Christopher Eccleston says he’s always preferred working with female directors thanks to the “safer environment” they create to work in.
Speaking on the Women in Film and TV Awards red carpet, the 58-year-old actor said that while there has been improvement in gender equality within the industry over the years, there’s still “a long way to go”.
He told Sky News: “I have a 90-year-old mum and she’s guided my life entirely. I’ve always been drawn to working with female directors and theatre… I’ve always found it a more playful environment, a safer environment.
“Patriarchy cocks everybody up. It did its damage to me as well, you know. So, having a daughter of nine, I’ve been seeing the world through her lens, and I certainly feel, for instance, my mum’s called Elsie, she’s 90. My daughter’s called Esme, she’s nine. The world Esme is going into is so much better in terms of equality than it was for my mum. So, it’s nice to see that.”
Best known for playing the ninth incarnation of Doctor Who in long-running BBC sci-fi, Eccleston won a National Television Award for the role, but only stayed for one series.
As for current roles, he said: “I’m playing a lot of toxic men at the moment.”
It’s a sign, he says, that more women are involved in the production from the top down and exploring issues male programme makers might be less inclined to bring to the screen.
More on Doctor Who
Related Topics:
Away from gender equality, he says class diversity in the TV and film industry is still a big issue too.
Looking ahead to the next generation, Eccleston says: “My daughter, I’ve told her that she must run the National Theatre. I said if she wants to act, she’s got to direct and produce as well.
Advertisement
“Because what I understood, you know, if I had my time again, being a working-class person, I would go for a position of power rather than just acting. So, I’ve said to her, she must run the National Theatre or be prime minister.
“You don’t just want to be an actor. That’s particularly if you’re a woman, you need to produce direct, and I think she will probably do it.”
Eccleston’s own extensive acting career, spanning four decades, has seen him perform on stage, screen and in film.
As well as the titular role in Doctor Who, he also starred in US supernatural drama The Leftovers and his movie work has seen him collaborate with directors including Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom.
On stage, he has worked with the National Theatre several times across his career, as well as the Royal Shakespeare Company and Bristol Old Vic.
As for writing, directing or producing himself, Eccleston is clear, saying, “No, I’ll stay in front of the camera”.
And while he believes writers are “the most important part of our industry,” he admits, “I don’t have the discipline to write,” adding, “never cross the road without a bible”.
As for what the future holds for him, he jokes: “[I’ll be] playing increasingly toxic men probably. There’s a lot of them about at the moment.”
The Women in Film and TV Awards, held at the Hilton on London’s Park Lane, celebrates the UK’s most talented women both in front of and behind the camera.
This year’s winners included sports presenter and former tennis player Sue Barker, who was honoured with a lifetime achievement award, Davina McCall, who won best presenter and We Are Lady Parts creator Nida Manzoor who took home best director.
Adele has bid a tearful farewell to her Las Vegas residency show, as the Someone Like You star admitted she doesn’t know when she’ll perform again next.
The British singer-songwriter, 36, launched Weekends with Adele at Caesars Palace in November 2022 and performed her 100th show there on Saturday.
Her mammoth run of sell-out shows at the venue, which seats around 4,000 people, has been a success but has taken its toll.
John David Washington says he felt like he had to conceal his desire to act because of the external expectations of him being the child of Denzel and Pauletta Washington.
He tells Sky News it took some time for him to pursue an acting career, choosing football instead to assert his “independence” and create his own “identity” separate from his famous family.
“I’ve been wanting to do this my whole life… but I was hiding it,” he said.
“I had to conceal that passion based on my relationship to the world and more specifically, my folks being in the industry, so I chose ball.
“I loved ball, but I was sort of hiding my love for the arts under a helmet – literally an American football helmet – and so when I wanted to become an actor, when I decided to pursue it, that was a big shock to some people.”
The 40-year-old actor says when he decided to pursue an acting career, he kept the decision quiet.
“Some people didn’t know I was even pursuing it professionally until I got a job,” he said.
More on Netflix
Related Topics:
Since switching to acting, John David has starred in a number of notable roles including the protagonist in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Ron Stallworth in BlacKkKlansman and Joshua in The Creator.
He also led the stage revival of the 2022 Tony-nominated play The Piano Lesson on Broadway alongside Samuel L Jackson.
Advertisement
“He [Jackson] originated the role [I play] in 1987 at Yale with Lloyd Richards and August Wilson,” John David said.
“So it was of great importance for us to learn from both he and Michael Potts about August Wilson. It was a great blessing for me, I think, for all of us to have him present on set.”
The Piano Lesson is the third August Wilson play to be adapted for the screen by Denzel Washington’s production company Mundy Lane Entertainment.
It is part of a pledge made by the Gladiator II actor to make all 10 of the playwright’s works into films.
The Netflixproject is directed by another Washington family member, Malcolm, and stars most of the cast from the Broadway revival.
Set in 1936 Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the film centres on a family heirloom, a piano, that is etched with the carvings of their family history made by their enslaved ancestor.
Malcolm says he started reading the play for the first time during the pandemic and immediately wanted to be involved in the film adaptation.
“I think with this movie, reclamation of story and identity is so central to the theme and it’s something that’s central to my life where I both acknowledge the fertile ground that I was raised on and who I am today.
“That’s what Wining Boy [played by Michael Potts] really is trying to do, he’s trying to build on that legacy, so that’s a story that really resonated with me.”
The filmmaker added: “I take all the gifts that my ancestors laid in front of me, and I’m trying to build something for the next generation to pass down – all of their gifts, plus mine to the next generation and let them build on it.”
Malcolm says his goal was to put family at the forefront of the production. By dedicating his feature debut to “Mama”, he is acknowledging the dedication and sacrifices that mothers make for the growth of their families.
“There’s so much pointing to my mother in particular, who inspired this adaptation so much. I see so much of her life in Berniece’s character [played by Danielle Deadwyler] – and that became a guiding light for me in this adaptation,” he said.
“As we made this thing and started reconnecting with our ancestors, my mum became like a kind of representative of them.
“She’s the matriarch of our family. She tells me about my grandparents and great-grandparents and the line that I come from, and I see them in her.
“And when the movie ends, I want people to kind of have that moment of reflection for their own lives. So in dedicating it to her, I was trying to dedicate it to all mums everywhere.”
Blockbuster Wicked has landed the largest opening weekend of 2024 at Vue International.
The film, starring Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, surpassed both Gladiator II and Paddington In Peru.
It has also had the largest opening weekend for a stage musical adaptation in the cinema chain’s history.
A boss for Vue International said it had seen a “sea of pink and green” over the weekend.
Released on Friday, Wicked is up 60% on Les Miserables’ opening weekend in 2012 and three times larger than the 2022 film adaptation of Matilda.
Founder and chief executive of Vue International Tim Richards said: “Vue has seen a sea of pink and green over the opening weekend of Wicked, which has shown continued high demand for the big screen experience.
“We saw record-breaking pre-sales for Wicked, followed by a chart-topping opening weekend – the biggest for 2024.”
More on Cinema
Related Topics:
The film is the first of two parts, with the second expected in November next year.
Wicked and Gladiator II – known together as Glicked – have reportedly failed to beat out Barbenheimer, Barbie and Oppenheimer, in its own opening weekend last summer.