Fuck Yeah Toby Stephens

toby-stephens:

2005 : MIDSUMMER DREAM

‘Midsummer Dream’ is a computer animated film from Dygra Films, the creators of ‘The Living Forest’.  Made in Spain and Portugal, the film is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

The voice cast of the English speaking version included Bernard Hill, Miranda Richardson and of course our Toby who voiced Demetrius. 

2005 : MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Once again, Toby took part in a radio production for the BBC.  This time taking the role of Benedick in ‘Much ado about Nothing’.    

He could also be seen publicising the release of ‘The Rising’ and at various receptions to celebrate the event.

toby-stephens:

2005: IN TOBY’S OWN WORDS 

“The fact my mother is who she is does not give me a passport to success and fame. At times, it was more of a hindrance than a help.”

Source: Bristol Evening Post, 3 October 2005

“I’m not a dancer at all. I’m glad people are subjected to only a few of my moves.’’ 

Source: The Outsider, Kolkata Newsline, July 2005

On Fashion:

“AS AN actor you’re almost never in fashion. I very rarely have a ‘look’ that’s in my own period, or anything remotely trendy. I had to wear my hair long for ages and you get frustrated seeing everybody else walking around with shaved heads. At one point I had so many 1800s haircuts I looked like a rockabilly. So when it comes to my own wardrobe, I have to cultivate a look that doesn’t appear completely bizarre but works with the haircut of the role I’m playing.” 

“Mostly I dress for comfort in jeans and T-shirts, but if I had the money I’d dress very smart. I love wearing classic-cut suits, though I very rarely wear ties. :thud: I don’t do colour. Recently my wife bought me a baby-blue cashmere jumper. When I opened it I just thought, ‘There is no way But when I put it on I was pleasantly surprised that it worked, but I so lack courage with colour. Also having red hair, it’s quite difficult because there are things that just don’t work on you.“

On his roles:

“Playing the villain in Die Another Day, I wanted to make him aggressive but contemporary. The thing with a Bond film is you inevitably fall into pastiche because it is such a recognisable franchise. So for me the character was slightly tongue-in-cheek but at the same time you want him to be a credible threat. I’m extremely proud to have been in a Bond film but I don’t want it to be the only thing I’m remembered for. I love the way I can dot around doing all kinds of different things ” plays and television and movies.” 

“What can be quite frustrating, but also quite pleasant, is that I’m still relatively obscure. Sometimes I get in a cab and the driver says, ‘Would I have seen you in something?’ and I reel off all these things that he’s definitely not seen, ‘Ooh, I did a couple of Racine plays at the Almeida …’ It can be a little humiliating. But then I’m glad I have a certain anonymity. I would hate to be someone like Jude Law. “

“In my latest film, ‘The Rising’, I wear a moustache. I fought and fought against it, but eventually I gave in. And I’m glad I did because it does look authentic. I play a renegade British officer who joins the Indian Mutiny of 1857. I was going to have a beard but unfortunately I can’t really grow one.” 

On style hero’s

“Cary Grant is my style hero, along with Robert Redford and Paul Newman. They just have bodies that can carry clothes. And George Clooney is a natural successor. The funny thing is, Cary Grant was quite strange physically, but on film he looks amazing” 

On health and fitness:

“I’m quite dogmatic about going to the gym, or running during the week. I quit smoking 10 months ago, so I now do nothing, I’m a total bore. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I don’t do drugs. Obviously in my profession you have to be careful about making sure you look healthy. I used to be a big drinker and a big party animal, but I found that in the end my work was paying for it. I think a lot of actors still believe in that rock’n’roll mentality where you can go and thrash yourself in the evenings after working and still deliver a barnstorming performance. Well, you might be able to when you’re 25 …” 

“Some people say, ‘my God, you’re very much like your mum’ in terms of looks, and then other people say, ‘You’re like your dad’ . One has a smattering of both, and let’s face it that’s very handy because they’re both fantastic actors in their own right, and I’d be very grateful for a bit of that. But also I hope I’ve got my own flavour that dominates. I really feel that in the last five years, I’ve managed to move away from the gravity of being their son. To a certain extent, I feel, ‘Jesus, why am I still talking about my mum at the age of 36?’ I feel like Ronnie Corbett in Sorry!.”

Source: ‘How do I look?’, The Independent, August 13 2005 by Liz Hoggard 

On his TV Heaven:

“A well made documentary.  And mindless sci-fi like ‘Star Trek: Voyager’.”

On his TV Hell:

“Reality shows.  Some people I really respect love them but they make me cringe.”

On his Favourite childhood shows:

“Hanna-Barbera cartoons: ‘Wacky Races’, ‘Scooby Doo’.”

On his ideal couch potato partner:

“My wife.  Though we end up talking over the TV.”

On his TV crush:

“The dykey-looking character Servalan from ‘Blake’s Seven’.”

On the programme he’d most like brought back:

“‘Twin Peaks’.  A brand new series, please!”

On his perfect TV dinner:

“A vindaloo.  With lots of water to wash it down.”

‘If my life were a TV show it would be’:

“Airport.  I’ve been travelling so much recently I’ve only seen the inside of airport lounges and duty-free shops.”

Source: ‘Sharing the Remote with Toby Stephens’, Red Magazine, November 2005

The contents of my iPod:

Driving:

“At the moment I am burning holes in the new Son Volt album, Okemah and the Melody of Riot. I’m a huge fan of American new country -Wilco, Steve Earle etc. When I’m at the wheel, I like something uplifting on the sounds -nothing stressful. I love cool jazz when I’m driving at night -John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme or Miles Davis’s On Green Dolphin Street.” 

Feeling down:

“It would have to be the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds -that always picks me up. 

Sometimes I’ll crank it up first thing in the morning to put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. If I want to wallow in my misery, I’ll listen to some Doors blues such as Morrison Hotel. I first got into music through the Doors and I always come back to them.”

Love:

“I turn to crooners when I feel romantic -Frank Sinatra’s (Love is) the Tender Trap, Ella Fitzgerald’s Honey Pie, Dean Martin’s Volare, Chet Baker’s Let’s Get Lost -that sort of thing.”

Dance:

“I don’t dance and I won’t dance, but I can’t help tapping my toe to ska. I love that stuff, especially the Specials’ Too Much Too Young. I can’t understand why ska only lasted for such a brief period in the 1980s. Madness get me going, too - maybe a twitch in the eyebrow, nothing more.” 

Angry:

“London’s Burning by the Clash is very cathartic. In fact, most punk music is good when I’m in a funk. The Pixies’ early songs are especially good. But if I want to snap out of a mood, I listen to some Thomas Tallis such as In Nomine -he makes me feel very calm in an Elizabethan way.” 

Shopping:

“I hate shopping. Listening to my iPod is a great way to keep shop assistants at bay and beat those shopping aisle blues. I always listen to Medication by Spiritualized. I have been a huge fan of Jason Pierce for years -whether it is Spacemen 3 or Spiritualized -he is a genius. At the moment I am also enjoying Reason is Treason by Kasabian.”

Funeral:

“What a bummer! It would have to be something fun and ironic -how about, Call Me the Breeze, by J. J. Cale? Not bad.” 

Source: ‘Ska’d for life: Sound Track Your Life’, The Times, 13 August 2005; 

 

And as reported in the Guardian, in 2005 you could just have bumped into Toby at the S&M Cafe in Islington where you could find “Camden Passage trendies and the occasional celeb, actor Toby Stephens and Little Britain’s David Walliams among others “

 

And finally, a word from Dame Maggie

There was a rapprochement with Stephens a few years before he died. In 1993, when he was playing Lear, his son Toby was playing Coriolanus, also with the RSC. It was Cross who rang Smith to say that Toby had landed the role. “He was in a state of great excitement. When he said, ‘Toby’s got Coriolanus’, I couldn’t quite hear him, and I thought, oh dear, it’s some sort of disease.” She says one of the strangest things was going to see Toby in Stratford, in the very dressing room his father had occupied at the same age. 

TO MY 50+ FOLLOWERS…..THANK YOU! HOPE TO GET MORE SOON!

“I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wraps my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.”

(Source: mark-s)

toby-stephens:

2005 : THE QUEEN’S SISTER

Toby took the role of Anthony Armstrong-Jones, Lord Snowdon, in Channel 4’s made for TV movie,  ‘The Queen’s Sister’ a bio-pic of Princess Margaret;  a role that was not without controversy.  Though C4 do say at the beginning of the drama ‘Some of the following is based on fact. And some isn’t.’  It went on to be nominated at the BAFTA’s in 2006 for Best Single Drama - and won!

Lord Snowdon himself considered that Toby was not handsome enough to play him (I’d dispute that strongly!), but the main controversy was around the sensationalised alleged sex and drug experiences of the late Princess Margaret.

Toby typically brushed off the putdown saying “When you do a part like that, you know there’s going to be comeback from it. I took it because I loved the script.  Lord Snowdon photographed me once and he was very charming. Everyone I know who’s met him says he’s lovely. I like the character in the script and I don’t think he comes across badly at all. But I’m not a biographer and I’m not doing an imitation of him.  And of the controversy Toby said “I don’t think it’s that shocking. It had to be read by a host of lawyers, so I don’t think anything particularly salacious is going to get through that net. I heard about far more shocking things that went on that aren’t in the script.”

Source: ‘Not the full story Toby’ Nov 2005 The Mirror

For the Sunday Times, Toby said “It’s not even an impression of him I’m doing. Basically, I’m performing a script. I didn’t do a load of research. I looked at lots of photos of him and rapidly saw that I didn’t really look like him. Really, what one is trying to get is the essence of the story between these two people.”

DVD Review commented “Equally fine is Toby Stephens as Lord Snowdon. Stephens walks a fine line between showing Snowdon as willing accomplice to the Royals’ efforts to calm Margaret, and being an active part in Margaret’s eventual downward spiral. The two actors work well together, and their performances keep ‘The Queen’s Sister’ on track.”