephens is a big reason why. The man throws off a huge authoritative presence without really having to look like he’s acting. He easily exudes the kind of persona that you can accept people following him into what is pretty much a suicide mission. Give most of that credit to the actor.”

Likewise, eadt.co.uk also consider Toby’s performance as “particularly strong”.  

However!  unfspinnaker.com was less impressed saying “A part of the SEAL team, Lt. Bill Beaman is portrayed by Toby Stephens. Stephens is clueless in this role and his depiction is cartoonish.”

Go figure!

OTHERS ON TOBY:

Ryan McPartlin (Hunter Killer) on Toby:

“Toby Stephens came up, Zane was out of town, but Toby, Michael and I started working together and by the end of that day, we had a chemistry that we would not have had otherwise. It was unbelievable.”

source: hollywoodlife.com 

[toby-stephens]

SEPTEMBER 2018 : TOBY NEWS

As Autumn fell in, the drought continued apace with the only news of note being that Acorn TV would be screening ‘The Camomile Lawn’ in October 2018.

So, some archive pics to fill the void....

[toby-stephens]

AUGUST 2018 : TOBY NEWS

Em-Con Nottingham (largest film and television convention in the East Midlands) announced they would be returning in 2019 at the Motorpoint Arena in May with a number of guest appearances including, allegedly, Toby.  Time will tell.

It was also announced that Toby would be appearing this September on the Carson Daly show on NBC.

So, for this slow-news month, some archive pics:

[toby-stephens]

JULY 2018 : TOBY NEWS

Toby was due to attend the LFCC (Comic Con) but because of work commitments had to cancel his appearance.  Refunds were processed.

‘HUNTER KILLER’

Initial trailers became available of ‘Hunter Killer’ which will be released to theatres in October.

‘LOST IN SPACE’

Filming for the second season of ‘Lost in Space’ will begin in September.

According to Omega Underground,'Lost in Space’ season 2 will enter production on September 4 in Vancouver and continue through the fall and winter until March 1 2019. Although a premiere date hasn't been announced yet, it is likely that season 2 won’t stream on Netflix until fall of 2019 at the earliest, based on production dates, as well as time for post-production and marketing.

‘SUMMER OF ROCKETS’

BBC crews have been spotted filming new drama ‘Summer of Rockets’ in Benington and Watton-at-Stone.

This is a semi-autobiographical six-part series for BBC Two - which is set in the UK during the Cold War period and tumultuous year of 1958.

Toby plays Samuel, a 40-something Russian Jewish émigré, inventor and designer of bespoke hearing aids, whose clients include former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. The series follows Samuel and his family as he is approached by MI5 and tasked with a secret mission.

He must obtain information about his charming, newly-acquired friends Kathleen, played by Keeley Hawes (Line Of Duty, Bodyguard), and her husband Richard Shaw MP, played by Linus Roache (Vikings, Homeland), through whom Samuel also meets the impressive Lord Arthur Wallington, played by Timothy Spall (Mr Turner, The Street).

As Samuels life becomes more and more intertwined with his mission, how far is he willing to let things unravel for his cause? And who can he truly trust?

IN TOBY’S OWN WORDS

On parenting:

“My wife and I were telling off my son Eli; his sister, Tallulah, stepped in very indignantly and said, You know what? You two need to take classes in how to be better parents. And I went, You know what? You’re right, we do. Do you know where there are any?” 

source: parade.com

[toby-stephens]

JUNE 2018 : TOBY NEWS

Nothing to report for June 2018, no reviews or interviews, so in light of the drought this month, some throwback pictures to ‘Perfect Strangers’ by way of a nod to the filming of ‘Summer of Rockets’

[toby-stephens]

MAY 2018 : TOBY NEWS

‘LOST IN SPACE’:

By May 16th, it was pretty much confirmed there would be a Season 2 of ‘Lost in Space’, confirmed on 20th by Netflix twitter.

‘SUMMER OF ROCKETS’:

Also confirmed was a new BBC 2 cold war drama, ‘Summer of Rockets’ to star Toby alongside Keeley Hawes, Linus Roache & Timothy Spall.

This six-part series is set in the UK during the Cold War period of the late 1950s, a time when the UK, like much of the world, was dealing with the threat of international espionage and nuclear armageddon.

Filming has begun in and around London and Oxford, and it will be screened sometime in 2019.

The story will be Poliakoffs personal insight into this period and is set against the backdrop of Britain testing its first hydrogen bomb.

Executive Producer Helen Flint, a long-time collaborator with Poliakoff on productions such as Close To The Enemy, Shooting The Past and Perfect Strangers, said:

This piece set in 1958, is hinged at the pivotal point of world history where the past and future are pulling in equal strength and human beings, young and old have little control over the eventual outcome.

IN TOBY’S OWN WORDS:

On “Lost in Space”:

“I think they have been very respectful to the original series, but they smashed it out in their own way.  The thing is, one cant’ be overly reverential to these things because otherwise, you’re just remaking exactly what was already made very well.”

“I think John’s just trying to find his place within this family now. The idea is that he was confronted with the situation of his family going away and him never seeing them again unless he went along. Now that he’s come along for this ride, he’s trying to find his way back into the family, how to relate to his family, how to relate to Maureen, and how to work things out.”

“In my case, why I think it is fun and why I think it works is there’s something timeless about the original idea. The Swiss Family Robinson, obviously, is the original idea of a family in jeopardy. It follows the trials of that family, but also the emotional trials of how they overcome their problems and their weaknesses, because they have to confront them and overcome them.”

“That was then taken into ‘Lost in Space’. In the first iteration of that what worked is that you’re looking at a regular family and their problems, but in this extraordinary situation. It’s hundreds of light years away from earth in a space ship and on a planet, but they’re having the same regular, everyday problems of any other family. The irony of that is that dynamic is really fun. What we’ve done is we’ve updated it, so rather than it being this pristine, apple pie, American family, its a modern family with all of its dysfunctions.”

“We know every family has dysfunctions. There is no ideal, pristine family, and the Robinsons are one of those families. Just a normal family that everybody can relate to, but it’s in this extreme situation and you still get the ironies of watching a family deal with each other and their own problems in the way every family does that you can relate to, but in this extraordinary back drop of being on a planet thousands of light years away. I think that that trend still works and its fun.”

“The only reason to do something again is if you feel that you can say something to a new generation of people and you can do it in a totally individual way. You’re just taking the kernel of the original idea and re-doing it, but for now.”

“We can’t replicate what was done in the original show. It just wouldn’t work now. The tone of it is very different although it still retains some of the fun aspects of it, the comic stuff that goes on there, the light touch. I don’t think we could repeat what that show became.”

“I think the original pilot episode is much more akin to what we’re doing. As the series went on, it became if you’ll forgive this phrase campier and campier. It was almost like a sitcom, but in space. I just don’t think that that would work now. So, we’ve made it into something that is lots more for todays generation.”

“I think it’s really great that they did a gender swap. It’s actually a genius stroke because you cannot replicate what was done with that character in the original series. But Parker Posey is such an individual performer. She brings to it her own sense of wackiness and fun.”

"That is a reflection of what the original character was, but it’s very much its own thing, and I think that’s absolutely right. If you cast a man in that part, they would feel this pressure to replicate what was done in the original series, a moustache-twirling villainous kind of thing. I think it just wouldn't hold water now and it would just seem sort of arch.”

“In other words, I think what Parker Posey does is so much her own thing, and as it goes on, you realise that it’s a much more nuanced character in that there are reasons for her being the way she is. I like that you can get the fact that she is horrible and does terrible things, but at the same time, she’s a real and complex character.”

“I don’t have any interest in doing that at all. I love earth. It’s a beautiful planet, and I think, going to Mars, although it looks amazing from aerial photographs taken from orbiting satellites and things like that, and I’ve seen documentaries about it, but I think it’s a desolate, dangerous place, filled with radiation. It would be too dangerous going there, and so arduous.”

“I think that is one of the things that we show. There is a warning to this. The idea that we can trash this planet and then move on to another planet somewhere else, that there’ll be some other Goldilocks planet that we can go to, have it and trash that one, and then just keep on moving on, its crazy. We have to look after the planet were on. I’m all for space exploration, but I wouldn’t want to do it myself because I’ve got kids and a family and the idea would be terrifying to me.”

“The planet is presented to an audience initially as, ‘Oh, it’s so great. It’s got oxygen, so they can breathe. It’s similar to the Earth.’ But then as you get further and further into the drama, you realise there are more and more hostile things about this planet that are dangerous and there are reasons that there are storms with diamonds and deserts. There are astronomic reasons why this planet is like that, which then become apparent. Then they realise that they have to get off it. This isn’t somewhere where they can just set up their colony.”

“It is aspirational to me in that it’s about people trying to be better, in the best way that American shows and films sometimes do. When it doesn’t work, its because its super sentimental and glib.”

“This is about people who find themselves in jeopardy, but also they’re in jeopardy in their personal relationships, in the way that they relate to each other, and it shows how they overcome their own problems and weaknesses. They all do that in a very real way, so I think that’s aspirational.”

“Also, one of the things in watching this, the kids are so bright and so capable, especially the girls. One of the things I would like my daughter to get from this is how strong and capable the girls are, and how intelligent they are. They’ve worked really hard to be that way.”

“It would inspire me, if I was a child, to want to work hard and to want to be like that. Look, I’m not saying that TV should be life changing. It’s entertainment, but if it, along the way, inspires kids, or reflects good qualities, aspirational qualities, without lecturing people or being sentimental, I think that’s good. I think ‘Lost in Space’ does that to a certain extent, in a way that family shows should do, in a gentle kind of encouraging nurturing way, rather than patronising.”

Source: parade.com

“When I discussed it with Zack Estrin he was like, look, this is not an apple pie family. This is a family that is full of great people, but they’re damaged here. The relationship between the mother and father is dysfunctional. They’ve padded it, and it’s in disrepair and that’s part of the drama. Are they gonna be able to figure things out? How do they relate to one another? It’s an estranged father, who’s been away fighting wars and stuff like that, and he has become disconnected from his kids.”

“It’s just not very dramatically interesting to have a family thats always kind of fine. I mean, it’s dramatic enough that they’re in this life-threatening situation, but you add to the drama by saying they don't really know how to relate to one another and there’s this whole family dysfunction that they have to work out as well. And are they gonna work that out?”

“There’s something disingenuous about them being a family that’s perfect. Not only would it be dramatically boring, but it’s also just not true. We know anybody who has a family knows that it’s not perfect and that people make mistakes. But the thing is that these people, like everyone, are just trying to do better. And I think that that is something everyone can relate to, whether you’re a kid or you’re an adult.”

“One of the things that I really love about the show is that it’s aspirational. This family, they are, they’re people who are trying to be better and do good and to survive. And so it’s very, in many ways I think its a very cognitive show. And all these relationships in the end, while they’re complicated they are part of this. And we need that kind of, I think we need the kind of show like that because theres a lot of really depressing shows out there, which are fantastic and amazing, but they’re really depressing. And this is one has a really positive message and a kind of affirming message.”

“To be able to do what they wanted to do with this show, to kind of make it as magical to kids now as it was when it originally came out in 1965  it takes an organisation like Netflix that can throw enough money at it to achieve that. The kind of wonder and the kind of adventure. The scale of the adventure that they’re going for.”

“I think what I really loved about it was the kids are really intelligent. If I was a kid watching this I would go, I want to be as intelligent and as capable as that child. Im gonna work harder in school. Im gonna really try and work hard at math. That’s great as well. So I like that, the fact that the kids, to some extent, end up helping out the adults. Its a nice dynamic.”

“The kids need that adventure and the fun. But then the grown-ups who are watching the show need to care about these people as well and enjoy the show on a different level. So we were kind of like, that part of the show is for the grown-ups. For them to relate to these people and to identify with them. To go, I know what thats like. I know how difficult that can be sometimes."

“I really love working with Molly. We actually had a lot of dialogue early on, both together and with Zack Estrin, about just figuring out exactly what their relationship was. Because when we were talking, we were both like, This marriage has to seem real to people; otherwise people just aren’t gonna care.”

Source: indiewire.com

“One of the relationships I though was really quite clever is not between Will and the robot, but between John and the robot. The fact is the son chooses the company and protection of the robot above his own father.”

Source: thetimes.co.uk

“If it’s going to be a family show, then the families have to recognise themselves through the screen. We had to present normal families, and modern families are all complicated.”

Source:  dailynewsegypt.com

“There's this sort of thing of, ‘Oh, why are they together on this thing if they’re separated?’ It’s like, If you don’t take me with you, I’ll never see my family again. So theres that reason for him being there”

Source: io9.gizmodo.com

“They sent me the script and I was dubious, at first. I said, ‘Lost in Space’? They’re reviving that?! They tried to do that with the film, and it didn’t work. And then, I read the script and I actually liked it. The thing I liked most was that they were pitching it at such a great level. It was sophisticated enough for adults to watch and really get something out of it, and yet it had this fantastic adventure quality. What I really liked about it is that the kids are intelligent and its aspirational. If I were a kid watching this, I’d be like, I want to be that bright and that capable. And it doesn’t get ridiculous. They pitched it at the right level. And I felt that Maureen and John were real people. I like the way that they were written and I liked the fact that it was a relationship in trouble. They’re trying to figure out how to get along and how to deal with not only this extreme situation that they’re in, with extreme jeopardy and the terror of that, but also figuring out how to work things out between themselves. Thats what sold me on it. They seemed to be a family that people can relate to because its not some apple pie family that just doesn’t exist. They’re fallible human beings, who are trying to be better.”

“Like most kids, they’re all completely different from one another, and they have different strengths and weakness, just like normal kids in a family. It’s about how you cope with that. All of those different dynamics that happen seemed real to me, they're just in these extraordinary circumstances.”

“It’s brilliant! It’s one of the reasons that I love doing what I do. You can do something so entirely different, not only in its context, but also in its whole feel. I had done ‘Black Sails' for four years and it was a really tough journey for me. I know it sounds slightly pretentious, but I really was wrung out, by the end, by the whole experience. It was an amazing experience, but Ive never worked that hard, in my life. There were long days with extreme conditions, filming in South Africa, and you had to go from massive physical set pieces to doing intense dialogue scenes. You’d go from one extreme, of being beaten up physically, to another extreme, of being beaten up mentally. So, when this came along and I started doing it, it was a relief to me. With ‘Black Sails’, Flints journey and options were narrowing down and it was inevitable, what was going to happen to him. With ‘Lost in Space’, it seems to be opening out. Its about people trying to survive and trying to be better people and fighting to be alive. Flint had a death wish. After four years, that was really dark. It’s just a really nice juxtaposition to ‘Black Sails’, which I miss, enormously, but it felt like I was on holiday with ‘Lost in Space’. Although, like any job, ‘Lost in Space’ had its own pressures, but they weren't the same pressures that I experienced on ‘Black Sails’.

“His relationship with the kids,  that was a wonderful journey for me, as an actor. I really enjoyed playing that. As the season progresses, the robot becomes this surrogate father and protector for Will, who’s physically frightened. The irony is that Will has this father who is very brave, and who’s gone off on done all of this fighting in war, and he’s very capable, himself, but he’s nervous and frightened. So, the robot becomes very protective of him, but at the same time, threatens John. His son has to go to a robot to get what he should be giving him, and thats painful for him. The realisation that he's missed out on an enormous amount of his kids childhood and not being there for them, and trying to make up for that and connect with them again, is a very moving thing to play.”

“Initially, John is very distrustful of the robot. It’s a real problem because you need the robot in this extreme situation, since he seems to be able to help you, but at the same time, what is this thing goes berserk? You just don’t know what he's going to do. And as the show goes on, you realise that there are more reasons for him to distrust this thing. The whole thing is a great journey. All of that is really fun to play.”

“The biggest learn for me, that I’ve never had to do before, was doing all of that spaceship acting, sitting in the pilots chair and knowing what all the buttons do. That was such fun. While you’re doing it, you’re going, What am I doing?!, and then you have to remember what you used the buttons for, the next time. Being on a spaceship, throwing yourself around, I had a blast. You have to pinch yourself, once in awhile, and go, What am I doing?!”

“Yeah, the spacesuit was pretty uncomfortable, I have to say. One of the things I most enjoyed about the shoot, because it was so refreshing to me, was working with the kids. One becomes a bit jaded. Its easy to fall into saying, Oh, this spacesuit is so uncomfortable! But when Max Jenkins is jumping around going, This spacesuit is so cool!, it’s so refreshing. It’s so refreshing to be around that enthusiasm. It’s infectious. It was so great having the kids around because it just made you realise how lucky we were to be doing what we were doing.”

“We had a little bit of rehearsal time, but it was just a little bit. Max is such an easy kid to get to know. He’s just so open, and his parents are adorable. We couldn’t have lucked out more with the children that we got because they’re really great kids. They’re really open, really friendly, really open to having a great time, and up for learning. That just makes things so much easier. Im assuming that things can go very differently. We were incredibly lucky. All of us just really got on well and working with them seemed very natural. There didn’t seem to be any process that we had to go through. It just happened very quickly.”

“Molly and I spent a lot of time with Zack Estrin, talking about their relationship. If this isn’t a real relationship and a real family than nobody is going to care. The relationship has to be real without being depressing or sentimental. It has to be something that people can relate to. Especially because this is a family show, grown ups have to watch this, so it has to be sophisticated, as well as incredibly fun for the kids. We need grown ups and parents to be able to relate to Maureen and John and their problems and aspirations. What made it really great fun for me was working with Molly because she’s such a great actress, and we have that back and forth, both on screen and off. Their relationship feels like these are real people. Whats kind of funny is that the romance of the whole thing is really them. They’re the romantic couple. You want them to figure it out because they’re good people. If we’re lucky enough to go again, it will be interesting to see where they take John in Season 2. The other thing that I really enjoyed was working with Max and exploring that relationship, which to me is very real. I spent a lot of time away from my family, filming in South Africa, so I knew what it was like, being away from your family for a long time and feeling slightly out of place when you come back into it and trying to figure things out. I could really relate to that relationship, between John and Will. My son is about the same age as Max, but maybe a bit younger.”

“Interestingly, I would say that he creates the strongest bond with his son. He works out a lot of stuff with Maureen, but the greatest distance he covers is with Will. The last four episodes are really lovely, for me. John is also a slow burn. You don’t really get to know him that well, for awhile. It takes awhile to figure out his agenda, and whats going on between him and Maureen. It takes a long time to figure him out, but once you see what he’s trying to do, the last four or five episodes are really nice. It really is a journey for him. He does things wrong, but it’s because he’s clumsy. He doesn’t quite get it right and he misjudges things a bit. He’s too tough because he’s used to giving orders to people. Hes an army guy, so it’s all about training and execution for him. He has to relearn what empathy is, and how to deal with these kids without being this grumpy soldier.”

“Yeah, my kids did come, a couple of times, and they got on really well with Max, Mina and Taylor. And Mollys son came to set. It was really nice. It felt like a very family-oriented show, and they all hung out together. It was a really nice feeling and very relaxed.”

“Molly and I were quite adamant that the stakes had to be real and the threats had to be real. As an actor, the only thing you have is your instinct and your imagination. Those are the two main tools that you use. I didn’t really enjoy putting myself in that situation, where you are the person and your kids are under threat, but you had to give it that intensity. Of course, if it was real, I probably would have died. I would have had a nervous breakdown within an hour, but these characters can manage it. Obviously, one has to imagine what that would be like.”

Source: collider.com

“I was seven years old when ‘Star Wars’ came out. That just kind of blew my head off. ‘2001’, ‘Blade Runner’. All of these, all of the stuff like that. This is the one genre I completely expected to be in.”

“The character of Captain Flint, who I was playing, was a very nihilistic character that was on this kind of tragic course toward death. So to get something so polar opposite was really fun. It just sort of ended up being the perfect antidote to having done something like ‘Black Sails’.”

Source:  indiewire.com

"The thing I admire in John is that he is somebody who knows that he has got it wrong, and he's trying to put it right. Not only for his relationship with his wife, but individually, his relationships with his children. He's trying to not only save their lives, but he's also trying to do the right thing. And I think that's what I really like about this series, is that it's something that is aspirational without being sentimental. It's about people trying to be better people and trying to do the right thing."

"I think that that's something we kind of need right now, because the world is really depressing at the moment, and things are really frightening. You watch TV and a lot of it is really depressing--and brilliant--but pretty much depressing. And I think what's nice is you can get lost in the adventure of this, but also these are people who are trying to be better. And I think there's something uplifting about watching that."

Source: gamespot.com

"Will is quite insecure, his confidence is not great”

Source:  digital spy.com

On inequality in Hollywood:

"I think the movements are great. I am a parent of two girls and I have a wife who is very passionate, and I want a change for them, my wife and for all our friends”.

"I can only sympathise with and support the movement. Change needs to happen and it is mad that it has taken so long”

"It is a correction. It is really needed at the moment. Being a parent of two young girls, I am really excited about a show that has two young girls who are represented as incredibly capable, strong, smart, and sassy.”

"It is really great that there is a show which is showing that. I am excited for my kids to watch that and excited for the whole generation of kids to watch those characters and aspire to be like that.”

"There are moments which are light. Also, what is fun is that it is taking the domestic situation essentially and putting it in space.  So, there are these situations that occur and every parent or child will recognise... They have either been through that or seen them. But it is this extraordinary situation where they are million of years away from Earth which makes it different.”

Source: business-standard.com

On ‘Summer of Rockets’:

“It’s great to be working with Stephen Poliakoff again after such a long time. I loved working with him on ‘Perfect Strangers’; he’s such a unique and original voice in British television. It’s also good to be filming something back home in the UK for the BBC. It’s been a while.”

Source: deadline.com

OTHERS ON TOBY:

Maxwell: “I’ll never forget going up on top of the glacier. My scenes with Toby where we were walking in the snow, weren’t green-screen we were on a real glacier! We had to take a one-hour and 45-minute ride on a snowmobile to get there.”

“It was cold but sunny, and Toby didn’t think of getting sun protection. The following day, he had sunburn above his eyes and under his nose, and the glass of the space suit charred half his face.”

Source: entertainment.inquirer.net

[toby-stephens]

APRIL 2018 : TOBY NEWS

‘Lost in Space’ aired on Netflix on Friday April 13th.

TOBY SIGHTINGS

Toby was out and about during April promoting ‘Lost in Space’ at various ComicCons.  He attended the MEFCC (Middle East Film & Comic Con) in Dubai for Q&A’s and photo and signing sessions at the Dubai Trade Centre from April 5th to 7th.

He was also spotted in the UAE where he was planning to spend the evening relaxing with a “simple massage”.

Then on to Tokyo, and back at Anaheim for WonderCon.

‘LOST IN SPACE’

A mixed selection of reviews, but on the whole positive.  Digital Spy commented that Toby had “shone previously in BBC Two's fantastic-but-short-lived Vexed and up against Brosnan's Bond in Die Another Day but, so far, he's not been given the chance to show off his considerable comedic skills or much charm.”  Hmmm. Debatable.

cnet.com meanwhile commented that “Stephens perfectly plays John Robinson, the dad who's always away and wants back into the life of his wife and kids. While he plays second fiddle somewhat, action sequences of him fighting local critters and engaged in overall macho stuff show off his heroic side.”

sciencefiction.com were less convinced, and have clearly been living under a stone - newcomer?  Excuse me???? They wrote they that found the scenes with “husband John Robinson (played by relative newcomer Toby Stephens) fairly strained, and I don’t buy into the pairs emotional dynamic. Stephens himself vacillates between varying degrees of impersonating either Jon Bernthal or John C. McGinley, depending on the amount of vocal inflection he wants to utilize in trying to be cool Dad or strained relationship Dad; this version of John Robinson is written as a fairly-absentee military father, and its not an enviable disposition to have to try and bring to life on screen.”  Oh dear.  Where have they been????

IN TOBY’S OWN WORDS:

On ‘Lost in Space’:

“It takes an essentially domestic situation with this family and transplants it into this absolutely, on one level, absurd place. You're in outer space, but also in this really serious jeopardy where they could die at any moment."

“It’ not an apple-pie, idealistic, American family. It was a real family, it had a real feel to it. There are dysfunctions within that family, there are things that aren't quite going right, or are going wrong, like in any family."

"It's at this very interesting level where parents could watch it because they'll identify and the kids can watch it because they're watching this amazing adventure, and I guess that's what the original was doing, but in a different time."

"I knew of its existence in pop culture, I had seen photos of it, I had probably seen clips of it, but that's it. I knew it was about the Swiss Family Robinson set in outer space, I knew of the existence of a robot and that Dr Smith was this evil, kind of campy guy who was always causing trouble. But I really didn't watch it, I didn't follow it as a child."

"I deliberately didn't go back and watch episodes of the original series because it was totally different and they were making it in a totally different time. And while being respectful of the original, [the reboot] is sort of the same construct but what's great about it is you can take it in all kinds of directions.”

“John Robinson is a failed father and a failed husband.  I think that was what really struck me most of all about him. He's somebody who's got it wrong and I find his journey somebody realising they've got it wrong and they're trying to correct it and find that place very moving."

“Maureen is this incredibly resilient and strong woman, who has now become the de facto head of this family, is holding things together. And John has been sidelined and it's about him finding, 'Where do I fit into this now? How do I make my peace with this and also reconnect with my kids?' "

“The Robot ends up kind of interceding between him and his son and becoming a kind of father figure, or a paternal, protective figure for his son”.

"And [that] just highlights how distant he has become from his own son. His son chooses to be with this robot more than him and finds protection. And I thought it was a really cool idea and gives it this texture and sophistication that obviously kids would enjoy but also adults will identify with."

“Netflix may well have been the only environment in which a reboot of its scale and ambition might have been attempted.”

"Because it's incredibly expensive doing the kind of special effects, all of the stuff that goes into making this look so good”.

"It can only work if it does for kids now what the original series did in 1965. And we've come such a long way. Kids now, they've watched ‘The Avengers’, ‘Star Wars’, they've seen this incredible sophisticated imagery and CGI, and you have to bring that to bear even in something like ‘Lost In Space’."

"One of the jobs of science fiction is either a warning or an aspiration. And I think the aspiration of this is that we've dealt with sexual politics, we've dealt with race issues, we've dealt with all of that and we're now in a more comfortable place where they're just not an issue any more, so there's this international, interracial feel to this whole project.”

"The warning is that no matter what happens on Earth, taking the leap of going somewhere else and just thinking we can plant our seed somewhere else and everything will be fine is a massive leap, not only of imagination, but of faith. And it might not work out.”

Source : watoday.com.au

"Basically what makes it different from the original is that the family is a much more real family which we can relate to. Everyone comes from a family which has its own dysfunction.”

"Without being depressing, the characters are aspirational. They are the people who are trying to do better and be better. People and sort out their problems. I think that is something everybody can relate to and everyone can aspire to be”.

Source: business-standard.com 

“We were all friends together on this thing. We were just lucky that the chemistry among us was just really good. So we ended up really fun as a family. Watching the monitor after shooting every scene was quite anxious and this anxiety was quite infectious and that helped in the bonding process.”

“You go from job to job and you get less affected by the transition and you get used to that feeling. But what I miss is the camaraderie. I love the job and I give the best that I can but one thing that I also love most about filming is pacing about, when you just mock around between takes. Being in a space suit working on this series is uncomfortable but it becomes such fun if you are in a fun company.”

“I think it’s one of the messages. This series shows a lot of positive things and a lot of warnings. One of them is, you know, we need to take care of this place because the idea of going off to some planets thousands of light years away can be very attractive. But when you get there, what is it like? Is there life out there? Its such an enormous risk. So we should know to appreciate how precious Planet Earth is.”

“Love conquers all.”

Source: philstar.com 

“If it is a family show then the families have to recognise normal families, and normal families are not perfect. Modern families are complicated. We didn’t want to make it a depressing story but they wanted to make it like a real family. Part of their adventure and journey is overcoming their own problems as well as all the exterior problems that are happening on the planet far away in space.”

“Every job you do is completely different from the last one and it demands different things from you. This one was particularly new to both of us. I think what I enjoyed a lot was that even though you are wearing these space suits and you are in this radical situation, you make these relationships seem as real as possible and the scenes as real as possible. The audience expects you to be this real sci-fi show but yet, at the heart of it, theres this family that they recognise and care about, which doesn’t always happen in a sci-fi show”.

“No plot problems you see...Its the future!"

If you were ever stuck on a strange planet, like in the first episode of Lost In Space, and you could make only one phone call, who would you call and why?

“My wife!”

Source: digit.in - interviewed Dubai

Why trade in the pirate ship?

“I didn’t. It just happened that way. For me, the thing that I really liked from reading the pilot was the tone that they managed to find. They were irreverent towards the original story, but they made it in a modern frame. The family is not this apple pie American family. Its dysfunctional. Its a real family, with warts and all. The dynamic between them, certainly in the first season, has them not only trying to survive this horrendous accident and this planet, but also trying to survive, as a family, and figuring that out. They’re fallible people, trying to be better. I really loved the aspirational quality of it. In a really unsentimental way, these people are trying to be better people. I love the fact that they’re already smart and they’re really strong, and the kids are really smart and strong. Thats aspirational. If I was a kid watching this, Id be like, I really wanna be like that! Its an inspiring thing. Theres a lot of stuff out there, a lot of which I love, that is super depressing, not only in the real world, but also in a lot of TV series. Theres a lot of dark, gnarly, hard to watch stuff, so its lovely to have something thats aspirational and positive for people."

“Thats what Im most excited about. This is actually something they [my children] can watch me in, without it giving them nightmares.”

“We all did a lot of button pushing!”

Source: WonderCon Anaheim 

“The thing is, when you’re starting a series, you just don’t know what it is. It was actually only when I watched the first episode that I went, Oh, thats what it is! I read the script and I kinda went, This is kinda cool. I really like the way they were faithful to the original and yet they jazzed around it. It really feels much more real. When you’re filming it, there are these huge green screens everywhere and you just don’t know whats gonna be there. They say, theres a huge spaceship here and you gotta take their word for it.”

“And how the Hell are they going to do all this?!”

“I think there were. There were moments, like when I saw the robot and when we were first working on the Jupiter. You see the beautiful finish that it had. I was just like, This has been a fantasy of mine since I watched the movie ‘Star Wars’, when I was a kid. I mean I love ‘Star Trek’, I love ‘Star Wars,’ I love the ‘Alien’ movies, I love ‘2001’. Im a huge sci-fi fan. Suddenly finding yourself in this situation where you’re going, I’m in a spaceship, in a space suit, and Im playing a real person, and I’m working with Molly Parker!”

“That was pretty amazing. But also, at the same time, when you’re starting a series you just don’t know what its going to be and you don’t know whether, Is what Im doing any good? Is this going to work?”

“You just don’t know.”

“Also, its the writer’s show. There were quick to have had the vision. They knew what they want they aspired to be. They realized it. You kind of go, Well, thats pretty amazing!”

“And really good actors.”

“I think also, when Molly and I were first talking about them as a family and their relationship, we were like, It has to be real. It has to have a kind of texture of these are real family and this is a real couple for anybody to care about what happens to them.”

“I think its an important tone to have at the moment. The world is a very dark and depressing place at the moment. Theres wonderful things happening in it, but its tough. At the same time, you turn on TV and a lot of the drama on it is pretty depressing. Its brilliant and fantastic, and all of that stuff. But its quite dark, a lot of it. Whats nice is the aspiration: this is about people trying to be better. I think we really need that. Its not mawkish or sentimental. Its about people trying to be better people. I like watching that.”

“Lost in space billions of miles away from home.”

“I remember Zack [Estrin] actually came after wed been filming after a certain period of time  I think we were about two months into it  and I just didn’t realize how real these situations were and how the stakes are really high  whereas the original show was kind campy and it was safe. I could see this doubt in Zacks mind that it was going to be too heavy for families that watch and I totally get that, but, in the end, he turned around and went, Actually, its great that its got high stakes because people will invest in it. They’ll be willing you through it  rooting for you.”

Source: seat42f.com 

“I watched the show years and years ago. I deliberately didn't re-watch it, because I remember it being very much of the time. ‘Lost in Space’ was from Swiss Family Robinson, so it was one step removed from that, and this is another step removed from that. But essentially, the ingredients are the same. There is this family that is way out of its comfort zone, and there's this ironic tension between them being in space, but at the same time, being rooted in this domestic truth. To link it to the original question of why I was interested in it, it's about a modern family with all the modern problems that families have. So it's the same kind of deal, it's just been updated. It's got the humor of that ironic tension that I was talking about, but it's also got depth and some kind of feels in it, because it's about a real family and real people.”

“Being a parent and a husband, I identified with the story of their marriage and their relationships with their kids, which is not always a bed of roses. The fact that they're in space, yes, that's dangerous and terrifying, but in a way, their biggest challenge is trying to make their own relationships work.”

“Why are they together if they're separated? What grounds it is the fact that if you don't take me with you, I will never see my family again. So there's that reason for him being there.”

“Dynamics.”

“Oh, well I think for John, it's quite interesting because he has a slightly estranged relationship with his son. Just because he's been away a lot. He's in the military because he's been on various campaigns. He hasn't been at home. So he has a slightly estranged relationship with his son, he doesn't understand Will and his Will doesn't quite understand John.

“Then this robot turns up with his son, and he's protecting the son, who is, by nature, quite delicate and kind of fragile. The robot has this patriarchal and protective relationship that really, John should have with Will. As the series goes on, it's quite interesting because it's a sort of a paternal threat to him. That dynamic, which is quite fun and interesting, gives it a bit of texture.”

“Yeah, the colony. I think it has some kind of biodiversity, but I don't think it has freaky, totally alien - I think it has plant life and stuff like that.

“[Green screen work] It's weird. I've done quite a bit. It's something that you have to get used to doing.”

“And then also letting that go, in a way. There's a tendency, I think, when something's not there, you want to create it more vividly than it actually needs to be. You almost overact its presence, rather than actually just going, "Right, I kind of have an idea in my mind what this is. How would I naturally do this? If an alien was coming at me. How would I react to that?" But you know what I mean, there's a tendency to kind of like, "ahhhh," and you have to find a way of dialling it into something.”

“I remember when I was kid in the late 70s, early 80s, there were these books you could get. These amazing pictures of imaginings of space, like planets. Space stations, huge great big vehicles that have crash-landed into a planet in the desert, something like that. When they showed me the pictures for this, I kind of go, oh, that reminds me. I think it needs that now. It does need that operatic scale so that it can go into this domestic situation as well. It makes it seem so fragile.”

“It’s very much a change, and I think one that was needed. When I was reading the script, I realised I’d never done anything my kids could watch, and I figured maybe its about time. I didn’t really look at it and think: will it be good for my career? Should I do it? I just thought it would be really cool to do some sci-fi.”

“Id been doing ‘Black Sails’, which was a really dark character and a full-on production. Flints options were narrowing down because of the choices he was making, and the fact he was on this mission to destroy Britain, but in doing that he was also going to destroy himself and everyone around him. It was just kind of going down into this black hole, very nihilistic. I did that for four years, and after it I was totally destroyed, so it was great to come to this where I wasn’t carrying anything”.

“One of the key messages is that humanity has these abilities to think itself out of all sorts of situations, but there’s also this warning to be careful of what you do to this place because you don’t really want to have to go somewhere else.”

“You really don’t want to think you know, its okay, we’ll trash this planet because in 100 years we can just go somewhere else and trash that one  its so short sighted. We need to look after this place. Use that amazing capacity we have to think our way out of situations to save this planet, not move to another one.”

“The family relationships within ‘Lost in Space’ are also much more complex than the perfect American family of the source material.”

“It was a really cool device to have this weird standoff where this robot becomes to my child what I haven’t provided, and how this affects John. This thing is devastatingly powerful, but also very close to his son. John has become so distant from his son that he’s turning to this robot instead. I found that quite clever on the part of the writers. “

“It was bizarre, but I love that idea of trying to bring a sense of reality to these strange situations, so people can experience it through your character, make them think how they’d react in that kind of situation. If you can ground in some sort of reality, then it gives the robot a sense of reality in a weird way. Otherwise it would just be absurd.”

“We’ve been through a phase of binge watching, but I think that might start to change and take a turn for more subtle storytelling. When so much effort and time has gone into a huge production. Like with ‘Black Sails’, and you see someone on the tube watching it on their phone, it’s just depressing. I also find that when I binge watch, a lot of the more subtle stuff starts to pass over me, I kind of tune out, so personally Id like to think we may turn back to a more thoughtful, subtler way of watching.”

Source: thenational.ae

“It's attitude is very different [to the original] in terms of the female characters who are very, very strong  I think that's a really great thing that they're represented in such a strong light. The two young girls are such strong, intelligent, capable women. I think the younger generation watching that will find that empowering and aspirational  'I wanna be like that!’”

Source: digital.spy

“Theres great TV around but a lot of it is really depressing”

“Whats great about this show is that its very aspirational. ... it also has this positive message about family and humanity, which I think we need at the moment”.

Source: uk.reuters.com

“I think John is very capable but I know what you mean. He’s not a scientist. All the others are really, really smart and he’s very good at wiring!”

“They wanted to make a show where we’d dealt with all that stereotypical crap and moved on. Our set-up is a modern world where gender rules no longer apply. I like the fact that Dr Smith, who was a man in the original, is a woman in our version  and its not an issue.”

“You gather quite quickly that this is not an apple pie American family. Johns wife has become the head of the family because he, feeling like a spare wheel, has gone off to do his job and they’re on the point of splitting when the story starts.”

“There’s dysfunction. That whole side of it gives the story a different kind of texture. What I loved about it was that you have to see the family evolve and that makes you want to hang out with them  you have to care about them because, in the middle of this unique, difficult situation, they’re trying to be better people.”

“It’s upbeat  it’s definitely not a depressing series, there are so many of those about. It’s escapism  but you can relate to it.”

“Finally, something the kids can see me in. There’s no way they could watch ‘Black Sails’  - much too salty”.

“ There was really nothing left for us to do  each series had got bigger and bigger, the stunts had got harder and harder. When you tell people you’re an actor they think all you’re doing is tarting about  and, to be frank, mostly they’re right. But by the end of ‘Black Sails’ my body was in bits!”

“It was pretty full-on, but easier on the body”

“I hope it comes back for more series  - that’s the plan. Theres a long way for this family to go.”

Source: metro.news

“I suppose it’s sort of chutzpah on my part to actually feel that I can fill these shoes [of characters with large cultural footprints]. It’s the same with ‘Lost in Space’. Loads of people hold this [show] very dear because they grew up watching it.”

“I was in Los Angeles and Canada for a few years when my parents were over here working. My mom was working in Stratford, Ontario, from 1976-80 in the theater there when Robin Phillips was artistic director. So there was a formative period of my childhood when I was consuming American TV: reruns of ‘Star Trek’, ‘Lost in Space’, ‘Gilligans Island’, ‘M*A*S*H’. . I didn’t go back, but there was a method to that  I felt it wasn’t going to help”.

“The first series was very much of the 60s: this pristine, apple pie American family. The characters and relationships [in this version] are more nuanced and muddled.”

“I really like the dynamic between Maureen and John. I felt that it was very real. John is trying to find his way back into the family while still being separated from Maureen.”

“I don’t think he has some idea that, ‘Oh, Im going to hook up with Maureen again’ when he goes off on this journey. It just so happens that  they find one another again.”

“I really like the idea of the romance of this piece being between the parents  which will probably gross out all the kids, but I think it’s lovely and unusual.”

Source: nypost.com

“Although I loved ‘Black Sails’, ‘Lost in Space’ was like holiday camp after that. It couldn’t have been more contrasting. ‘Black Sails’ was an amazing experience, but it was a really tough show for me to do. After four years, it was pretty exhausting because it was such a huge production. One would go to doing huge battle scenes and fights to doing these huge dialogue scenes. And also I was playing a very dark character, Captain Flint. So when that was all over, I was like I really cant do this anymore. I was really beaten up by it. ‘Lost in Space’ actually seemed like the perfect contrast. What I really love about this show is it’s a really affirming show. It’s very positive and very aspirational. It’s about people trying to do better, trying to survive, but also trying to be better people, better parents.”

“It was amazing. It was really refreshing with me. I hadn’t really worked so consistently with kids before. And I say kids but they all seem about 35. They’re really mature and professional. I enjoyed every moment of it. What they taught me was its very easy to become jaded in this industry. You find yourself moaning about various things. And then you’ve got these kids bouncing around so excited to be in these space suits, and it makes you go, ‘Oh my God, what happened to me?’ I want to be like that again.’”

Source: variety.com

“Its still a bit reverential of the idea of the original series.”

“I gleaned quite early from reading the script that this was a very different thing than the original series. I had memories of the series when I was a child.  I'd seen the original in re-runs, although I didn’t see the movie. But I just didn’t think there was any point in going back and watching the 1960s show again to try to help me with my choices."

“I grew up in the States and Canada for a while because my mum came over in the 1970s. We lived in Los Angeles for a couple of years and then moved to Canada for a few more. So I did have a chunk of my childhood very much based on American pop culture. I watched a lot of American TV, all those repeats of Star Trek, Fantasy Island, M*A*S*H, Lost in Space. All that stuff was the fodder of my childhood. And then Star Wars came out and totally blew my head off because I hadn't seen anything like it. Later on, I became much more interested in stuff like ‘Alien’ and ‘Blade Runner’. That’s why I like what were doing with ‘Lost in Space’. It’s fantasy and adventure but its real as well. The science aspect has similar qualities to ‘Interstellar’ or ‘The Martian’. It’s couched on some kind of reality. And also the family at the heart of it is real, it’s familiar to people.”

“Theres a lot of CGI on both of them but they were very different experiences. I loved doing ‘Black Sails’, but toward the end of it, it was really hard work. You had these huge, physical set pieces but also these long, intense dialogue scenes. There was a huge amount of work for me and after some weeks of doing that I was kind of burned out. And the character I was playing had such a dark journey. But ‘Lost in Space’ was a much lighter tone for me. I was working with kids who were so wonderful and full of enthusiasm that it was kind of infections, as opposed to a bunch of grown-ups in pirate outfits on ‘Black Sails’ who were all knackered on the set.”

“Yes, there was an actor in the robot suit. He had a really tough job. He would operate it and he also had a whole crew around him who were dealing with the lights and other technical aspects. It wasn’t CGI, although later it was augmented with CGI. But there was a physical entity which was incredibly helpful in terms of acting with it.”

“The original idea of Swiss Family Robinson in space  of a family stuck in extreme jeopardy and having to survive  thats a story that everyone can relate to. Its kids and parents reacting to each other in familiar ways, even though they’re a million light years away from Earth. But you can’t repeat what was done in the original, you can’t imitate what was so perfect about it. There’s no point of doing that. If your’e going to re-boot something, re-boot it in a totally original way that speaks to a new generation.”

Source: hollywoodreporter.com

“It's a very clever, modern reworking of a great story. ‘Lost In Space' is Swiss Family Robinson in space, so it was a story that existed before ‘Lost In Space’. The fundamental story is that it’s a family that is lost in a difficult, life-threatening situation and how it challenges them and brings them closer together. That is essentially what the story of this is, it’s just the context is a lot more modern."

"I think that's a really great thing that they're represented in such a strong light. The two young girls [of the family] are such strong, intelligent, capable women. I think the younger generation watching that will find that empowering and aspirational  'I wanna be like that!’"

Source: bustle.com

On gender equality movements:

"I think the movement’s are great. I am a parent of two girls and I have a wife who is very passionate, and I want a change for them, my wife and for all our friends.”

"I can only sympathise with and support the movement. Change needs to happen and it is mad that it has taken so long”.

"It is a correction. It is really needed at the moment. Being a parent of two young girls, I am really excited about a show that has two young girls who are represented as incredibly capable, strong, smart, and sassy.”

"It is really great that there is a show which is showing that. I am excited for my kids to watch that and excited for the whole generation of kids to watch those characters and aspire to be like that”.

"There are moments which are light. Also, what is fun is that it is taking the domestic situation essentially and putting it in space.

"So, there are these situations that occur and every parent or child will recognise... They have either been through that or seen them. But it is this extraordinary situation where they are million of years away from Earth (which makes it different).”

Source: newindianexpress.com

On Bollywood: 

"I haven't been asked back. I would love to work in Bollywood at a drop of the hat."

Source: business-standard.com

  On Bond:

“That was a surreal experience for me. Prior to doing a Bond film, I was a young actor doing classical theater and some BBC dramas. Then suddenly I was thrown into this franchise. I had never experienced anything like it. Everybody on the set knew each other  they’d done the previous movies together  so it was quite stressful. I was like the new boy, like the guest star on a series. But Barbara Broccoli was adamant that my part was played by somebody who was not a star. MGM wanted a star. So the casting went on for a long time while they argued about it  I was in limbo for two or three months”

“They were talking about people like Sean Penn, people who would never do it.”

“‘Die Another Day’ was pretty over the top. Even Pierce Brosnan thought the invisible car was a bit too much”

“They had reached the extreme peak where they could push in that direction. Nowadays they’ve got great actors and great writers. But at the time, the scripts were mutable and malleable and things didn’t tie up, so they had to change it while filming. Nowadays it looks like a more rigorous process.”

Source: hollywoodreporter.com

On the business::

"If any of my children wanted to get into it I would impress on them how ephemeral and how difficult it is. It’s a very fickle world, our business. And one has to be ready for that and really know that.”

On his mother:

“I'm immensely proud of her, I adore her, and I adore her work. I’m staggered by her”.

Source: romper.com

OTHERS ON TOBY:

Molly Parker on green screen acting: 

“I've learned a lot from Toby because I haven't done very much of it. I've had this experience a number of times on this show when we go to shoot something, and a lot of what we're supposedly seeing will be put in with the visual special effects after the fact. So you think you know what it is and you've read it, and then they'll show you their design and their mock-up of the thing that you're looking at, and it's really the scale that knocks me out. You think you're looking at this thing here, but actually it's here. That is something that, every time it happens, I remember that we are making something huge.”

SOURCE: denofgeek.com

[toby-stephens]

MARCH 2018 : TOBY NEWS

First trailers for ‘Lost in Space’ were released.

It was anticipated that ‘Hunter Killer’ would open in October following the collapse of Relativity Media.  

Toby appeared alongside his ‘Lost in Space’ co-stars at Wondercon where attendees saw the show debut.

IN TOBY’S OWN WORDS:

On ‘Lost in Space’:

"You're crash landing on this planet, you're encountering alien species, you're in zero G”

"Life is just human beings in a parallel situation, but also as a family”

“I think what I like most about John it’s a real family, a real modern family. He has faults. He’s not some ideal parent. He’s trying to be an ideal parent. That’s what I like they’re all struggling to be better. I think one of the things that I connected with being a parent myself and being far from an ideal parent, trying to be better as a parent.”

According to Stephens, he and Parker met privately to plan out their emotionally complex dynamic.

“I think we spoke early on. We had conversations where the both of us agreed that the relationship had to be as real as possible for people to care about the family. The stakes have to be real. You want them to survive, but most of all, you want whatever is going on to be figured out. Also, is it going to be figured out? Are they going to be able to patch things up?”

"It's a very clever, modern reworking of a great story. ‘Lost in Space’ is 'Swiss Family Robinson’ in space, so it was a story that existed before ‘Lost in Space’.

"The fundamental story is that it's a family that is lost in a difficult, life-threatening situation and how it challenges them and brings them closer together.”

"That is essentially what the story of this is, it's just the context is a lot more modern.”

"It's a more modern take on the '60s version. If you look at it now, it's charming, but it seems so innocent. Whereas this is a version that is for our time.”

"I'm hoping it will still have humor and humanity in it, but it has obviously gotta be for a modern audience."

“My character’s spent a lot of time away on military duty, so I’m slightly alienated from my children. So this family’s in quite a fragile place when they crash-land. They have to sort out all these massive problems about being on this planet, but at the same time try to find a way of dealing with one another. Then this robot comes along, and he’s more of a father figure for the son than I am!”

“It's tough for a dad to compete for his son's attention with a seven-foot tall, glowy-faced robot.”

OTHERS ON TOBY:

Maxwell Jenkins : “I got to work with Toby Stephens in a lot of my scenes. He made acting not quite acting. It was more of a conversation. And it was like I had lived with him as my dad for years and years. And him going away was my reality, because he was so good.”

Toby: “Thats extremely flattering. It is one of those things where we have kids. He’s the same age as my son. I found it very confusing, because I had spent a lot of time filming abroad over the last four to five years. And I’ve been away from my family for a long time. So I can really relate to John in this situation, because I’ve been away from home. And having to be away from my family for months at a time. And not fitting in, and having to find my way back into that. It made it quite easier to believe in the situation...I think Max ended up as an avatar."

[toby-stephens]

FEBRUARY 2018 : TOBY NEWS

Lost in Space launch date was announced as April 13 2018, and new trailers were released in anticipation.

According to Den of Geek, astronauts on the International Space Station have already seen the first episode from the relative safety of low Earth orbit - Netflix had made the series available for viewing in space with the streaming service providing NASA with access to the pilot episode.

[toby-stephens]

JANUARY 2018 : TOBY NEWS

The press is still busy publicising the new Netflix shows for 2018, including ‘Lost in Space’. 

It was announced that,  commitments permitting, Toby will be guesting at the London Film Comic Con on Saturday 28th July.

TOBY TRIVIA

In real life, a ‘Midsomer’ style murder investigation is underway in the village of Maids Moreton in Buckinghamshire in connection with the death of Peter Farquhar - a published novelist and lecturer at Buckingham University who was played by Toby in the 2013 film ‘Believe’.

IN TOBY’S OWN WORDS:

On ‘Lost in Space’:

“It's a broken relationship. These people are lost in extreme situations, but they also don't know if they're working as a couple.

"It’s a very clever, modern reworking of a great story".

"The fundamental story is that it's a family that is lost in a difficult, life-threatening situation and how it challenges them and brings them closer together. That is essentially what the story of this is, it's just the context is a lot more modern.

"It's a more modern take on the '60s version. If you look at it now, it's charming, but it seems so innocent. Whereas this is a version that is for our time. I'm hoping it will still have humor and humanity in it, but it has obviously gotta be for a modern audience."

Source: Collider.com

....and from the archives......