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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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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Samuel Barnett

In the theme of your new series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency – since everyone will be asking you about the mysteries you’ve solved – what is a historically significant or famed mystery that you find completely uninteresting… or, likely possesses the least intriguing solution? An enduring mystery lies around Shakespeare. Did he really write all of those plays…?!?! Yep. He did. Mystery solved. What moment in your life did you feel the most like a tourist? I visited the giant bronze Buddha at a monastery on Lantau island. All the monks there were silent and dressed in their orange…

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Ruth Bradley

You’ve recently appeared in Humans, the highly acclaimed television series depicting a contemporary world with sophisticated android (Synth) servants. If in real life robots took over, how would you make yourself useful to our automated overlords? I would write some poetry. The ramblings of a lesser being might be amusing to them considering they wouldn’t have much else use for us. Scary prospect. Where is your favorite place or type of place to people-watch? Coffee shops all over London. What science fiction film did you find the most ‘realistic’ either in terms of the basic concept or the depiction of…

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