The Picture Journal

Rory Fleck Byrne

What’s your favorite word or expression that isn’t part of the English language? “Il y a du pain sur la planche. It’s French for ‘there’s a lot to do’ – it literally means there is bread on the table. If from now on you could only play characters that have already been performed, or ones that do not exist/ haven’t been performed yet – which do you play? Haven’t been performed/ do not exist yet. What was the last thing you learned about yourself? I don’t think I want to tell you that 😉 What is a tradition you love…

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Eoin Macken

Name three different skills or facts you learned from any three roles – regardless of how useful they are. Horse riding – excellent for adventure holidays and pretending that you can converse with animals. (Merlin) Actors will let you photograph them but only if you pester them into submission. (Resident Evil) I do not have the skill set to be a real doctor. (The Night Shift) Would you rather be able to read and write in any language except for English, or speak fluently in any language except for English? French. I used to speak it quite well, but now it’s…

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Inside Look: Arinzé Kene

We spoke to actor Arinzé Kene about his role as Same Cooke in the Donmar Warehouse production of One Night In Miami. Cooke was a ground-breaking artist beyond just a creative capacity in that he crossed genres (at risk of losing his gospel career) and took control of his music management. How much do you think these chapters of his life would influence his role in the civil rights movement, or vice-versa? There were several differing views at the time on what the best methods to combat racial injustice were. Some saw peaceful protest as an ideal route while other…

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Amy Wren

You recently played a lead in the TV series Tutankhamun. If you could pick any one aspect of ancient history/ culture/ lore to know everything about, what or who would you pick? I was obsessed with Greek gods and goddesses when I was at school, but can’t really remember any of it now. So I would choose that to be my fountain of knowledge. What is something you would only do in preparation for a scene that you would never do in your personal life? It makes me laugh now when I think about it but when you have a…

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Andrea Riseborough

You’ll be appearing soon as Svetlana Stalin – Joseph Stalin’s only daughter – in Armando Ianucci’s The Death of Stalin. This will be one of Ianucci’s first projects not only using a real contextual setting but also ‘real’ historical figures. What can you share about the way this project (and you through your character) approached the balance of reality and creative license? I watched the moving images of Svetlana available, read one book in particular, Rosemary Sullivan’s Stalin’s Daughter, which was comprehensive. And used all the stills of her available. Then made an effort to forget it all and embrace…

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Ronan Raftery

What do you think would be the most inconvenient phobia for you to develop at this stage of your life? A fear of interviews. Which cinematic villain or antagonist have you always felt the most empathy for? Beetlejuice, he just wants the house to himself! I usually empathize with the bad guy. Good movies rarely have a villain with no redeemable characteristics or moments where they question everything, however briefly. I’m thinking of Charlize Theron in Monster or Jack Nicholson in The Shining, Darth Vader etc. Moments when the armour cracks and we catch a glimpse of the person that…

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Fady Elsayed

How do you distract yourself when you are procrastinating a task or chore of some kind? There are too many distractions! Music, Playstation, going to the gym, reading and sleeping being a few examples. What part of aspect/ event of modern culture/ civilization are you most happy you were alive for? A tricky question but I’d probably have to say equality. We live in a society where equality is becoming more of a forefront idea and although there’s more to be done, we’ve made huge progress. I have some strong women in my life and so for me, it’s incredibly…

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