Meet the cast of Rivals: The Jilly Cooper adaptation with naked tennis and ’80s makeovers galore
Ever since pictures of Rivals’ all-star cast started circulating online, fans of Dame Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles series have been getting excited about its TV adaptation.
The Disney+ show features one of the most starry ensembles viewers will have seen in a long time.
The likes of Aidan Turner, David Tennant and Danny Dyer have undergone some brilliant ’80s makeovers in order to bring to life all the scandal and sex of Dame Jilly’s best-selling book, which is set around life at a fictionalised TV channel.
For Turner, cast as the show’s lead news anchor, the “really cool” part was seeing the “sharp as a tack” author on set.
Pic:Rivals/Disney+/Havas
Turner said: “I think one of the first questions she asked was ‘who’s popping into whose trailer around here?'”. He admitted he “fed her a bunch of lies, but she seemed happy with it!”
While some literary snobs have in the past dismissed Cooper’s novels, there is a lot more to her writing than a bare bottom or two – her social commentary for starters.
Aidan Turner (with Nafessa Williams) said Jilly Cooper was ‘sharp as a tack’
As Turner explained: “Our show does feel like there’s a refreshing sense about it. It’s fun, it’s bold, it doesn’t feel safe, it feels different and, you know, it is this kind of perspective on the ’80s told through a 21st-century lens, I suppose.”
As to be expected, it doesn’t shy away from showing sex.
David Tennant, who plays the ethically questionable TV company chairman Lord Tony Baddingham, said for actors the industry has “gone on a bit of a journey” when it comes to approaching raunchier scenes.
“MeToo happened and corrected things a bit,” he said. “We’re now in a world where… everyone feels they’re in charge of that telling rather than having it done to them, so I think it feels quite empowering actually.”
Alex Hassell (L) and David Tennant
Emily Atack said she is still laughing about how “liberating” she found the experience of being asked on day one to strip off for a naked game of lawn tennis (not a euphemism).
She said: “I’m on a closed set, we have intimacy coordinators… and I’m very comfortable and happy… it’s other peoples’ behaviours that need to be looked at if they’re going to twist that into some grotesque negativity.”
Emily Atack filmed a naked tennis scene on her first day
For Alex Hassell, there is a weight of expectation on his shoulders. He was cast as the infamous Rupert Campbell-Black, who, those au fait with the books will know, is “the handsomest man in England”.
He said he “knew of the books being high up on my mum and dad’s shelf when I was young, next to The Joy Of Sex, but no, I didn’t quite know what I was letting myself in for”.
When he read the scripts, he said he “made the decision to be okay with [all of] it”.
A passionate scene from Rivals. Pic: Rivals/Disney
He added: “I wouldn’t have done anything that I didn’t want to do, but I thought ‘if I go into this feeling really nervous and awkward, then it’s going to be nervous and awkward’.
“A lot of the sex scenes are supposed to be fun, joyous, a reciprocal pleasure-giving experience. We tried to just have a laugh as much as possible.”
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One of the most remarked-upon transformations is that of Eastenders’ Danny Dyer who said he had a lot of fun playing “a teddy bear with a bite”.
Katherine Parkinson and Danny Dyer, who grew his own moustache for the show
He teased: “Growing a moustache, and it’s my own moustache, shows that I’m a very versatile actor.”
Rivals is released on Disney+ on 18 October.
Entertainment
Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
The fire gutted the main stage
Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
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Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.
Entertainment
Robin Kaye: American Idol TV executive and her husband shot dead inside their Los Angeles home
An American Idol TV executive and her husband have been found dead in their LA home.
Robin Kaye was a music supervisor on the long-running reality TV series.
The bodies of the 70-year-old and her husband Thomas were discovered after officers conducted a welfare check at their home.
Both had died from gunshot wounds.
Robin Kaye and her husband Thomas. Pic: Facebook
Detectives say Raymond Boodarian has been arrested in connection with their deaths.
It is alleged the 22-year-old had burgled their property while they were away on 10 July – killing the couple upon their return.
According to Los Angeles Police, there were “no signs of forced entry or trouble” at the property.
Ms Kaye was an industry veteran – and had previously worked on shows including Lip Sync Battle and The Singing Bee, as well as several Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
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Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles
In a statement, an American Idol spokesperson said: “Robin has been a cornerstone of the Idol family since 2009 and was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her.
“Robin will remain in our hearts forever and we share our deepest sympathy with her family and friends during this difficult time.”
Entertainment
Action taken to stop ticketless Oasis fans from watching this week’s shows in Manchester
Huge steel fences have been erected to prevent ticketless fans from watching the Oasis reunion tour in Manchester.
Liam and Noel Gallagher will resume their sold-out run of shows – their first since 2009 – with a performance at Heaton Park tonight, and two more on Saturday and Sunday.
While tens of thousands bought tickets for Oasis’s first two shows last weekend, crowds gathered to glimpse the large screens above the stage in the distance – in an area dubbed “Gallagher Hill” by some on social media.
People walk past a temporary security fence erected ahead of concerts by Oasis in Heaton Park on 1 July. Reuters file pic
Manchester City Council has now said more steel fences have been erected around parts of the park to prevent ticketless fans from watching the gigs, and to protect nature in the park.
“After taking stock of how the first two nights went, additional measures have now been deemed necessary and will be in place for the next three concerts,” it said.
“The erection of the fencing has a dual purpose – both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there.
“The necessary measure means the concert will no longer be visible from this area.”
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Friday: Excited fans at Oasis homecoming gig
The fences will cover a large area of the hill within the park’s cattle field, which is being developed as a new woodland area with around 300 young trees planted.
The council added that there would be no facilities for people without a ticket, and said the event area is “double-walled with solid high security fencing all the way round”.
More than 2,000 event security staff and police officers will also be on duty around the site “to ensure both the safety and wellbeing of ticket-holders and that only those who have tickets access the concert”, it said.
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John Hacking, the council’s executive member for employment, skills and leisure, also said in a statement that “unfortunately our hand has been forced in having to put these additional measures in place”.
He added: “Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead.
“The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time.
“We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy, whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
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