Latest news with #PBSMasterpiece
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Peter Straughan breaks down the power plays and personal tragedy in ‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light'
Few screenwriters working today are as adept at exploring the ins and outs of power—who has it, who wants it, and who will do anything to get it — as Conclave Oscar winner Peter Straughan. After picking up the Academy Award, he returned with another twisty, intricate tale of men plotting behind one another's backs with Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the second and final adaptation of Hilary Mantel's historical novels that just finished airing on PBS Masterpiece. "Hilary's very accurate," Straughan tells Gold Derby over Zoom. "All the externals are accurate. And then, her great gift was to make the internals come to life." More from GoldDerby The surprising scene that the 'Andor' cinematographer loved the most Clancy Brown, Joel McHale, and more actors who self-submitted at this year's Emmys 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge on building an aspirational hero - who's not a superhero Mantel's beloved novels cast a fresh look upon the court of Henry VIII, in particular his advisor and confidant, Thomas Cromwell. And though Straughan had to condense Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies into a single season, The Mirror and the Light gets a full six episodes. And Straughan relished the challenge of distilling a nearly 800-page book into six hours of TV. "It's a huge novel, but I would give anything, any day, to have books like that to adapt," he says. "The material is so great. It's full of things you can use for drama: incredible scenes, great dialogue. The task was, of all the TV dramas you could make out of this, which one do you want to make?"Ultimately, Straughan focused on the ways in which Cromwell is unable to extricate himself from Henry VIII's seductive — and dangerous — inner circle, despite more than a few opportunities. And one of the great gifts of The Mirror and the Light is getting to see Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance return as Henry and Cromwell, playing their sometimes fraternal, sometimes fractious relationship for all its worth. "It gives you tremendous confidence when you're working with actors of that caliber," Straughan says. 'It makes you feel like you can do a lot of things that might make you nervous otherwise. When you're nervous about a scene, you put a lot more scaffolding in to make sure everything's clear. When you've got someone like Mark or Damian, you can [write] it with fewer touches, because you know they're gonna fill it all in with their faces, with their eyes." Those moments are among the most memorable — not just because of the performances, but because of Straughan's unerring eye for the telling detail and his pitch-perfect selection of what will work onscreen from Mantel's book. Think of Henry VIII's disappointed eagerness with Cromwell's reaction to his fancy dress costume, or Anne Boleyn's heartbreaking trembling in the moments before her execution, which opens the series. In this version, the executioner makes a noise behind Anne, which she turns towards, still blindfolded. And in the span of that moment, he steps back to her other side and slices off her head. The moment is unnerving, a stark reminder of the very real life-and-death stakes at play in Henry's court. There's another remarkable moment in that scene that Straughan also pulled from the book and singles out: 'She puts her hand up, and Cromwell says, 'Put your hand down. Put your hand down, because he'll cut through the hand.' Which is a horrible detail, but it always gets to me.' And though casual history buffs know that Cromwell, too, will end up on the executioner's block, Straughan's scripts have a level of immediacy that allows us to forget. 'We all know death's at the end of the journey. Always. The important thing is how does it happen?' Straughan says. 'And the thing that was so interesting with Cromwell's story was it's not very linear. It wasn't a slow decline. It was more like he was holding onto a balloon, then he goes higher and higher and you get scared for him. But I do think it's amazing that I felt myself, when I was watching it, that even though you know how it's gonna end, there's a bit of, like, Anne in the end of the first season, who still hopes somehow she's gonna be saved.' Best of GoldDerby 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge on building an aspirational hero — who's not a superhero Jonathan Pryce on the 'great responsibility' of playing a character with dementia in 'Slow Horses' 'Feel good about not conforming': Christina Ricci reflects on her iconic roles, from Wednesday Addams to Misty Quigley Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Deadline's Sound & Screen At SXSW London Saw Honor For Oscar Winner Anne Dudley And Music From ‘Chad Powers', ‘Shrinking' & More
Deadline's Sound & Screen event made its London debut during SXSW London on Saturday, honoring Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley and featuring live performances from hit screen projects, including Shrinking and Arcane. On a rainy summer's day in London, Deadline provided a ray of musical sunshine for a packed audience at the historic Shoreditch Church. Dudley, who won an Academy prize for her work on The Full Monty, took to the stage to perform a medley of her work, including Poldark and Jeeves and Wooster. More from Deadline 'Cielo' Producers Talk Opportunities & Challenges Of Shooting In Bolivia: "It's Such An Extraordinary And Diverse Landscape" Tony Awards 2025: The Musical Performances Deadline's Tony Awards Live Blog She was awarded Sound & Screen's inaugural Impact Award, with Baz Bamigboye, Deadline columnist and master of ceremonies, presenting her with the prize following her performance. Dudley said the award would sit alongside her Oscar, Grammy, Brit, and Ivor Novello prizes, telling Bamigboye that there had been a 'sea change' in the opportunities for women in music and film. She also looked ahead to her next project, PBS Masterpiece's sweeping period drama The Forsytes, which is due to premiere this year. Dudley confirmed a second series is filming this summer. The lineup also included the composers: Natalie Holt with Chad Powers; Tom Howe with Shrinking and Dog Man; Nainita Desai with Love & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf and Secrets of the Penguin; and Alex Seaver with Arcane. Howe revealed that he planned to be involved in Season 4 of Ted Lasso, building on his work on previous seasons of Apple TV+'s Emmy-winning series. Filming starts in July/August, Howe confirmed, after he performed music from Shrinking, which is also featured on Apple. Elsewhere, Desai talked about her love of scoring natural history and why she felt connected to Love & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf, the documentary that premiered at SXSW on Friday. Holt discussed getting her head around American Football for Chad Powers, the upcoming Hulu series starring Glen Powell. Desai summed up her role like this: 'With film and TV composers, we have this kind of superpower. We have this ability to be able to manipulate people's emotions and make them feel something.' Fittingly, as Sound & Screen reached London, there was a musical tribute to Abbey Road, the iconic recording studio nestled in the north-west of the English capital. Instantly recognizable feature scores for Harry Potter, Goldeneye, and Jurassic World were performed. Mirek Stiles, head of audio products at Abbey Road Studios, told Deadline's Stewart Clarke that there were ongoing 'conversations' with Sam Mendes about recording the score for his four Beatles films at the studio. The Music Box Ensemble provided the orchestra for the event. Steve Morris and Marianne Haynes played violin, Triona Milne was on the viola, Chris Allen was the celloist, Kat Tinker was the pianist, Tommy Emmerton provided guitar, Chris Hill played the bass, and Ralph Salmins was on drums. Sound & Screen was produced in partnership with Abbey Road, PRS for Music, ASCAP, BMI, SCL and AWFC. { pmcCnx({ settings: { plugins: { pmcAtlasMG: { iabPlcmt: 1, }, pmcCnx: { singleAutoPlay: 'auto' } } }, playerId: "32fe25c4-79aa-406a-af44-69b41e969e71", mediaId: "e61910c9-95f0-4053-a1ad-f87c2449ee08", }).render("connatix_player_e61910c9-95f0-4053-a1ad-f87c2449ee08_2"); }); Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media Where To Watch All The 'John Wick' Movies: Streamers That Have All Four Films
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A 'Count of Monte Cristo' TV Show Is Coming to PBS Masterpiece Next Year
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." In the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas, Edmond Dantes is imprisoned for a crime has not committed. While confined to the Château d'If, a prison, 'he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo, and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration.'$9.11 at The Count of Monte Cristo has captivated readers for generations, and now, a television adaptation is coming to PBS Masterpiece next year, directed by Oscar winner Bille August. Here's what we know about the series. The rest of the cast is as follows: Ana Girardot as Mercédès Jeremy Irons as Abbé Faria Mikkel Boe Følsgaard as Gérard de Villefort Blake Ritson as Danglars Karla-Simone Spence as Haydée Nicolas Maupas as Albert De Morcerf Lino Guanciale as Vampa Michele Riondino as Jacopo Gabriella Pession as Hermine Production for The Count of Monte Cristo took place in Paris, Torino, Rome, and Malta. The Count of Monte Cristo premiered at the 19th Rome Film Festival in October 2024, and aired in Switzerland, Sweden, and Italy. Per PBS, The Count of Monte Cristo is 'produced by Palomar and DEMD Productions, two Mediawan companies, and distributed worldwide by MediawanRights in cooperation with CAA (for North America) and with the participation of Entourage Ventures.' There will be eight episodes. No specific premiere date has been set yet, we'll update this as soon as we learn more. You Might Also Like 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion 13 Beauty Tools to Up Your At-Home Facial Game
Economist
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Economist
The six best screen adaptations of Jane Austen's novels
'JANE AUSTEN Wrecked My Life', claims the title of a recent French film comedy written and directed by Laura Piani. Unlikely. Adaptations of the author's wise and witty novels have long entertained film and TV audiences. This year—the 250th anniversary of Austen's birt h —offers an occasion to revisit the best. Joe Wright's 'Pride & Prejudice' is back in cinemas in America and Britain; starting on May 4th PBS Masterpiece in America will air the BBC's biographical drama 'Miss Austen'. Skip the duds, such as the facetious horror spoof 'Pride + Prejudice + Zombies' and Netflix's lifeless 'Persuasion'. Instead consider these half-dozen titles that make, if not a perfect match for her elegant prose, then at least a marriage of true minds.
Los Angeles Times
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. Times Festival of Books lineup features Chelsea Handler, Stacey Abrams, Amanda Gorman, Jon M. Chu and more
The L.A. Times Festival of Books is back and it's celebrating its 30th anniversary. The weekend will feature readings, signings, screenings and panels with authors and speakers from all walks of life. This year's lineup includes 'Wicked' director Jon M. Chu, comedian Chelsea Handler, exoneree Amanda Knox, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, politician Stacey Abrams and poet Amanda Gorman. Scheduled for April 26 and 27, the annual literary festival brings more than 550 storytellers to the USC campus across seven outdoor stages and 15 indoor venues. Other notable personalities include Big Sean, Joanna 'Jojo' Levesque, Blippi, Marcia Clark, Griffin Dunne, Josh Gad, Percival Everett, Ibram X. Kendi, Rachel Kushner, Jim O'Heir, Jenny Slate, Amor Towles, Wilmer Valderrama, Gretchen Whitmer, Veronica Roth, Robyn Hitchcock, Paul Scheer, Amy L. Schneider, V.E. Schwab, Harry Shum Jr., Tika Sumpter, E.A. Hanks and Mamrie Hart. As a part of the Ideas Exchange speaker series, Gorman will discuss her picture book 'Girls on the Rise.' The poet and activist, who gained national fame in 2021 after reciting her poem 'The Hill We Climb' at former President Biden's inauguration, has written several children's books. Bestselling romantasy author Rebecca Yarros will discuss the latest installment in her Empyrean series, 'Onyx Storm.' Giggly Squad podcast hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo are set to bring comic relief to the main stage and chat about their book 'How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously.' The fest will also debut the first episode of PBS Masterpiece's 'Miss Austen,' based on Gill Hornby's novel. Hornby and executive producer Christine Langan will participate in a Q&A following the screening. The cooking stage will feature demos from Roy Choi, the chef behind Korean-Mexican taco truck Kogi who also wrote 'The Choi of Cooking'; two-time James Beard Award-winning chef, Milk Bar Chief Executive and 'Bake Club' author Christina Tosi; and 'Top Chef' winner and restaurateur Brooke Williamson, who recently penned 'Sun-Kissed Cooking.' The De Los Stage in association with L.A. Times en Español will offer a variety of Spanish (and Spanglish) programming. The stage will host panels about the Latino vote, the role of food in community and the late Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. To commemorate the festival's 30th anniversary, writers Pico Iyer, Lisa See, Héctor Tobar and David L. Ulin, who contributed to the book 'Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Celebrating 30 Years,' will reflect on the community event. Festivities kick off April 25 when The Times will host the 45th annual Book Prizes. This year, the ceremony honors Iyer with the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement, Gorman with the Innovator's Award and Emily Witt with the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose. The prizes recognize 61 nominees in 13 categories. General admission to the festival is free. Friend of the Festival packages, which include reservations, parking and merchandise, are currently on sale.
