Sunday June 15, 2014
Kaieteur News
Page 47
Britain makes Hollywood actress A Minute With: Actors Butler and Angelina Jolie an honorary dame Ferguson on Scotland and dragons
Britain has made the Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie an honorary dame for services to UK foreign policy and her campaigning to end sexual violence in war zones. Jolie, who is special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was among 1,149 people to receive an award for their contribution to British society in the annual Queen’s Birthday Honours list published on Saturday. The list includes a posthumous MBE for teenage cancer sufferer and fundraiser Stephen Sutton and a knighthood for actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Jolie, 39, co-founded the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative with Foreign Secretary William Hague in 2012 and was among the speakers at a major conference on the subject in London this week. Since she is not a British citizen she cannot be addressed as Dame, but receives the award on an honorary basis. “To receive an honor related to foreign policy means a great deal to me, as it is what I wish to dedicate my working life
Actress and campaigner Angelina Jolie arrives at a summit to end sexual violence in conflict, at the Excel centre in London June 13, 2014. to,” she said in a statement. Cancer campaigner Sutton accepted the Member of the Order of the British Empire award before his death last month, the Cabinet Office, which announces the awards, said in a statement. “It is clear that Stephen touched and inspired a huge number of people and that his ambassadorial work for the Teenage Cancer Trust was greatly appreciated by all those he helped,” it added. Sutton’s fundraising campaign went viral on social
media and raised 4.2 million pounds ($7 million) before his death in May at the age of 19. Day-Lewis, 57, the first ever winner of three Best Actor Oscars and the star of “Lincoln” and “There Will Be Blood,” was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. Actress Dame Maggie Smith becomes a Companion of Honor while “Wolf Hall” author Hilary Mantel, golfer Laura Davies and fashion designer Zandra Rhodes become Dames.
Newly Single Jennifer Lopez: ‘I’m Stronger and, I Think, Better’ Jennifer Lopez is moving forward. Fresh from her split from her boyfriend of more than two years, Casper Smart, the singer has emerged with a new-found sense of confidence. “Things have changed so much for me,” Lopez told Billboard magazine. “I had to really do some soulsearching and just realize a lot of things about love, and now I feel like I come from a place where I’m stronger and, I think, better.” Lopez, 44, began dating the back-up dancer, 27, shortly after from her split from ex-hu s b a n d M a r c Anthony. Now that their relationship has come to an end, she has thrown herself into work, promoting her new album, “AKA,” which will be released Tuesday. “I never put myself out there to show the world what I could do in the best way I could. And touring, you gain a lot when you go out there every night and sing when you feel good, or even when your voice is scratchy and you feel a little off,” she said. “It made me want to get back into the
As two of Hollywood’s prominent Scotsmen, actor Gerard Butler and comedian Craig Ferguson relished the chance to embrace their inner Vikings and ride dragons. Butler and Ferguson reunite as Stoick and Gobber, two burly best friends in Dreamworks’ animated fantasy sequel “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” where they help young dragon rider Hiccup (played by Jay Baruchel) save dragons from intimidating Viking villain Drago Bloodyfist (Djimon Hounsou). Ahead of the film’s release in U.S. theaters on Friday, the duo spoke to Reuters to discuss Scotland and dragons. Q: Growing up in Scotland, did you ever think you’d be in a film riding dragons? Butler: Umm, yes. I’m surprised it took so long. Ferguson: Yep. It was something that they taught us at school, that “one day, you two will be in a film riding dragons.” Butler: “And if you’re not, you’ll be failures” ... I think everybody has dreams of being in these fantasy worlds. But I think in Scotland especially - because of our history and the fact that our history is kind of “Braveheart,” and it is dragons and Vikings and that kind of thing - that maybe it’s even more important for us. Q: Craig, your character Gobber spills quite a big secret: he reveals that he is gay. How important was that revelation? Ferguson: The reason it came about is because we were in the voice session. I was watching Gerry’s
Craig Ferguson character fight with Cate Blanchett’s character, and the line I had in the script was - I say to Hiccup, “See, this is why I never married.” Then I ad-libbed the line, “And one more reason,” and I said after that, “That’s right, Gobber’s coming out,” and Dean (DeBlois, the director) said, “Oh, that’s it, maybe he should,” and so it was Dean’s decision, not mine. I just threw the ad-lib in. But Gerry, when he saw the film, thought that it wasn’t that I was gay, that the reason I hadn’t got married is because I had lost my junk - it got cut off in a dragon fight. Which tells you more about his mind than it does about anything else going on. Q: What was your most challenging scene in the film? Ferguson: For me the biggest challenge was dealing with the speech that comes after his (Butler’s) rather big moment. It was a very emotional speech that took a while to get through, because you know, you care about
these people. I’ve been living with these characters for five or six years now, you care about them. You have an affection for them and as fanciful as that may sound, it’s real. So when something tragic happens to a character, it’s sore. It’s people you care about experiencing emotional pain, whether they’re fictional or not, and they’re not really fictional to me, they’re just different. Q: As both of you are part of Hollywood’s Scottish contingent, was it nice to do the parts with your native accent? Ferguson: Gerry does accents all the time and plays Americans and plays different nationalities. I pretty much am myself. Butler: It’s funny though, he’s actually better at accents than I am. Ferguson: Yes, but only for comedy accents in sketches. Butler: But it is always nice to get back into your own accent - not just your own accent, but an exaggerated form of your own accent, and use that muscularity and strength and power that you have as Scotsmen, but for us to play Vikings, and then you play with it and you can make it soft and whispery and then big and burly, and that’s really great fun - not just to have the accent but to be able to go crazy with it. Q: What are your thoughts on Scotland’s proposed independence from the United Kingdom ahead of September’s referendum? Butler: That’s a tough one. We have our views, but you know - (looking at Ferguson) he’s just shutting off at this. We’ll be casting our vote.
Stage, screen actress Ruby Dee dies at 91: family
studio without that cage I had put on myself. Once I let that beast loose, I was doing things I didn’t know I could do.” That sense of unpredictability is more appealing to Lopez now than ever.
“I don’t know what I’m going to be doing in the next six months. I really don’t. And that’s OK for me,” she said. “Because what I like is, whatever happens is supposed to happen. And I’m good. I can roll with that.”
Legendary stage and screen actress Ruby Dee, who won acclaim in theater, film and television and became a notable figure in the U.S. civil rights movement, died peacefully at home, a friend of the family said on Thursday. The actress, who was 91 years old, died on Wednesday night in New Rochelle, New York, surrounded by her family. “She died of natural causes,” said Arminda Thomas, who works for Dee’s family. “She was blessed with old age.” The petite actress won an Oscar nomination in 2008 for her role in “American Gangster.” After being nominated for six Emmys, she nabbed the award in 1991 for
her role in the TV movie “Decoration Day.” Dee was married to actor Ossie Davis for 56 years until his death in 2005. The couple, who had three children, formed a productive and enduring artistic and activist partnership. They performed together in plays and films and appeared together at some of the seminal events of the turbulent civil rights era. The actress broke free from the racially stereotypical roles often given to black actresses when she began her career in the 1940s and continued to act into her 90s. “Ruby Dee inspired so many people both on stage and off. At the Tony Awards last Sunday, both Audra McDonald and Kenny
Leon paid tribute to Ruby Dee during their acceptance speeches,” said Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, which represents producers and theater owners. Broadway theaters will dim their marquees on Friday in Dee’s memory. President Barack Obama recalled Dee’s performance in the 1989 Spike Lee film, “Do the Right Thing” - which the president and his wife, Michelle, saw on their first date. “Through her remarkable performances, Ruby paved the way for generations of black actors and actresses, and inspired African-American women across our country,” Obama said in a statement.