Castium Revelio: Upstairs, Downstairs… Behind Bars?
It’s time, once again, for Casting News! As always, this is where we bring you the latest updates on our wizarding world alumni’s latest projects, so let’s get to it!
Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew) appears in an episode of the new anthology series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, currently airing on Channel 4 in the UK. In the episode “The Commuter,” writes Digital Spy, Spall’s character, a train station employee named Ed Jacobson, “takes a train to a mysterious destination.” (For our readers in the UK, Digital Spy shared a clip from the episode that is available to watch on YouTube. Please note, however, that the video is region-specific.)
Following the airing of the episode on October 1, Digital Spy additionally writes, viewers were thrilled with Spall’s performance. Descriptions by Twitter users included, “Moving, profound and true to the spirit of [Philip K. Dick],” and “both disturbing and affecting.”
Radio Times also posted a guide to the episode’s characters, which you can find here. The episode itself was written by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child playwright Jack Thorne, while Cursed Child‘s Anthony Boyle, who originated the role of Scorpius Malfoy, plays Sam Jacobson, the son of Spall’s character.
Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) appears in his role as Winston Churchill in a new trailer for his upcoming drama film, Darkest Hour.
A thrilling and inspiring true story begins at the precipice of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.
Darkest Hour hits theaters on November 22.
The cast of actors set to join Rhys Ifans (Xenophilius Lovegood) in Jack Thorne’s theatrical adaptation of A Christmas Carol has been announced by WhatsOnStage.com.
Ifans stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in Jack Thorne’s new adaptation of Dickens’ classic. He is joined by John Dagleish as Bob Cratchit, Melissa Allan as Little Fan, Jamie Cameron as Young Ebenezer/George, Erin Doherty as Belle, Tim van Eyken as Nicholas, Alex Gaumond as Father, Siena Kelly as Jess, Eugene McCoy as Fred, Myra McFadyen as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Maria Omakinwa as Mrs Cratchit, Alastair Parker as Fezziwig, Golda Rosheuvel as Ghost of Christmas Present and Oliver Evans in the ensemble.
The role of Tiny Tim is shared by Toby Eden, Grace Fincham, Ethan Quinn and Lenny Rush.
The production will run at the Old Vic from November 29 to January 20. Previews begin November 20.
An audiobook narrated by Christian Coulson (Tom Riddle, Chamber of Secrets) has been named an Editor’s Pick by Audible! Mackenzi Lee, the author of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, shared the news on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/themackenzilee/status/913410910974353408
BBC One teased the fourth season of Peaky Blinders, which stars Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy), on its Facebook page.
The crime drama airs on BBC Two, although no date has been given for the premiere of its fourth season yet, other than that it is “coming soon.”
Meanwhile, ITV’s Fearless, which stars McCrory and Sir Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore) is coming to Amazon. BBC America writes that the series will premiere on October 27.
‘Fearless’ revolves around human rights attorney Emma Banville (McCrory), who is seeking to prove a young man (Sam Swainsbury) was wrongly convicted for murdering a schoolgirl 14 years prior.
Watch the trailer below!
David Tennant (Barty Crouch, Jr.) appeared on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, October 4 to talk about lending his voice to the latest Fireman Sam film. Fireman Sam: Alien Alert! The Movie sees Tennant cast as a new character for the children’s series. He explained, “I just got phone call saying, ‘Would you like to be in Fireman Sam?’ and I said ‘Of course I do! Are you mad, yes!'”
Tennant is also joining the cast of Hang Ups, a new six-part comedy series set to air on Britain’s Channel 4. David-Tennant.com describes the show as “an unconventional comedy about an unconventional therapist trying to keep his unconventional life, and patients, from falling apart.” It is reported to begin airing in 2018.
Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley) was reunited with his former music teacher, Ms. Keogh, on an episode of RTÉ’s The Late Late Show.
Describing his former instructor, Gleeson had nothing but glowing things to say.
Ms Keogh was my music teacher, who was an amazing, amazing woman and an amazing music teacher and really made my life better when I was in school.
Keogh also expressed her pride in Gleeson’s accomplishments.
I taught you [Gleeson] for six years – he did music all the way up – he was an amazing musician. This guy is extremely bright as well. He’s very talented but he’s very, very clever. He got an A1 in Leaving Cert Music. He’s an amazing traditional fiddle player.
However, Gleeson revealed to Radio Times that he almost turned down his role in Star Wars!
Why would I have thought of saying no? Fame is the end goal for a lot of people but it is not mine. I worried that the accompanying fame would get in the way of how I live my life.
In an exclusive interview with ET Online, Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) discussed his character, Captain Gabriel Lorca, in Star Trek: Discovery. While we’ll simply link you to the interview to avoid spoiling the episode for anyone, Isaacs did have this to say:
I did feel bad doing all the publicity for the show and I didn’t want to spoil any of it. There’s no point in telling people what’s coming up, it just ruins the journey for them. But I did feel bad not being able to say to people who were looking out for me, particularly, that I wouldn’t be coming up until episode three. The vanity of thinking anyone was watching particularly for me was what stopped me.
Isaacs also spoke to Variety about his character’s origins. You can find that interview here.
Emma Thompson (Professor Trelawney) and Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick/Griphook) are among the celebrities who have joined a new campaign for British charity Revitalise “to highlight the importance of holidays, especially for disabled people and carers, who find getting away particularly difficult.” Revitalise, which provides opportunities for disabled people and their carers to go on vacations they might not get to experience otherwise, is inviting celebrities to send in postcards of their own vacation memories.
The Ilford Recorder notes, “The charity will hold a special exhibition of the postcards it receives next year and the celebrity contributions will then be auctioned to raise much-needed funds for Revitalise.”
A new trailer has been released for Paddington 2, the cast of which includes a number of Potter alumni. The trailer, which features Jim Broadbent (Professor Slughorn), Imelda Staunton (Professor Umbridge), Dame Julie Walters (Mrs. Weasley), and Brendan Gleeson (Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody) sees Paddington Bear in trouble with the law over the theft of a pop-up book. Is Paddington guilty? Watch it now!
Another promo has been released for Justice League, starring Ezra Miller (Credence, Fantastic Beasts)! This one was created for the Chinese market, and you can watch it at ComicBook.com!
Playbill has shared the trailer for the National Theatre’s live broadcast of Follies, which will premiere at movie theaters internationally beginning on November 16. The production stars Imelda Staunton as Sally.
Finally, Downton Abbey: The Exhibition is opening in New York City this November! The series, which included Dame Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall) in its cast, concluded last year, but its costumes and sets will be on display, writes USA Today.
‘Downton Abbey: The Exhibition’ opens Nov. 18 for a limited engagement in New York before traveling throughout the country, NBCUniversal International Studios announced.
The exhibition, described as a ‘fully immersive experience,’ promises to connect fans to the ‘Downton’ characters, costumes, locations and events of England’s post-Edwardian era, from World War I to the Roaring Twenties.
More information about the exhibition, which will be hosted at 218 W. 57th St. in Manhattan, is available at www.downtonexhibition.com.
That’s all for this week’s Casting News, everyone! We’ll be back next week with even more updates! Until then, which alumni projects are you most interested in seeing? Tell us in the comments below!
