Bankside Films has boarded Calum Macdiarmid’s prison thriller Wasteman starring 2023 Screen Star of Tomorrow David Jonsson and Tom Blyth and has struck an early deal with Lionsgate for UK & Ireland rights.
Macdiarmid’s feature debut follows parolee Taylor, whose hopes of a fresh start are jeopardised by the arrival of dominant cellmate Dee, played by Blyth, who recently played the young Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes.
As Taylor finds solace and protection in Dee’s shadow, their bond is tested when Dee becomes the target of a vicious attack, leading to an...
Macdiarmid’s feature debut follows parolee Taylor, whose hopes of a fresh start are jeopardised by the arrival of dominant cellmate Dee, played by Blyth, who recently played the young Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes.
As Taylor finds solace and protection in Dee’s shadow, their bond is tested when Dee becomes the target of a vicious attack, leading to an...
- 5/10/2024
- ScreenDaily
Scottish actor Brian McCardie, who played Tommy Hunter in the BBC series “Line of Duty,” died on Sunday. He was 59.
His sister, Sarah McCardie, shared the news in a post on her X account. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Brian James McCardie (59), beloved son, brother, uncle and dear friend to so many. Brian passed away suddenly at home on Sunday 28th April. A wonderful and passionate actor on stage and screen, Brian loved his work and touched many lives, and is gone much too soon,” the statement reads. “We love him and will miss him greatly; please remember Brian in your thoughts. Funeral arrangements will be announced in the days ahead. As a family, we would ask for privacy at this time.”
McCardie’s representation, United Agents, also confirmed his death in a post on X: “We are shocked and so deeply saddened by...
His sister, Sarah McCardie, shared the news in a post on her X account. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Brian James McCardie (59), beloved son, brother, uncle and dear friend to so many. Brian passed away suddenly at home on Sunday 28th April. A wonderful and passionate actor on stage and screen, Brian loved his work and touched many lives, and is gone much too soon,” the statement reads. “We love him and will miss him greatly; please remember Brian in your thoughts. Funeral arrangements will be announced in the days ahead. As a family, we would ask for privacy at this time.”
McCardie’s representation, United Agents, also confirmed his death in a post on X: “We are shocked and so deeply saddened by...
- 4/30/2024
- by Lexi Carson
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy’s sweeping portrait of a wealthy British family in 1880s London, is getting its third TV adaptation in less than 60 years.
PBS Masterpiece has set a six-part season based on the 1920s novels, with BAFTA-nominated Poldark writer Debbie Horsfield penning the adaptation, designed to become a returning series.
It follows the BBC’s 1967 adaptation, which was watched by audiences of up to 18M. The 2002 version aired on ITV and featured a cast including Damian Lewis and Gina McKee.
The latest reimagining is housed at Mammoth Screen, the ITV Studios-backed British production company behind Parade’s End, The Serpent, and Victoria. Filming begins next month in England, Wales, and Italy.
Mammoth has gathered an ensemble cast for the series, led by BAFTA-winner Francesca Annis (Lillie), who plays formidable Forsyte matriarch Ann.
True Blood star Stephen Moyer (Sexy Beast) features as Ann’s eldest son, Jolyon Senior,...
PBS Masterpiece has set a six-part season based on the 1920s novels, with BAFTA-nominated Poldark writer Debbie Horsfield penning the adaptation, designed to become a returning series.
It follows the BBC’s 1967 adaptation, which was watched by audiences of up to 18M. The 2002 version aired on ITV and featured a cast including Damian Lewis and Gina McKee.
The latest reimagining is housed at Mammoth Screen, the ITV Studios-backed British production company behind Parade’s End, The Serpent, and Victoria. Filming begins next month in England, Wales, and Italy.
Mammoth has gathered an ensemble cast for the series, led by BAFTA-winner Francesca Annis (Lillie), who plays formidable Forsyte matriarch Ann.
True Blood star Stephen Moyer (Sexy Beast) features as Ann’s eldest son, Jolyon Senior,...
- 4/30/2024
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Brian McCardie, the Scottish actor best known as Line of Duty crime boss Tommy Hunter, has died aged 59.
The actor’s family confirmed his death through his sister Sarah’s X account.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Brian James McCardie (59), beloved son, brother, uncle and dear friend to so many,” the statement read. “Brian passed away suddenly at home on Sunday 28th April.
“A wonderful and passionate actor on stage and screen, Brian loved his work and touched many lives, and is gone much too soon. We love him and will miss him greatly; please remember Brian in your thoughts. Funeral arrangements will be announced in the days ahead. As a family, we would ask for privacy at this time.”
McCardie only appeared in hit BBC cop drama Line of Duty three times, but his important role is well remembered, and he acted in...
The actor’s family confirmed his death through his sister Sarah’s X account.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Brian James McCardie (59), beloved son, brother, uncle and dear friend to so many,” the statement read. “Brian passed away suddenly at home on Sunday 28th April.
“A wonderful and passionate actor on stage and screen, Brian loved his work and touched many lives, and is gone much too soon. We love him and will miss him greatly; please remember Brian in your thoughts. Funeral arrangements will be announced in the days ahead. As a family, we would ask for privacy at this time.”
McCardie only appeared in hit BBC cop drama Line of Duty three times, but his important role is well remembered, and he acted in...
- 4/30/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Industry and Rye Lane star David Jonsson is writing his first television drama series.
Deadline can reveal that Jonsson is working with Baby Reindeer producer Clerkenwell Films on Hype (working title), a comedy-drama series about four friends in East London who attempt to enter the world of fashion retail.
Plot details are under wraps but we hear the project will explore Black culture’s influence on British fashion through the lives of the friends, who embody a a culture of hustle.
Jonsson is set to write, executive produce and star in the series. He has been working with senior execs at Somewhere Boy and The End of the F***ing World producer Clerkenwell to shape the scripts. Petra Fried and Rachelle Constant are executive producers for the BBC Studios-owned indie.
“It’s important to me to put a lens on interesting stories, stories that represent where I’m from and what I seem,...
Deadline can reveal that Jonsson is working with Baby Reindeer producer Clerkenwell Films on Hype (working title), a comedy-drama series about four friends in East London who attempt to enter the world of fashion retail.
Plot details are under wraps but we hear the project will explore Black culture’s influence on British fashion through the lives of the friends, who embody a a culture of hustle.
Jonsson is set to write, executive produce and star in the series. He has been working with senior execs at Somewhere Boy and The End of the F***ing World producer Clerkenwell to shape the scripts. Petra Fried and Rachelle Constant are executive producers for the BBC Studios-owned indie.
“It’s important to me to put a lens on interesting stories, stories that represent where I’m from and what I seem,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Happy Valley has won a trio of Broadcasting Press Guild Awards (Bpg) a day after being nominated for six BAFTAs.
The final season of Sally Wainwright’s BBC/AMC+ epic scooped the Best Drama, Best Writer and Best Actress awards. The Sarah Lancashire-starrer ended with a bang as Lancashire’s Catherine Cawood faced off with James Norton’s Tommy Lee Royce, and the show will not be returning.
Elsewhere at the BPGs, which turns 50 this year with a ceremony in London, ITV hit Mr Bates vs the Post Office was given a jury prize and The Crown exec Andy Harries won the coveted Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting, a few months after Netflix’s royal saga ended.
Gary Oldman scooped the Best Actor prize for his role in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, a day after being snubbed by the BAFTAs. The BBC’s Time was Best Drama Mini Series,...
The final season of Sally Wainwright’s BBC/AMC+ epic scooped the Best Drama, Best Writer and Best Actress awards. The Sarah Lancashire-starrer ended with a bang as Lancashire’s Catherine Cawood faced off with James Norton’s Tommy Lee Royce, and the show will not be returning.
Elsewhere at the BPGs, which turns 50 this year with a ceremony in London, ITV hit Mr Bates vs the Post Office was given a jury prize and The Crown exec Andy Harries won the coveted Harvey Lee Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting, a few months after Netflix’s royal saga ended.
Gary Oldman scooped the Best Actor prize for his role in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, a day after being snubbed by the BAFTAs. The BBC’s Time was Best Drama Mini Series,...
- 3/21/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Talk about effective trailers. The one-minute teaser for Alien: Romulus captures the terror of being trapped with a creature while not giving away any spoilers.
The teaser arrived along with a poster and new stills from the much-anticipated, long-awaited eighth entry in the Alien franchise. Alien: Romulus is set between 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens, and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter director Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead) confirmed how it fits into the Alien universe.
“I love all of those movies. I didn’t want to omit or ignore any of them when it comes to connections at a story level, character level, technology level and creature level. There’s always connections from Alien to Alien: Covenant,” said Álvarez says.
The sci-fi film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), and Aileen Wu.
The teaser arrived along with a poster and new stills from the much-anticipated, long-awaited eighth entry in the Alien franchise. Alien: Romulus is set between 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens, and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter director Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead) confirmed how it fits into the Alien universe.
“I love all of those movies. I didn’t want to omit or ignore any of them when it comes to connections at a story level, character level, technology level and creature level. There’s always connections from Alien to Alien: Covenant,” said Álvarez says.
The sci-fi film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), and Aileen Wu.
- 3/20/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
BritBox International has its new leader following BBC Studios’ takeover of the streamer.
Robert Schildhouse has been promoted to President of BritBox North America and General Manager of BritBox International following the deal, which saw the BBC’s commercial arm pay £255M ($325M) to buy ITV’s 50% stake in the best-of-British streamer and assume full control.
As part of the deal, it was announced current BritBox International Reemah Sakaan would be exiting.
The New York-based Schildhouse is upped from Gm of BritBox North America and Group Editorial for BritBox International, leading the operation in the U.S. and Canada and global content and editorial. In his new role, he will also assume responsibility for product, technology and marketing.
Before joining BritBox, he held roles at CBS, where he struck content deals, and was part of the Hulu launch team.
Kerry Ball will remain as BritBox International’s Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer,...
Robert Schildhouse has been promoted to President of BritBox North America and General Manager of BritBox International following the deal, which saw the BBC’s commercial arm pay £255M ($325M) to buy ITV’s 50% stake in the best-of-British streamer and assume full control.
As part of the deal, it was announced current BritBox International Reemah Sakaan would be exiting.
The New York-based Schildhouse is upped from Gm of BritBox North America and Group Editorial for BritBox International, leading the operation in the U.S. and Canada and global content and editorial. In his new role, he will also assume responsibility for product, technology and marketing.
Before joining BritBox, he held roles at CBS, where he struck content deals, and was part of the Hulu launch team.
Kerry Ball will remain as BritBox International’s Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer,...
- 3/18/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Impression Entertainment has signed Gloria Obianyo, an actress seen in everything from Dune and the latest Mission: Impossible to Amazon’s Good Omens, for management.
Most recently seen recurring opposite David Tennant and Michael Sheen on Good Omens, in the role of the archangel Uriel, Obianyo around the same time recurred in the seventh season of Starz’s hit historical fantasy series Outlander.
Seen in recent tentpoles Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and Dune, Obianyo prior to that made a splash on the film side in A24′ sci-f horror High Life, marking the English-language debut of renowned French filmmaker Claire Denis, which had her starring alongside Robert Pattinson and Mia Goth.
Currently wrapping up a critically acclaimed run in a Yael Farber-directed production of King Lear at The Almeida Theatre in London, Obianyo has also been seen in such Almeida productions as The Clinic and Next Please: The Keyworkers Cycle.
Most recently seen recurring opposite David Tennant and Michael Sheen on Good Omens, in the role of the archangel Uriel, Obianyo around the same time recurred in the seventh season of Starz’s hit historical fantasy series Outlander.
Seen in recent tentpoles Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and Dune, Obianyo prior to that made a splash on the film side in A24′ sci-f horror High Life, marking the English-language debut of renowned French filmmaker Claire Denis, which had her starring alongside Robert Pattinson and Mia Goth.
Currently wrapping up a critically acclaimed run in a Yael Farber-directed production of King Lear at The Almeida Theatre in London, Obianyo has also been seen in such Almeida productions as The Clinic and Next Please: The Keyworkers Cycle.
- 3/11/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Good afternoon Insiders, Jesse Whittock with you in London, where the TV world has decamped this week for a series of screenings. Read on, and sign up for the newsletter here.
Unpacking The BritBox Deal & London TV Screenings
Beeb bags BritBox: As we expected, the big news in international entertainment came out of London this week. However, while we were assuming the biggest deal would be a program package emerging from the London TV Screenings (more on that below), BBC Studios and ITV surprised everyone this morning with some tasty M&a. A regulatory statement to the London Stock Exchange revealed the BBC’s commercial arm had paid £255M ($322M) to acquire ITV’s 50% shareholding in their joint venture, best-of-British streamer BritBox International. This, we hear, is the biggest single transaction in BBC Studios’ history and marks a new direction for the seven-year old streamer, which is profitable and has...
Unpacking The BritBox Deal & London TV Screenings
Beeb bags BritBox: As we expected, the big news in international entertainment came out of London this week. However, while we were assuming the biggest deal would be a program package emerging from the London TV Screenings (more on that below), BBC Studios and ITV surprised everyone this morning with some tasty M&a. A regulatory statement to the London Stock Exchange revealed the BBC’s commercial arm had paid £255M ($322M) to acquire ITV’s 50% shareholding in their joint venture, best-of-British streamer BritBox International. This, we hear, is the biggest single transaction in BBC Studios’ history and marks a new direction for the seven-year old streamer, which is profitable and has...
- 3/1/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Looking for a bit of mystery? The best of British streamer BritBox is heading into the new month with a crime-heavy collection of new film and TV titles! The month will kick off with the BritBox exclusive serial adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery “Murder Is Easy,” starring David Jonsson and Penelope Wilton. Continue throughout March for repeat offenders, like Season 2 of the multi-bafta Award-winning anthology series “Time,” the complete 12-season police procedural program “Trial & Retribution,” or the 1990s crime drama “Killer Net.”
Check out The Streamable’s top picks for BritBox’s latest additions and learn everything coming to the streamer this March!
7-Day Free Trial $8.99+ / month BritBox.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to BritBox in March 2024? “Agatha Christie's Murder Is Easy” | Friday, March 1
David Jonsson leads the cast as the young and ambitious Luke Fitzwilliam in the recent BBC One Christie adaptation. Arriving from...
Check out The Streamable’s top picks for BritBox’s latest additions and learn everything coming to the streamer this March!
7-Day Free Trial $8.99+ / month BritBox.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to BritBox in March 2024? “Agatha Christie's Murder Is Easy” | Friday, March 1
David Jonsson leads the cast as the young and ambitious Luke Fitzwilliam in the recent BBC One Christie adaptation. Arriving from...
- 2/29/2024
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
Starring Rye Lane’s David Jonsson and Saint Maud’s Morfydd Clark, this exciting new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder Is Easy premiered on the BBC at Christmas. Now the hugely popular miniseries will be making its debut on Brit-box.
The series tells follows Luke Fitzwilliam (Johnson), as he finds himself on the trail of a serial killer after meeting an elderly lady on a train to London. Now Fitzwilliam has to find the killer before any more blood will be shed.
We spoke to Jonsson about being the first black actor to play lead in a Christie murder mystery on national television. ElseWhere, Clark spoke about taking on mainstream tv after the great success she experienced after the release of Saint Maud in 2019.
The show will be released on Britbox on the 1st of March, 2024.
The post Morfydd Clark & David Jonsson talk to us about staring in the exciting Agatha Christie mystery thriller,...
The series tells follows Luke Fitzwilliam (Johnson), as he finds himself on the trail of a serial killer after meeting an elderly lady on a train to London. Now Fitzwilliam has to find the killer before any more blood will be shed.
We spoke to Jonsson about being the first black actor to play lead in a Christie murder mystery on national television. ElseWhere, Clark spoke about taking on mainstream tv after the great success she experienced after the release of Saint Maud in 2019.
The show will be released on Britbox on the 1st of March, 2024.
The post Morfydd Clark & David Jonsson talk to us about staring in the exciting Agatha Christie mystery thriller,...
- 2/28/2024
- by Linda Marric
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Exclusive: Fifth Season is selling more than $1B worth of Apple TV+ content including Jason Momoa-starrer See, Nicole Kidman’s Roar and M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant at the London TV Screenings.
Prentiss Fraser, Fifth Season’s president of TV distribution, said the move realizes the outfit’s long-term strategy of landing big streamer shows that can then be sold in their second window to smaller buyers.
She said there is “little crossover” between Apple TV+ subscribers and regular linear broadcast viewers in crucial territories, which highlights the opportunities for second window. The UK, for example, is estimated to have around 2 million Apple TV+ subs – just 3% of the population.
Fifth Season’s London Apple slate includes four seasons of Shyamalan’s psychological horror Servant, three seasons of Steven Knight’s Momoa sci-fi vehicle See and another three of Octavia Spencer-starring legal drama Truth Be Told. There is also...
Prentiss Fraser, Fifth Season’s president of TV distribution, said the move realizes the outfit’s long-term strategy of landing big streamer shows that can then be sold in their second window to smaller buyers.
She said there is “little crossover” between Apple TV+ subscribers and regular linear broadcast viewers in crucial territories, which highlights the opportunities for second window. The UK, for example, is estimated to have around 2 million Apple TV+ subs – just 3% of the population.
Fifth Season’s London Apple slate includes four seasons of Shyamalan’s psychological horror Servant, three seasons of Steven Knight’s Momoa sci-fi vehicle See and another three of Octavia Spencer-starring legal drama Truth Be Told. There is also...
- 2/27/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Vivian Oparah is aware of the spotlight on her following her BAFTA Film Awards nomination for her breakthrough performance in Searchlight’s romance movie Rye Lane, but she feels it’s imperative that she “stay grounded” because it’s a more disparate path towards stardom for Black actresses.
“For me, this is just the beginning of my career in so many ways, and to be recognized at this level so early on feels super special,” she tells me, “But I still understand that the trajectory of a Black female actor is very different to everyone else’s, so you can’t rest on your laurels because there isn’t a well trodden track that you can just jump on.”
Raine Allen-Miller’s debut feature Rye Lane, a rom-com scripted by Nathan Byron and Tom Melia and set in South London, sees Oparah playing opposite David Jonsson as strangers who have a chance encounter in a gender-neutral toilet and spend the day getting to know each other. Deadline critic Anna Smith called it “a big, energetic bounce forward” for the rom-com genre and called in a “sunny, irreverent take on life and love” that’s at its “most exhilarating when playing out in real time, Before Sunrise-style.” Oparah and Jonsson were lauded for their performances, landing them a Best Joint Lead Performance nomination and Oparah a Breakthrough Performance win at British Independent Film Awards, where the film competed in 16 categories. Then came the BAFTA nom.
“I’m grateful but you also need to stay grounded,” Oparah tells me from Los Angeles, where she’s been meeting her U.S. reps at CAA. She’ll be back in time for the BAFTA ceremony at London’s Southbank Centre on Sunday, February 18.
Yes, the attention that winning the BIFA for Breakthrough Performance and being up for a BAFTA brings is indeed “super special” but Oparah’s mantra is simply: Stay proactive, level-headed “and hard-working.”
I wonder, perhaps somewhat provocatively, whether she felt that a young white female actor in her situation would have had her face splashed all over the British press? Maybe, she answers, but then white female actors “have been working visibly for a lot longer time.”
And, she notes, that “if a moment like this happens in someone [from a traditional acting background]’s career” there’s “a clear path” to their next job. “I feel like for us, because we’ve we’ve only just been let into these spaces, that path hasn’t really been defined yet. It’s just a matter of continuing to work hard and sometimes defining that path for yourself.”
The good news is she is up for the challenge. ”That doesn’t intimidate me,” she says. “It excites me. The playing field still isn’t level and that’s fine. I don’t really internalise it. I just know that I can’t get swept away in the moment.”
David Jonsson,Raine Allen-Miller and Vivian Oprah at Sundance 2023
Oparah’s table at the BIFAs was next to where I was seated, and the stunned surprise on her face when her name was called brightened into the most gorgeous smile. If she initially looked stunned, it’s because, well, she was.
Equally, she calls the BAFTA nomination “insane and disorienting” because the category has so many people on it “that I am inspired by or look up to. I’m just so happy to be there, man, honestly.” It’s indeed top-level competition: Fantasia Barrino for The Color Purple, Sandra Hüller for Anatomy of a Fall, Carey Mulligan fir Maestro, Margot Robbie for Barbie and Emma Stone for Poor Things.
The movie’s also up for outstanding British Film, and those recognized on the nomination sheet are director Allen-Miller, producers Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo and Damian Jones, and screenwriters Bryon and Melia.
The film was shot the film in 2021 during the Covid pandemic, with additional photography filmed a year later. Oparah laughs when she notes, “And now here we are three years on.”
The film’s available on Disney+ and every now and again I sneak a look at it, not only to marvel at the fact that a romcom featuring a Black, seemingly mismatched, couple of strangers — who meet cute in a lavatory in — got made, but also that the characters aren’t your stereotypical Black drug dealer or single mother with five kids. That’s a theme, by the way, that director Cord Jefferson observes in his brilliant American Fiction.
In Allen-Miller’s feature debut, Oparah’s Yas is a costume designer, who offers David Jonsson’s Dom, an accountant, a shoulder to cry on when she hears him wailing in the loo. Yes, Black people lead normal lives.
Yas is a bit of a live-wire, and Oparah loves that she’s not a measured, strait-laced romantic lead. ”She is messy and chaotic and is unapologetic in her mess, and I loved that they wanted to portray that,” she says, though she confesses it required “a lot of stamina.”
“They’re picking us because they want us“
When her agent at Independent Talent Group suggested she send in a self-tape to audition for Rye Lane — remember this was during lockdown and self-taping was novel — she scoffed at the idea, thinking, ‘No-one’s watching all of this’.”
Lo and behold, a month later she was meeting casting director Kharmel Cochrane, who was telling her to “just act cool” reading for the audition. “I was like, ‘I don’t know what that means… Have you been in my house?,'” she says laughing over our Zoom call.
After the audition, she did a chemistry read and got the part. She’s still shocked she got it.
“I was like, ‘You would want me to be in a romantic comedy?’ Usually, if you have a dark-skinned male lead you might have a light-skinned woman, and we’re both dark-skinned. I was like, ’They’re picking us because they want us.”
She admires Allen-Miller for creating “such a loving set” and because the director “cherry picks people that she thinks are extremely talented” but also has “a ‘no dickhead’ policy,” which was felt during filming as “everyone was so warm and collaborative.” For that reason, Oparah happily refers to the shoot as “my best filming experience.”
Hailing Allen-Miller as the “captain of the ship,” she was cheered to see “so early in my career, an example of someone who’s incredibly talented and unwavering in their kindness,” she says warmly. “Everyday you’re looking forward to be at work and seeing someone crafting something really masterfully.”
Meeting with her CAA agents has given her a boost, she says. “I have a lot of writing aspirations and everything that I thought that I wanted, but didn’t know how to access now seems accessible, and that’s the most exciting part for sure.” She adds, “I really want to actualise these writing projects.”
Writing was her first career arc, she jokes, “when I was literally a kid, when I was ten.” While she was appearing in a junior production of Snow White, gleefully playing the Wicked Witch, she and a friend wrote a book called Roxie and Dynamite, about two girls who were adopted and left to their own devices by the mother. “That was so fun to write,” she says, adding: “And I won a poetry contest when I was in primary school — I was like a book worm.” The tome has been carefully preserved by her mother.
Upcoming is a TV series, a comedy thriller called Dead Hot for Amazon’s Prime Video, directed by Sam Arbor and David Sant, and written by Charlotte Coben. Oparah plays Jess — “a very insecure, grief-stricken girl,” according to the actress. The role follows key parts in television shows that include Intelligence season 2, I May Destroy You and Class, a Doctor Who spin-off series.
I saw her at the Old Vic in Fanny & Alexander, but I really noticed her in Brandon Jacobs Jenkins’s exhilarating An Octoroon at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, my old stomping ground, and when it transferred to the Dorfman at the National Theatre.
She’s definitely up for more theatre. “Something boundary-pushing. I’d be down for that, for sure,” she says.
Out of nowhere, a line she utters in Rye Lane comes into my head [very mild spoiler follows]. It’s where Yas announces that she’s always wanted to own a restaurant called Maggots by Candlelight. I dunno, it’s silly and just makes me smile. I wonder whether some of the lines in Rye Lane will catch on with the public, the way, say, people quote from Notting Hill and Love Actually?
Oparah indulges me, and thinks my point isn’t as daft as it sounds.
“Rye Lane means so much to people in our community and that means the world to me,” she says. “The Black community isn’t a monolith, and we know that, and there are different pockets that this film still manages to resonate with: People from 17 to 60. I hope that it chrysalises in British culture.”
Now this is important: Oparah is a north Londoner, now based in Tottenham, though her early childhood was spent in Highbury. Soccer fans will know where this is headed.
Is she a Tottenham Hotspur supporter? Anticipating the question, Oparah quietly announces that she’s always been a follower of Arsenal. I raise my arms in delight.
“Oh, wow, you too!,” she cries.
Vivian Oparah will go far.
“For me, this is just the beginning of my career in so many ways, and to be recognized at this level so early on feels super special,” she tells me, “But I still understand that the trajectory of a Black female actor is very different to everyone else’s, so you can’t rest on your laurels because there isn’t a well trodden track that you can just jump on.”
Raine Allen-Miller’s debut feature Rye Lane, a rom-com scripted by Nathan Byron and Tom Melia and set in South London, sees Oparah playing opposite David Jonsson as strangers who have a chance encounter in a gender-neutral toilet and spend the day getting to know each other. Deadline critic Anna Smith called it “a big, energetic bounce forward” for the rom-com genre and called in a “sunny, irreverent take on life and love” that’s at its “most exhilarating when playing out in real time, Before Sunrise-style.” Oparah and Jonsson were lauded for their performances, landing them a Best Joint Lead Performance nomination and Oparah a Breakthrough Performance win at British Independent Film Awards, where the film competed in 16 categories. Then came the BAFTA nom.
“I’m grateful but you also need to stay grounded,” Oparah tells me from Los Angeles, where she’s been meeting her U.S. reps at CAA. She’ll be back in time for the BAFTA ceremony at London’s Southbank Centre on Sunday, February 18.
Yes, the attention that winning the BIFA for Breakthrough Performance and being up for a BAFTA brings is indeed “super special” but Oparah’s mantra is simply: Stay proactive, level-headed “and hard-working.”
I wonder, perhaps somewhat provocatively, whether she felt that a young white female actor in her situation would have had her face splashed all over the British press? Maybe, she answers, but then white female actors “have been working visibly for a lot longer time.”
And, she notes, that “if a moment like this happens in someone [from a traditional acting background]’s career” there’s “a clear path” to their next job. “I feel like for us, because we’ve we’ve only just been let into these spaces, that path hasn’t really been defined yet. It’s just a matter of continuing to work hard and sometimes defining that path for yourself.”
The good news is she is up for the challenge. ”That doesn’t intimidate me,” she says. “It excites me. The playing field still isn’t level and that’s fine. I don’t really internalise it. I just know that I can’t get swept away in the moment.”
David Jonsson,Raine Allen-Miller and Vivian Oprah at Sundance 2023
Oparah’s table at the BIFAs was next to where I was seated, and the stunned surprise on her face when her name was called brightened into the most gorgeous smile. If she initially looked stunned, it’s because, well, she was.
Equally, she calls the BAFTA nomination “insane and disorienting” because the category has so many people on it “that I am inspired by or look up to. I’m just so happy to be there, man, honestly.” It’s indeed top-level competition: Fantasia Barrino for The Color Purple, Sandra Hüller for Anatomy of a Fall, Carey Mulligan fir Maestro, Margot Robbie for Barbie and Emma Stone for Poor Things.
The movie’s also up for outstanding British Film, and those recognized on the nomination sheet are director Allen-Miller, producers Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo and Damian Jones, and screenwriters Bryon and Melia.
The film was shot the film in 2021 during the Covid pandemic, with additional photography filmed a year later. Oparah laughs when she notes, “And now here we are three years on.”
The film’s available on Disney+ and every now and again I sneak a look at it, not only to marvel at the fact that a romcom featuring a Black, seemingly mismatched, couple of strangers — who meet cute in a lavatory in — got made, but also that the characters aren’t your stereotypical Black drug dealer or single mother with five kids. That’s a theme, by the way, that director Cord Jefferson observes in his brilliant American Fiction.
In Allen-Miller’s feature debut, Oparah’s Yas is a costume designer, who offers David Jonsson’s Dom, an accountant, a shoulder to cry on when she hears him wailing in the loo. Yes, Black people lead normal lives.
Yas is a bit of a live-wire, and Oparah loves that she’s not a measured, strait-laced romantic lead. ”She is messy and chaotic and is unapologetic in her mess, and I loved that they wanted to portray that,” she says, though she confesses it required “a lot of stamina.”
“They’re picking us because they want us“
When her agent at Independent Talent Group suggested she send in a self-tape to audition for Rye Lane — remember this was during lockdown and self-taping was novel — she scoffed at the idea, thinking, ‘No-one’s watching all of this’.”
Lo and behold, a month later she was meeting casting director Kharmel Cochrane, who was telling her to “just act cool” reading for the audition. “I was like, ‘I don’t know what that means… Have you been in my house?,'” she says laughing over our Zoom call.
After the audition, she did a chemistry read and got the part. She’s still shocked she got it.
“I was like, ‘You would want me to be in a romantic comedy?’ Usually, if you have a dark-skinned male lead you might have a light-skinned woman, and we’re both dark-skinned. I was like, ’They’re picking us because they want us.”
She admires Allen-Miller for creating “such a loving set” and because the director “cherry picks people that she thinks are extremely talented” but also has “a ‘no dickhead’ policy,” which was felt during filming as “everyone was so warm and collaborative.” For that reason, Oparah happily refers to the shoot as “my best filming experience.”
Hailing Allen-Miller as the “captain of the ship,” she was cheered to see “so early in my career, an example of someone who’s incredibly talented and unwavering in their kindness,” she says warmly. “Everyday you’re looking forward to be at work and seeing someone crafting something really masterfully.”
Meeting with her CAA agents has given her a boost, she says. “I have a lot of writing aspirations and everything that I thought that I wanted, but didn’t know how to access now seems accessible, and that’s the most exciting part for sure.” She adds, “I really want to actualise these writing projects.”
Writing was her first career arc, she jokes, “when I was literally a kid, when I was ten.” While she was appearing in a junior production of Snow White, gleefully playing the Wicked Witch, she and a friend wrote a book called Roxie and Dynamite, about two girls who were adopted and left to their own devices by the mother. “That was so fun to write,” she says, adding: “And I won a poetry contest when I was in primary school — I was like a book worm.” The tome has been carefully preserved by her mother.
Upcoming is a TV series, a comedy thriller called Dead Hot for Amazon’s Prime Video, directed by Sam Arbor and David Sant, and written by Charlotte Coben. Oparah plays Jess — “a very insecure, grief-stricken girl,” according to the actress. The role follows key parts in television shows that include Intelligence season 2, I May Destroy You and Class, a Doctor Who spin-off series.
I saw her at the Old Vic in Fanny & Alexander, but I really noticed her in Brandon Jacobs Jenkins’s exhilarating An Octoroon at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, my old stomping ground, and when it transferred to the Dorfman at the National Theatre.
She’s definitely up for more theatre. “Something boundary-pushing. I’d be down for that, for sure,” she says.
Out of nowhere, a line she utters in Rye Lane comes into my head [very mild spoiler follows]. It’s where Yas announces that she’s always wanted to own a restaurant called Maggots by Candlelight. I dunno, it’s silly and just makes me smile. I wonder whether some of the lines in Rye Lane will catch on with the public, the way, say, people quote from Notting Hill and Love Actually?
Oparah indulges me, and thinks my point isn’t as daft as it sounds.
“Rye Lane means so much to people in our community and that means the world to me,” she says. “The Black community isn’t a monolith, and we know that, and there are different pockets that this film still manages to resonate with: People from 17 to 60. I hope that it chrysalises in British culture.”
Now this is important: Oparah is a north Londoner, now based in Tottenham, though her early childhood was spent in Highbury. Soccer fans will know where this is headed.
Is she a Tottenham Hotspur supporter? Anticipating the question, Oparah quietly announces that she’s always been a follower of Arsenal. I raise my arms in delight.
“Oh, wow, you too!,” she cries.
Vivian Oparah will go far.
- 2/9/2024
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The BBC is keeping its Agatha Christie tradition alive by setting Towards Zero as its next adaptation of the great author’s work.
Following on from 2023’s limited series Murder Is Easy, the BBC has commissioned Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited to reimagine the writer’s 1944 novel.
Towards Zero unfolds around the murder of an elderly widow at a clifftop seaside house, linking a failed suicide attempt, a schoolgirl wrongfully accused of theft, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player.
The book will be adapted by Rachel Bennette, the writer behind BAFTA-nominated Zadie Smith adaptation Nw. She has also written on World on Fire and Ripper Street.
Towards Zero will go into production over the summer. The series is co-produced by BritBox International, while Fifth Season will handle international distribution.
Executive producers are James Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited; Damien Timmer and Sheena Bucktowonsing for Mammoth Screen; Rachel Bennette,...
Following on from 2023’s limited series Murder Is Easy, the BBC has commissioned Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited to reimagine the writer’s 1944 novel.
Towards Zero unfolds around the murder of an elderly widow at a clifftop seaside house, linking a failed suicide attempt, a schoolgirl wrongfully accused of theft, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player.
The book will be adapted by Rachel Bennette, the writer behind BAFTA-nominated Zadie Smith adaptation Nw. She has also written on World on Fire and Ripper Street.
Towards Zero will go into production over the summer. The series is co-produced by BritBox International, while Fifth Season will handle international distribution.
Executive producers are James Prichard for Agatha Christie Limited; Damien Timmer and Sheena Bucktowonsing for Mammoth Screen; Rachel Bennette,...
- 2/6/2024
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
The BBC has just released a two-episode miniseries adapted from Agatha Christie’s murder mystery titled Murder is Easy. It would be fair to say that reading Agatha Christie’s stories is much more engaging than watching something that has been adapted from the source material. But Murder is Easy is an easy-on-the eyes, quite picturesque adaptation of Christie’s work. It might not be that thrilling, but it takes us back to the scenic England village where someone might be murdering people in cold blood. The juxtaposition is nicely explored, but the performances feel jaded. Set in Wychwood village in England, the miniseries shows us how a Nigerian man sets foot in the village and tries to get to the bottom of all the strange ‘accidents’ happening around town. There is a special reason for him to be doing so, and he finds himself going too far down the Wychwood rabbit hole,...
- 12/30/2023
- by Ayush Awasthi
- Film Fugitives
The BBC’s latest Agatha Christie adaptation concluded last night ahead of ITV’s Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? from over the Easter Weekend.
Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy, starring Industry’s David Jonsson as an amateur sleuth working with Rings of Power star Morfydd Clark, was watched by 2.8M viewers last night, losing 800,000 from Wednesday’s opener. Both episodes launched on BBC iPlayer on Wednesday morning so had been available for some time prior to linear launch.
One of the flagship shows of the BBC Christmas schedule, Murder is Easy was the sixth Christie adaptation over the past decade after a landmark deal with Agatha Christie Productions Limited, and the first not to be penned by Sarah Phelps, with Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre taking on writing duties.
Produced by Mammoth Screen, Murder is Easy followed Luke Fitzwilliam (Jonsson), a Nigerian attaché on his way to Whitehall when he meets...
Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy, starring Industry’s David Jonsson as an amateur sleuth working with Rings of Power star Morfydd Clark, was watched by 2.8M viewers last night, losing 800,000 from Wednesday’s opener. Both episodes launched on BBC iPlayer on Wednesday morning so had been available for some time prior to linear launch.
One of the flagship shows of the BBC Christmas schedule, Murder is Easy was the sixth Christie adaptation over the past decade after a landmark deal with Agatha Christie Productions Limited, and the first not to be penned by Sarah Phelps, with Siân Ejiwunmi-Le Berre taking on writing duties.
Produced by Mammoth Screen, Murder is Easy followed Luke Fitzwilliam (Jonsson), a Nigerian attaché on his way to Whitehall when he meets...
- 12/29/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Contains spoilers for Murder is Easy including the identity of the murderer.
A Christmas Christie is a treat and Murder is Easy scratches that itch very nicely. Telling the story of a rural village of two halves where people keep getting murdered while the police seemingly do nothing, this latest adap written by Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre makes some meaty changes to Christie’s original story. Most noticeably our hero, Luke Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson) is no longer a white policeman but a young Nigerian diplomat. After encountering a lady on a train (Penelope Wilton) who tells him about the deaths in the village and that they were carried out by a respectable person with a point to make, and who is subsequently killed herself, Fitzwilliam feels it’s his duty to find out what’s going on.
In the village of Wychwood Fitzwilliam meets a racist doctor (played by Mathew Bayton...
A Christmas Christie is a treat and Murder is Easy scratches that itch very nicely. Telling the story of a rural village of two halves where people keep getting murdered while the police seemingly do nothing, this latest adap written by Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre makes some meaty changes to Christie’s original story. Most noticeably our hero, Luke Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson) is no longer a white policeman but a young Nigerian diplomat. After encountering a lady on a train (Penelope Wilton) who tells him about the deaths in the village and that they were carried out by a respectable person with a point to make, and who is subsequently killed herself, Fitzwilliam feels it’s his duty to find out what’s going on.
In the village of Wychwood Fitzwilliam meets a racist doctor (played by Mathew Bayton...
- 12/28/2023
- by Rosie Fletcher
- Den of Geek
Agatha Christie would have approved of modern-day revisions to her written works, says her great-grandson James Pritchard.
This Christmas, the BBC is airing one of Christie’s lesser-known works, Murder is Easy, with its central character Luke Fitzwilliam given a Nigerian background, in a change to his character in the novel of the same name, published in 1939.
Pritchard, now in charge of the company overseeing his famous relative’s literary legacy and bringing it to new audiences, told the UK’s Radio Times magazine that he’s convinced Christie would have been in favour of making changes to her text, in terms of both storylines and characterisation.
He said:
“The first few adaptations of her plays were done by other people, and she didn’t like them because she didn’t think they were radical enough for the change in medium.
“She recognised that when you shift the medium, you need to shift the story…...
This Christmas, the BBC is airing one of Christie’s lesser-known works, Murder is Easy, with its central character Luke Fitzwilliam given a Nigerian background, in a change to his character in the novel of the same name, published in 1939.
Pritchard, now in charge of the company overseeing his famous relative’s literary legacy and bringing it to new audiences, told the UK’s Radio Times magazine that he’s convinced Christie would have been in favour of making changes to her text, in terms of both storylines and characterisation.
He said:
“The first few adaptations of her plays were done by other people, and she didn’t like them because she didn’t think they were radical enough for the change in medium.
“She recognised that when you shift the medium, you need to shift the story…...
- 12/17/2023
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
For the last five years, January has meant one thing to the cast of Ghosts: trundling over to West Horsley Place in Surrey to film the next series. Not in 2024. The BBC comedy’s final episode is set to air this Christmas, and after that, what do this in-demand lot have planned?
Plenty, it turns out. They’ll be popping up on screen and stage, as well as writing new projects both individually and together. As Larry Rickard told Den of Geek, “It’s not like we’re [famously fractious 70s soft rock band] The Eagles and we hate each other!” A Ghosts reunion down the line “wouldn’t be a mountain to climb,” says Rickard. “It’s a door that’s shut but obviously, doors have hinges and handles.”
And ghosts can just walk through them, we venture? “Well exactly, they haven’t even got to go to the effort of opening them.”
“We were quite definite,...
Plenty, it turns out. They’ll be popping up on screen and stage, as well as writing new projects both individually and together. As Larry Rickard told Den of Geek, “It’s not like we’re [famously fractious 70s soft rock band] The Eagles and we hate each other!” A Ghosts reunion down the line “wouldn’t be a mountain to climb,” says Rickard. “It’s a door that’s shut but obviously, doors have hinges and handles.”
And ghosts can just walk through them, we venture? “Well exactly, they haven’t even got to go to the effort of opening them.”
“We were quite definite,...
- 11/10/2023
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
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