We all know what an anglophile Tom Cruise is — and who can forget how he courted Prince William and Kate, who shone at the UK premiere of Top Gun: Maverick.
But it looks like the A-list star won’t be at the Baftas on Sunday — and neither will any of his Top Gun squad.
In what some see as a pointed snub, Cruise actor, Top Gun producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Cruise’s producing partner and best friend Chris McQuarrie will stay away from the ceremony, which will be held at the Royal Festival Hall and broadcast. They did not return an invitation to attend BAFTAs, and reps for All Men declined to comment to Mail this week.
Top Gun: Maverick was one of the year’s biggest hits, once again drawing audiences to movie theaters in their millions, and the studio’s unusually big-budget picture was met with almost universal acclaim from critics.
Tom Cruise attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards Nominees’ Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Monday
Tom Cruise plays Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.
A senior film source told me there was “disappointment” with the film’s perceived “lack of love” at BAFTAs, that it was not nominated for Best Film; Cruz himself was not nominated. Still shortlisted in four categories – cinematography, editing, sound and special visual effects. Film representatives in these categories will be at the awards ceremony.
Cruise, 60, is believed to be back in the UK filming Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part Two, alongside McQuarrie.
Top Gun 2, which stars Cruise as test pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, is nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which are taking place next month, and for a while there has been talk that Cruise has snagged a Best Actor nomination, despite this did not happen.
However, he showed up at this week’s Oscars nominees luncheon in Los Angeles, in sparkling form.
The Bafta party, hosted by Richard E. Grant, will still be star-studded.
Presenters include Catherine Zeta-Jones, Reg Jean Page, and Lily James, and nominees for the show include Brendan Fraser, Colin Farrell, Austin Butler, Cate Blanchett, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis, Danielle Didweller, and Carey Mulligan.
Helen Mirren will pay homage to the Queen.
Top Gun 2, which stars Cruise as test pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
High-flier: Tom Cruise with Prince William and Kate at the Top Gun: Maverick premieres in May
But Andrea Riseborough will be at the Oscars
Andrea Riseborough, whose Oscar nomination for To Leslie caused worldwide controversy (and some uncomfortable moments for the Academy), was absent from the nominees’ lunch, leading to speculation that she would miss the main event. But I’m sure she’s “planning to go to the party.”
Andrea Riseborough will be at the Oscars
Apparently she missed lunch because she was in London filming the series, The Mansion, opposite Kate Winslet.
On the show, Winslet is an authoritarian dictator, and Riseborough plays her right-hand man.
The two used to work together, having recently dated Lee, about photographer Lee Miller — Riseborough plays Vogue Editor Audrey Withers.
The actress has kept a fairly low profile, though, earlier this year when she was spotted at a party at a London hotel for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.
The pre-Afterson vacation was the secret to her success
Paul Mescal – Oscar and BAFTA nominated for his performance in the indie film Aftersun – was thrilled to meet his co-star Frankie Curio, 13, at the awards ceremony last weekend.
The film’s producer, Amy Jackson, says the pair have a special bond, having vacationed together before filming the father-daughter drama. . . On vacation.
She said: ‘They spent two weeks before shooting at a resort: at the pool eating ice cream, playing pool and just getting to know each other. It’s a testament to Paul – he’s such a friendly person and he appreciated that this was Frankie’s first acting role.
Mescal has received rave reviews recently for his brilliant performance as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida Theater in North London. The show ended earlier this month, but it’ll take place in the West End at the Phoenix Theater from March 20th — fittingly after the Baftas and Oscars wrap up.
Suki Waterhouse hit the stage with the royalty of rock and roll
Suki Waterhouse in the upcoming musical drama series Daisy Jones and the Six
Model and actress Suki Waterhouse is on tour following last spring’s album release. And she returned to music in the highly regarded Prime Video series Daisy Jones And The Six, which follows a band in 1970s Los Angeles.
Waterhouse, pictured here exclusively in the show, is played by keyboardist Karen; While Elvis’ granddaughter Riley Keough plays troubled singer Daisy Jones, who struggles with drink and drug addictions. The costumes are to die for and the show – based on the bestselling book by Taylor Jenkins Reid – is a transformative watch.
Q Waterhouse and the cast who play the other band members rehearsed together for six months prior to filming, and their efforts have been included in the series’ music.
The show is produced by Reese Witherspoon’s company Hello Sunshine and airs from March 3.
Sheridan Smith’s performance in Shirley’s Valentine in London’s West End has already received a huge following from audiences, with the initial run at the Duke of York extended by three weeks, to 3 June.
But the actress and singer admits there is one part of playing a bored housewife who travels to Greece to add some spice to her life that takes serious training: her character’s cooking skills.
“I can’t make meals to save my life,” Sheridan says. “The production company literally had to send a cooking expert to my house to teach me how to make basic things like eggs and chips, so that it looked like my character had been making meals for her husband for years.”
Shirley Valentine begins previews today and will open March 1st.
Colin Farrell is a bit of a troublemaker with his grumpy little donkey
The scenes between Padraic Suilleabhain, played by Colin Farrell, and “little ass” Jenny are some of the most poignant in Martin McDonagh’s Bafta-nominated The Banshees Of Inisherin’.
But the director revealed that they came with a price. All of the animals kicked or bit Colin. It was Colin’s case. He was! Jenny only kicked one person.
While Farrell may have struggled with his art, McDonagh loved having animals in his image. “The horse really liked being in the house; And I loved the quirkiness of the horse and calf galloping around the set – it looked like an Old Master’s painting. We added the horse to the scenes because it was so beautiful.
Colin Farrell (R) confirmed he was kicked by the donkey (L) in Martin McDonagh’s BAFTA-nominated The Banshees Of Inisherin’
Producer Graham Broadbent was less convinced. “Martin loves animals and was all: ‘Could I use more donkeys?'” The problem is, you can’t train donkeys. They’re actually not trainable. Horses are more flexible.
Farrell confirmed he was kicked by the donkey, pictured. And also a collie bit him playing Brendan Gleeson’s dog. He says that even the horse confronted him and tried to hold him off the cliff when he was driving the cart.
His experience was so negative that he confidently predicted that it would be Genie’s last film. He said, “It’s one and I did.” It’s like, ‘Enterprise business, you’re welcome to it! “
Both McDonagh and Broadbent were impressed by the prohibitive cost of the “fake rubber donkey” who played the deceased Jenny in later scenes. “It cost £75,000!” shouted Broadbent.
And McDonagh responded, “Yeah, I wanted the real version (Lethal Injection), which would have cost ten bonuses.”
Colin Farrell and Cate Blanchett will triumph in the BAFTAs Sunday night, according to the bookmakers, with The Banshees Of Inisherin’ edging out the all-around ubiquitous for the top spot.
Three weeks later, though, on Oscar night, the bookies think there will be a turnaround: with everything winning everywhere and Brendan Fraser outdoing Farrell.
Blanchett is expected to win an Oscar and a BAFTA, though she’s narrowly ahead of Michelle Yeoh, who waited 40 years to be nominated.
With Martin Freeman (The Office, The Hobbit, Fargo) as the father and Amanda Abington (Sherlock, West End hit The Unfriend) as the mother, it’s perhaps no surprise that Joe Freeman launched his acting career.
The 17-year-old is currently rehearsing for the boards in a production of ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ in Tunbridge Wells, and looks set to follow suit professionally.
How does a writer who doesn’t speak any German end up getting credit for a film entirely in German? That’s the conundrum that athlete-turned-screenwriter Leslie Patterson (Scottish!) explained to me this week.
Triple Olympian Patterson bought the rights to the German classic All Quiet On The Western Front, and spent 16 years trying to get the film off the ground, all the while having to raise money to keep renewing the deal.
Felix Kammerer (right) in a scene from Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front
I wrote the script in English and (writing partner) Ian Stockell and did a lot of the historical research, which is how we came up with the Armistice story. We contacted a lot of German directors and got nowhere. Eventually we got the script to Eduard Berger, who said he wanted to write the German story in German.
“He made changes to the text in English, brought it closer to the book – and then Edward himself translated the whole thing into German.”
She added, “As a film it has an unusual perspective, both in and out of the conflict, and I think that’s what helps it be so powerful.”
When we spoke, Patterson was just leaving home for the Oscars nominees’ lunch and was looking forward to flying to the UK for the Baftas. “Heck, of course I’m coming,” she said. ‘are you kidding me?’