All posts tagged: Norton

BBC confirms return date for The Graham Norton Show

BBC confirms return date for The Graham Norton Show

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Graham Norton Show has confirmed a return date for later this month. The BBC One chat show will return to our screens with its 34th season on Friday 25 September at 10:40pm on BBC One. The show was last on air in March with season 33, which featured famous faces including Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Taylor Swift, Margot Robbie and Chris Hemsworth. The guest line-up for season 34 episode 1 has also been confirmed – with a Hollywood icon headlining. The BBC have revealed we can expect: “Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise, discussing his startling transformation in the apocalyptic satire Digger”. Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Paramount They also flag “Oscar-nominated Brit Florence Pugh, starring in the new Netflix adaptation of the Steinbeck classic East of Eden”. Plus, we can expect “comedian and actor Lolly Adefope, taking to the stage as Abraham Lincoln’s wife in the critically acclaimed comedy Oh, Mary!”. And finally, a regular favourite, “top comic John Bishop, hosting new BBC entertainment quiz Wisdom of the Crowd.” …

Domhnall Gleeson admits to being ‘embarrassed’ by Cillian Murphy during Graham Norton appearance

Domhnall Gleeson admits to being ‘embarrassed’ by Cillian Murphy during Graham Norton appearance

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Domhnall Gleeson has admitted to being “embarrassed” by his acting hero Cillian Murphy during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show. The Irish actors appeared together on Norton’s sofa last October, in the notorious episode that sparked fellow guest Taylor Swift to recruit everyone in her proximity to appear in one of her music videos. Gleeson said he was thrown off not by global superstar Swift, but by Murphy, who used his time on the show to express his admiration for Gleeson himself. Murphy said that he had seen Gleeson in a Martin McDonagh play called The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and described Gleeson’s performance in it as “magnetic”. Now, in a new interview, Gleeson has recalled feeling touched and embarrassed by Murphy’s gesture. “I don’t know if it’s an Irish people thing, but we’re not very good at handling a compliment …

ITV confirms future for high-budget reality series with Graham Norton

ITV confirms future for high-budget reality series with Graham Norton

Published by Daniella Wilson

ITV bosses have confirmed the future of Graham Norton’s The Neighbourhood and it’s not good news for the high-budget reality game show. After only series on TV screens The Neighbourhood has been cancelled, but bosses have admitted that they learned some valuable lessons from the show’s format. The Neighbourhood saw six real households from across the UK move in to “KeepYourEnemies Close” in the heart of the Peak District, and compete in a street-sized popularity contest where the last house standing would take home a life-changing £250,000. The series married high-stakes competition, epic challenges and relatable domestic drama, to offer a completely fresh flavour of reality. Graham Norton in The Neighbourhood. ITV/Lifted Entertainment Speaking at the Edinburgh TV festival, Joe Mace, ITV‘s Entertainment Commissioning Editor, confirmed the news, saying: “We talk about taking risks and then we like to put it into action. As a format, people loved the idea of creating a neighbourhood where you were judging people and how they would behave as families… It had a lot of really good ITV ingredients. “One …

James Norton Recalls Brutal Note He Received After Auditioning For Fifty Shades Of Grey

James Norton Recalls Brutal Note He Received After Auditioning For Fifty Shades Of Grey

Published by Sam Flores

James Norton James Norton has revealed that he was once in the running for one of the steamiest film roles in modern history – but it didn’t quite go his way. The House Of The Dragon star paid a visit to Capital Breakfast on Thursday morning, where he revealed that “early on” in his screen career, he was in consideration to play the romantic lead, Christian Grey, in the movie adaptation of Fifty Shades Of Grey. “I remember very clearly the casting director at the end of my take saying, ‘it’s fine, I think you just need to be a bit more charismatic’,” James recalled. He quipped: “Just think of that note – ‘be more charismatic’. [That’s] the worst [thing someone could say]. It’s like, ‘just live a bit cooler’. ‘Just be a bit better at life’. “And, surprisingly, I didn’t get that role.” View this post on Instagram Instead, the role of Christian Grey proved to be a star vehicle for Jamie Dornan, who appeared in all three of the erotic romance dramas alongside …

James Norton: 13 Roles He Played Before House Of The Dragon

James Norton: 13 Roles He Played Before House Of The Dragon

Published by Sam Flores

Thanks to House Of The Dragon and House Of Guinness, James Norton is becoming an international hot property. However, the Bafta nominee has already been a regular on British screens for nearly 15 years, since rising to fame as the lovable vicar Sidney Chambers in the ITV detective drama Grantchester and the villainous Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley. Since his on-screen debut in the 2010s, James has gone on to appear in a wide array of projects on both the big and small screens – though, admittedly, not all of them have stood the test of time. As his star continues to rise, here are 13 James Norton roles you may have forgotten about… Death Comes To Pemberley (2013) James Norton in Death Comes To Pemberley One of James’ earliest notable appearances came when he was cast as Mr Henry Alveston in Death Comes To Pemberley. The BBC murder mystery drama was an adaptation of the P. D. James novel of the same name, starring Matthew Rhys, Anna Maxwell Martin and Jenna Coleman as …

James Norton Says House Of The Dragon 'Stands For Something Important' In A 'World Of AI'

James Norton Says House Of The Dragon 'Stands For Something Important' In A 'World Of AI'

Published by Sam Flores

James Norton in House Of The Dragon James Norton has said he feels “proud” to be part of a show like House Of The Dragon, which leans into practical effects as much as possible, particularly in a climate when AI is becoming more prominent. The British actor joined House Of The Dragon in its third season, and can currently be seen in action as Ormund Hightower. Speaking to Jessie Ware on her podcast Table Manners, James admitted: “I’ve got to say, like in the world of AI, I feel like shows like House of the Dragon stand for something important because so much of what you see is actually real.” “I mean, the dragons aren’t,” he quickly added of the Game Of Thrones spin-off. “But even the heads of the dragons are real.  “So when you see the dragon [in House Of The Dragon], what we see as actors is about three people all dressed in blue, like the Blue Man Group, head to toe in blue. They’re holding these big sticks, and they have …

‘House of the Dragon’: James Norton and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth on Ormund and Daeron’s ‘Twisted’ Bond

‘House of the Dragon’: James Norton and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth on Ormund and Daeron’s ‘Twisted’ Bond

Published by Jenni Sidey

I know that the cast has a chance to have not quite rehearsals, but almost like conversations with one another, before the season starts. Ben, how did the two of you go about finding the relationship between your characters? BEA: I remember we had conversations with Ryan and some of the directors early on, like you say, before filming started. Those were great in illustrating the bones of the relationship. I suppose the rest of it happens as we’re filming and exploring while we’re figuring that out and blocking and rehearsing on the day. It’s that mixture, I suppose: what we’re doing ourselves at work, conversations, and then reacting to one another on the day. JN: And time! I sometimes get asked [to give] advice to actors. I’ve got to that stage in my life where I’m no longer the one taking it. I’m somewhere in between taking it and giving the advice. But my advice always is: spend time with people who you are working with. We were lucky because HBO have the resources …

Graham Norton reveals how Taylor Swift stopped guest from being ‘bumped’ from show

Graham Norton reveals how Taylor Swift stopped guest from being ‘bumped’ from show

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter When Taylor Swift realised she was replacing another Graham Norton Show guest due to the last-minute nature of her appearance, the singer took matters into her own hands. The newly married pop star, 36, was a guest on the iconic red sofa in October last year to promote her 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl. Swift almost didn’t make it on the BBC show, however, with talk show host Graham Norton recalling that the “Love Story” singer was “a very last-minute booking”. “The show was fully booked,” he said at a recent GQ event. Norton, 63, explained that the eleventh-hour nature of her appearance meant another guest would have to be moved to another date. “We thought, ‘We’re going to have to bump somebody,’” said Norton. Swift, however, had other plans and did not wish for anyone to be …

James Norton Lifts The Lid On His 'Very Camp' House Of The Dragon Nude Scene

James Norton Lifts The Lid On His 'Very Camp' House Of The Dragon Nude Scene

Published by Sam Flores

James Norton in the most recent episode of House Of The Dragon James Norton has definitely been inducted into House Of The Dragon, following his first nude scene in the hit fantasy series. Monday’s instalment of the Game Of Thrones prequel sees James’ character Ormund Hightower stepping out of a bath while slating Queen Rhaenyra, played by Emma D’Arcy, to those around him. During a recent Q&A session with GQ, this scene was brought up in the conversation, with the interviewer pointing out that it showed off a “very camp” side to James’ character’s personality. The former Happy Valley star then explained that this was a deliberate choice on his part, as he wanted to give the directing team a wide range of line deliveries to choose from. “If you don’t trust the director, you give them a very small parameter of options, because you think, in the edit, you could take the really extreme ones and manipulate your performance into something you didn’t intend,” he claimed. “With this, I was like, ‘do you know what? …