Ed Sheeran made his big-screen acting debut in the 2019 film Yesterday – but he’s admitted the role almost never came to be.
The chart-topping singer played himself in Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle’s musical comedy, which centred around a character who woke up unexpectedly in a world where The Beatles’ music never existed.
However, speaking to BBC Radio 1’s Kids Ask Difficult Questions, Ed disclosed that the part wasn’t actually written for him.
In fact, both Harry Styles and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin had turned it down before Ed was approached.
Jeff Spicer via Getty ImagesEd Sheeran at a special screening of Yesterday in 2019
He recalled: “They asked Chris Martin, he said no, they asked Harry Styles, he said no, and I was third choice.”
Film director Danny Boyle previously dismissed the suggestion that Harry was approached for the role, but conceded that the part was originally created with Chris in mind.
“Although Harry Styles was very good in the Chris Nolan film [Dunkirk],” Danny told ABC Radio. “So maybe we would had gone to Harry Styles, if Ed Sheeran had said no.”
While Emma Stone is a Hollywood legend in her own right, it’s good to know she’s as goofy around other big stars as we would be.
The La La Land actor has said she is convinced Leonardo DiCaprio thinks she’s “a little weird” after her behaviour around him.
Emma is a self-confessed Leo super fan, and described meeting the Titanic star when he presented her with her Oscar in 2017 as “the most surreal moment of my life”.
GettyEmma Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio
“I was like, I’d seen Titanic seven and a half times in theatres. He was the love of my life,” Emma told SiriusXM’s Jess Cagle.
“I had a picture of him in my bedroom that was signed, that I had gotten for my birthday when I was like 12 years old and I was walking to Leo. I was like, this is officially the most surreal moment of my life. I could not believe it.”
Emma, who won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role in La La Land, continued: “I think he probably thinks I’m like a little weird, cause whenever I see him, I’m kind of like, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ You know, just in little moments when you’re at the same event or something. He’s very sweet though.”
MARK RALSTON via Getty ImagesLeo presented Emma with her Oscar for Best Actress in 2017
Asked to expand on what Leo is like IRL, Emma continued: “He’s very tall and he’s so lovely.
“It doesn’t really seem fair because then it’s like putting someone in a place that like no human beings should really be in that kind of place,” she said. “That’s silly—like nobody’s any different than anybody.”
However, Emma added that to her, Leo will always be his heartthrob character from Titanic.
“He’s stuck in my head as Jack Dawson. He just always will be,” she said.
Pretty much cementing his national treasure status, Daniel was awarded Best Supporting Actor during this year’s ceremony for his performance in Judas And The Black Messiah.
As the London-born actor’s star continues to rise to even greater heights, we decided to take a look back at the roles he appeared in long before he became a worldwide star.
Along the way we unearthed long forgotten comedy characters, big-screen outings and, of course, a certain “Posh Kenneth”…
Skins (2007)
If you sat down to watch Get Out in 2017, only to get the distinct feeling you’d seen Daniel Kaluuya before, that could well be because you watched him in Skins back in the day.
Although not one of the main cast, Daniel played “Posh Kenneth” throughout the show’s first two series. And while Daniel’s Skins past has been raised several times since his rise to global fame, what you might not realise is that he also penned two episodes of the British teen drama, series two’s Jal and series three’s Thomas, which he co-wrote with Skins creator Bryan Elsley.
Doctor Who (2009)
Like many burgeoning British stars, one of Daniel’s earliest TV appearances was in the BBC’s long-running sci-fi show Doctor Who.
Daniel played Barclay in the 2009 special Planet Of The Dead, sharing the screen with David Tennant and – perhaps more excitingly – Victoria Alcock, otherwise known as Julie S from Bad Girls.
Psychoville (2009)
Daniel was one of several British actors to land a role in the black comedy mystery Psychoville, with Steve Pemberton (the show’s co-creator), Dawn French, Adrian Scarborough and Imelda Staunton also among the cast.
While much of the show’s humour derived from League Of Gentleman-esque surrealism and unpredictability, Daniel’s character, Tealeaf, was decidedly more rooted in reality than those surrounding him.
Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry And Paul (2010)
In 2010, Daniel appeared in a recurring sketch in the Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse comedy series Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry And Paul.
He played the overzealous traffic warden Parking Pataweyo in a somewhat questionable sketch intended to be a parody of Postman Pat.
When Rowan Atkinson’s Johnny English character was resurrected in 2011 for a sequel almost a decade after the original film, the film brought in an all-star cast which included Gillian Anderson, Rosamund Pike and Dominic West.
Daniel was also among the new additions to the film, playing Colin Tucker, a young MI7 agent assigned to the same missions as the hero, who he assists along the way.
Black Mirror (2011)
A breakthrough moment in terms of Daniel’s profile was his leading role in the Black Mirror episode Fifteen Million Merits, a send-up of reality TV and instant fame, particularly off the back of Simon Cowell talent shows like The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.
Fifteen Million Merits was only the second episode of Black Mirror ever made, when the anthology series was still being shown on Channel 4, and saw Daniel playing Bing, who spends his inheritance on helping a friend realise her dreams of becoming a star. Black Mirror being Black Mirror, though, things don’t quite work out the way they hoped.
While still early in his career, Fifteen Million Merits allowed Daniel to show off his huge range as an actor, particularly in his character’s dramatic speech near the end of the episode.
Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
UniversalDaniel Kaluuya in Kick-Ass 2
Two years after winning critical acclaim for his performance in Black Mirror, Daniel appeared in the sequel to the superhero comedy Kick-Ass.
He plays a member of the villainous troupe The Toxic Mega C**ts, playing a UFC fighter known as Black Death.
Babylon (2014)
Channel 4Daniel in Babylon
In the police drama Babylon, Daniel played Matt Coward, a documentary filmmaker who aims to use his craft to highlight corruption in his local police force and bring them down.
Created by Danny Boyle, the show featured James Nesbitt, Bertie Carvel and Jill Halfpenny among its expansive cast.
Sicario (2015)
Richard Jr Foreman/Black Label Media/Thunder Road/Kobal/ShutterstockDaniel as seen in Sicario
Sicario marked Daniel’s final on-screen role before Get Out and Black Panther launched him to global fame, earning him an Oscar nomination and Bafta Rising Star win.
In the action thriller, he plays an FBI agent who is the on-duty partner of Emily Blunt’s character. A sequel was later released in 2018, though Emily and Daniel did not return for it.
Star Wars legend Mark Hamill has reminded fans of the franchise that studio bosses originally considered an early version of Chewbacca that had him looking like a hirsute Bavarian mountain man.
The actor – who played Luke Skywalker in the hit sci-fi saga – tweeted on Thursday: “FUN FACT: Very early in the shooting of #SW studio execs expressed deep concern that Chewie didn’t wear any pants & suggested he wear a pair of lederhosen.
“That they would focus on this amidst all the grotesque elements in the script made us laugh (& a bit worried.)”
FUN FACT: Very early in the shooting of #SW studio execs expressed deep concern that Chewie didn’t wear any pants & suggested he wear a pair of lederhosen. That they would focus on this amidst all the grotesque elements in the script made us laugh (& a bit worried)🙄 #TrueStoryhttps://t.co/BCNhWDrwdl
Fortunately, Star Wars director George Lucas was able to dissuade the studio from adorning the big guy with “walking carpet” wear pants, according to comicbook.com.
The suits and the creatives settled on just a bandolier ― and it’s been a roaring success ever since.
Still, a few fans pondered what could have been after Mark Hamill’s tweet.
And I suddenly had a vision of Hans and Chewbacca at an Oktoberfest, wearing lederhosen and drinking huge mugs of beer. It’s a very disturbing vision. 😒
Mark first mentioned the Wookiee couture issue years ago to The Associated Press, recalling how the studio wrung its hands in deciding how to dress – or not – Chewie, played by the late British actor Peter Mayhew.
“I remember the memos from 20th Century Fox,” Mark told the wire service.
”‘Can you put a pair of lederhosen on the Wookiee?’ All they could think of was, ‘This character has no pants on!’ This went back and forth. They did sketches of him in culottes and baggy shorts.”
For a couple of characters who met at the Mos Eisley Cantina, the gig and the getup worked out pretty well.
On Monday afternoon, it was revealed that the wheels had been put in motion for a long rumoured sequel, with all of the show’s original cast returning.
Dame Maggie Smith is also expected to return, after her iconic Downton character confided in her granddaughter that she was dying at the end of the first film.
New cast members for the sequel have also been revealed, including Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West, the latter of whom has been heavily rumoured to be playing Prince Charles in the forthcoming fifth series of The Crown.
Isa Foltin via Getty ImagesDominic West
Filmmaker Simon Curtis – whose recent credits include the films My Week With Marilyn and Goodbye Christopher Robin – will direct the second Downton Abbey film.
Executive producer Gareth Neame said: “After a very challenging year with so many of us separated from family and friends, it is a huge comfort to think that better times are ahead and that next Christmas we will be reunited with the much beloved characters of Downton Abbey.”
We’re thrilled to announce that Julian Fellowes and the entire Downton cast are back for #DowntonAbbey2, with Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West joining!
Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski agreed: “There’s no place like home for the holidays, and we can’t imagine a better gift than getting to reunite with Julian, Gareth, and the entire Downton family in 2021 to bring the Crawley’s back home for their fans.”
Downton Abbey 2 is slated to hit UK cinemas on 22 December 2021. All six series of Downton Abbey are available to stream now on BritBox.
Sally Phillips, who played Shazza opposite Renée Zellweger as Bridget, has revealed that Jim Carrey watched on as the pair fought in character as Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver.
Ahead of the film’s 20th anniversary, Sally appeared on Friday’s edition of Lorraine, where she recounted Hugh and Colin filming the scene.
Justin Goff via Getty ImagesBridget Jones’ Diary stars Colin Firth, Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant
She said: “This is them improvising… slapping each other, trying to kick and missing.
“We filmed this scene for a whole week. As you can see we’re not in it very much so we sat in deck chairs and watched Hugh and Colin slap each other for a week.”
Sally then revealed: “And Jim Carrey was there. Renée was dating Jim at that point.
“So he was bigger and taller and harder and fitter than both of them, so I think they were even more embarrassed.”
Ron Galella, Ltd. via Getty ImagesJim Carrey and Renée Zellweger dated in the early 2000s
During the interview, Sally also told of how strange it was for her to see Renée, who is from Texas, finally breaking out of her English accent at the end of the shoot, joking she felt “deceived and weirded out”.
“It was really weird,” she said. “I’ve made quite good friends with her during the filming, I realised towards the end when she suddenly lost a stone in the last week and started talking in a Texan accent at the wrap party, I’d made friends with Bridget, not Renée.
“I felt like those women must feel who’ve had a relationship with an undercover cop, a bit deceived and weirded out. But I think it was genius actually (to cast her).”
Moviestore/ShutterstockSally Phillips played Bridget’s friend Shazza in the film
Sally continued: “There were lots of people up for that part, like Toni Collette I think was offered it.
“Once They got Hugh Grant and Colin Firth on board it went from being a tiny indie movie to a massive production and they started looking for big stars.
“American women do do charm in a way British women don’t, we have a kind of bottom note of battleaxe that we can never quite get rid of and I love that about us.”
Oscar-winning actor and international treasure Tom Hanks had a huge breakthrough moment in the 1980s thanks to the success of films like Splash and Big.
However, it turns out that one of his most prolific performances of that era almost went to a completely different actor.
His former co-star Elizabeth Perkins has revealed that not only was Robert De Niro originally cast in the lead role of Big, the whole film completely changed in tone when Tom signed on.
Speaking to Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, Elizabeth explained that while De Niro had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict, she actually auditioned with him when she auditioned for her part.
Steve Granitz via Getty ImagesRobert De Niro at last year’s Ocsars
“[De Niro’s interpretation of the character] was more moody,” she explained. “It was a little more of a horror movie… Robert De Niro wandering around the streets of New York.
“What Tom Hanks brought to it was so much lighter.”
Big went on to give Tom Hanks his first Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination in 1989.
While he didn’t win the Oscar that year, he eventually scooped two consecutive Academy Awards in 1994 and 1995, for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, respectively.
Moviestore/ShutterstockTom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins in Big
Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed he thinks he could have been among the first people to contract coronavirus after falling ill in late 2019.
The Oscar-nominated actor said that while filming his latest film The Mauritanian on location, he became seriously ill after arriving in South Africa.
Speaking to The Independent more than a year later, Benedict explained: “I was incredibly ill, to the point that when all this Covid stuff suddenly broke in the new year, I was thinking, ‘oh my god was I actually patient zero?’.
“I was so ill – it was borderline pneumonia.”
Because of his filming schedule, Benedict was forced to “plough on” despite his illness, but says he even found himself “throwing up between takes” in the early days of shooting.
Slaven Vlasic via Getty ImagesBenedict Cumberbatch in October 2019
Benedict isn’t the only actor who believes he may have contracted Covid-19 in the early stages of the pandemic.
Last year, Hugh Grant claimed that he and his wife suffered coronavirus symptoms in February 2020.
“It started as just a very strange syndrome where I kept breaking into a terrible sweat. It was like a poncho of sweat, embarrassing really,” he told US talk show host Stephen Colbert.
“Then my eyeballs felt about three sizes too big and this feeling as though an enormous man was sitting on my chest – Harvey Weinstein or someone. I thought, ‘I don’t know what this is’.”
As well as playing a military prosecutor in The Mauritanian, which centres around Guantanamo Bay, Benedict is also a producer on the film, with Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim and Shailene Woodley among the cast.
STX Entertainment/Moviestore/ShutterstockBenedict Cumberbatch in character in The Mauritanian
Rachel Bilson and Rami Malek have apparently been involved in some drama that’s straight out of a high school yearbook.
The former star of The O.C. sat down with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman on a recent episode of their podcast, Armchair Expert, and shared an odd story about the Oscar winner.
Apparently, back in February 2019, Rachel shared a snapshot of herself and Rami in New York City when they were teenagers, in an effort to poke fun at their younger selves.
The pair were friends back in the day, having both attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, so the image was a nod to where they came from.
Barcroft Media via Getty ImagesRachel Bilson
“Rami was a good friend of mine,” explained Rachel.“We were [in] the same crew. We did [the play] The Crucible together [in] senior year, we were the leads in it together— all these things.”
Rachel figured the throwback photo would be a fun way to celebrate Rami amid his various appearances at various awards shows in 2019 for his performance as Freddie Mercury in the Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody.
“Obviously, he gets super famous and he’s always been extremely talented … even in high school,” she continued.
“I had posted a throwback of us from our senior trip to New York… just the dorkiest picture of the both of us. But I throw it up [on Instagram], ’cause it’s funny and I think it’s so important to be able to make fun of yourself.”
However, she then that the image soon prompted a direct message from Rami on Instagram.
Amy Sussman via Getty ImagesRami Malek at last year’s Oscars
Rachel said that when her old friend contacted her there was no “hey! how are you?”.
“It was straight to: ‘I would really appreciate if you take that down. I’m a really private person’,” she revealed.
“I was like, ‘Oh, shit! Okay!’ I get really hot and start sweating. I’m all nervous, like, ‘Oh god! What did I do?’. He was a really good friend, it’s a funny picture … you know? I don’t take myself that seriously.”
Rachel later spoke with Rami’s stylist, a friend of hers, who said: “Well it’s not a great picture of him.”
She also said that The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz remarked on the post, telling her: “You did him dirty. He’s about to be [Oscar] nominated.”
“I removed it, and I even wrote to him a really nice message like, ‘I’m so sorry! Go get the Oscar! You’re doing amazing’,” Rachel recalled. “And I never heard anything back, which is fine.
“I was super bummed because he was so nice, and we were good friends. I’m a big fan of not taking yourself seriously, especially at that level of fame and talent. But look, he wants to be super respected. It’s his thing, so I respected it. I took it down. I was just a little bummed at how it was handled.”
Rami probably didn’t stay too upset, though. He walked away with the Oscar for Best Actor just a few weeks later.
A new musical based on the life of Princess Diana is coming to Netflix later this year, it has been confirmed.
The stage production, titled simply Diana, began preview performances on Broadway in March 2020, but was shut down after just nine shows when theatres closed due to the pandemic.
Producers of Diana have now announced plans for the musical to reopen in December, but before that, the whole world will have the opportunity to watch it on Netflix.
A filmed version of the show, recorded in September, is set to debut on the streaming platform on 1 October, two months before its return to Broadway.
Evan Zimmerman/Matthew MurphyBroadway performer Jeanna de Waal as Princess Diana
Frank Marshall, one of Diana’s producers, told the New York Times: “I think people will see the movie and will say, that’s a show I want to see in person.”
Beth Williams, another of its leading producers, added: “We feel like it’s an incredible opportunity to put Diana in front of the global Netflix audience, and then give them an opportunity to see it live.”
Diana features Broadway performer Jeanna de Waal in the title role, while Roe Hartrampf and Erin Davie play Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, respectively.
Judy Kaye – who won a Tony Award for her performance in Phantom Of The Opera – also appears as Queen Elizabeth II.
HuffPost UK has contacted Netflix for clarification on whether the Diana musical will also be streaming in the UK.
Tim Graham via Getty ImagesPrincess Diana pictured in 1995
