"Olivier spent his last 30 years as a workaholic, reproducing the same rigorous performance schedule that had characterized his rise to fame. He worked so intensely, and for so long, that many interpreted it as a means of making penance for his behavior toward Leigh. Still, there are dozens of plays, movies, roles, and dalliances this piece hasn’t even touched. I could spend another 4,500 words of your time simply describing his 1960s career, the influence of his filmic Shakespeare, or the dozens of accounts, some more substantial than others, that he was bisexual. But for all of his genius, all of his work in sustaining and rejuvenating the theater before, during, and after World War II, his passion for Leigh — and hers in return — remains his defining feature." [The Hairpin]
The world premiere of your first feature film -- in the hypercritical climes of the New York Film Festival, no less -- would be nerve-wracking for any director. But Simon Curtis isn't any director. He's a BAFTA- and Emmy-nominated television and stage veteran who's worked with a who's who of British acting royalty, a noteworthy group of whom appear in Curtis's feature debut My Week With Marilyn.
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Stage and film vet Frank Langella has been in the business for nearly five decades, working with everyone from Arthur Miller to Laurence Olivier, and in his upcoming memoirs Dropped Names -- just acquired by Harper Collins -- the actor will regale readers with his experiences rubbing elbows with some of Hollywood's most iconic personalities. Fingers crossed he gets to talking about his Whoopi Goldberg years somewhere between his Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor chapters. [NYT]
