David Leland: Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson lead tributes to filmmaker
Stars including Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson and Tim Roth have paid tribute to writer, director and actor David Leland following his death at the age of 82.
The British star died on Christmas Eve, “held tight by his loving family”, his agent confirmed.
In a career spanning more than five decades, he was known for writing two hit films about British madam Cynthia Payne, the first titled Personal Services and starring Dame Julie Walters.
The second, Wish You Were Here, marked his directorial debut and won a BAFTA for best original screenplay, as well as the Fipresci prize at the Cannes film festival.
Leland also won an Emmy for his directing of an episode of the US war drama Band Of Brothers in 2002, and was both a director and writer for The Borgias.
‘An essential part of my story’
Pic: AP/Chris Pizzello
Paying tribute, Brosnan, 70, said Leland held “a mighty place in my heart” for giving him a chance not long after he had left the former Drama Centre school in London, of which Leland was an alumni.
He had given the James Bond star his first stage role in the British premiere of Tennessee Williams’ The Red Devil Battery Sign at the Roundhouse.
“It was the thrill of my young lifetime to be cast as McCabe, working with David and Tennessee,” Brosnan said. “David will forever be an essential part of my story and of all who knew and loved him.”
Leland’s directorial credits also included The Big Man in 1990, starring Neeson, Sir Billy Connolly and Hugh Grant.
‘You are always in my heart, old friend’
Pic: Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP
Neeson, 71, described him as “a dream” to work with.
“He was a real collaborator,” he said. “He genuinely loved and admired actors. We formed a close bond.
“I loved his mischievous sense of humour. You are always in my heart, old friend. See you down the road.”
Leland initially trained as an actor at the Central Speech of School and Drama, and appeared in several productions before moving into stage management at the Crucible Theatre.
His credits for screenwriting and directing include Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa, starring Sir Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins, and Made In Britain, starring Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs star Tim Roth in his first film role.
“David was there at the very beginning of this crazy adventure,” Roth, 62, said. “He changed my life, and I love him for it. I’ll keep him with me always.”
Read more from Sky News:
The famous faces we said goodbye to in 2023
Leland directed films including The Land Girls with Rachel Weisz and Anna Friel, and returned to the stage to direct the musical A Tribute To The Blues Brothers – which played in the West End and toured for 10 years across the UK and Australia.
In a statement, BAFTA paid tribute, saying: “We are saddened to hear that director and writer David Leland has died at the age of 82.”
Leland won a Grammy for best long-form music video for Concert For George – a memorial music event at the Royal Albert Hall in honour of George Harrison. He was a close friend of the late Beatles star and worked as a director on the guitarist’s 1988 film Checking Out.
He also directed videos for other musical stars including Tom Petty and The Traveling Wilburys.
He is survived by his wife Sabrina, his four daughters and six grandchildren “all of whom he loved almost as much as Arsenal Football Club”.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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