Breaking Baz: Hot star Paul Mescal heats up London theatre; BAFTA talks about gender neutrality; All about Amy Winehouse when we were neighbors

Paul Mescal openly admits that Stanley Kowalski is a womanizer and rapist. The star of the indie favorite After sun says he has “a lot of sympathy for him because it’s my job” – Mescal plays the ruthless adversary in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ End station required at the Almeida Theater in London.

He quickly adds: “But no, I don’t like him. But I love playing it.”

Mescal describes Stanley as “smart, charming, dynamic and sassy” and adds that “there are parts of him that I would like to be with”, although he is aware that Kowalski could “explode” at any moment.

In a production directed by Rebecca Frecknall, the revival is exciting.

Mescal is brilliant as a violent war veteran, truly a beast in a t-shirt. He gets out of shape when Blanche, his sister-in-law, camps out in the small New Orleans apartment he shares with his wife Stella, well played by Anjana Vasan (We are LadyParts).

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“It is my job to see him as someone who is compromised,” says Mescal.

And this is Patsy Ferran (life), advances as Blanche.

In fact, both animals are animalistic and cling to each other for their own territory.

It certainly shakes off the winter blues to see two of the best stage shows of the year before the end of January. It’s all the more remarkable considering that Ferran landed Blanche after the show, starring Lydia Wilson, had been in rehearsal for several weeks. Wilson had to withdraw due to health reasons.

Mescal says he likes Stanley’s public appearance. “There’s something rough about him that I think can be funny,” he says. “I think he’s someone who draws you in — and explodes like he’s unpredictable.”

Mescal is definitely the way to go. Not only because of the success of Nason, God’s creatures, ordinary people and the rest.

It says a lot about him as an artist that he spent three years with Freckle (cabaret), He made sure he found time in his busy shooting schedule to hit the Almeida’s shelves.

I walked past the Almeida a few nights after the play opened (to enthusiastic announcements) to find a line of hopefuls waiting for tickets to return. Every one of the Almeida’s 370 seats was spoken for that day.

You can’t get a ticket to see it tram for love or money. Unless you know mescal very well. As real Well, because he has access to two home slots per night. But the people of entire cities in England and his native Ireland are behind him for seats.

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Mescal laughs and wonders if he didn’t play the title role The skim of the opera at the age of 16 whether he would be in his job today. “It was life-changing,” he says.

He likes theater because he likes “the routine of it.”

He continues: “I like that you can really get into the rhythm of the piece; They don’t stop in front of a camera lens to turn around or sit day and night. You play the piece and it’s different every time, even if you speak the same lines. The audience is different, everything is a little different every night.”

Today was different as he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor.

BAFTA AND GENDER NEUTRALITY DISCUSSIONS

Both BAFTA’s chief executive, Jane Millichip, and the organisation’s president, Krishnendu Mahjmdar, have confirmed they are holding industry-wide discussions about the possibility of introducing gender-neutral awards.

But “as you can see, we haven’t reached that stage yet,” says Millichip.

“It is an ongoing discussion,” adds Mahjmdar in a separate conversation.

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Millichip noted that the talks had been going on for a while, well, long before filmmaker Sam Mendes commented that gender neutrality would one day become “inevitable” when asked about Emma Corrin’s comments. They realized it was time.

“We are engaged in discussions with experts in the industry, stakeholders and members of members,” said Millichip. “It is a complex discussion to have and we are in that process. We take the issue very seriously. And discuss it in detail.”

Millichip said she was pleased with the “good balance” among this year’s nominees and was almost overwhelmed by the 11 female directors who came forward in various categories. She listed the cast in the Debut by a British writer, director or producer category.

She also liked the balance of promotional and indie photos in this year’s mix, quote No news from the western front, Inisherin’s Banshees, Elvis, everything, everywhere, all at once and tar.

The executive director said she believed BAFTA members were watching more films as a result of recent shifts in the viewing process. “At first it was really about tackling unconscious bias and leveling the playing field, but I think, and I don’t have the empirical data to prove it, I think our members are watching more films based on their personal creative preferences than they would. otherwise. will do. do.”

She sees diversity not only in the acting, but also in the narrative style, mood, tone and size of the film. “It represents the entire range of films being made,” Millichip told me.

However, I was wondering what the heck happened to Sarah Polley’s film women talk with an ensemble cast consisting of Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, Frances McDormand and Ben Whishaw. It started the season as one of the top-rated films, but failed to catch on with audiences, at least in the US.

I wonder if the lack of love for women talk through BAFTA membership and others have something to do with its marketing campaign here as well as in the US, which may indicate that this is not a film that everyone should see. While I find it important to look.

I was fascinated by the film when I saw it at Telluride and again at the BFI London Film Festival, but a bunch of other guys who saw it hated it because the women wouldn’t stop talking, one of them said. . That’s the damn point, I replied.

In any case, both Millichip and Anna Higgs, chair of the BAFTA film committee, said the portrayal of stories in female hands must continue.

But I’m very happy it got hugs from the BAFTA The Woman King, Till, All Quiet on the Western Front, Living, Elvis and several other photos. I especially love the Sam Mendes movie rich in lightwhich took me back to my own childhood growing up in London where I often had to find a second home in the local cinemas watching endless movies.

By the way, the introduction of the BAFTA nominations was tasteful. I thought Hayley Atwell ((Avengers: Endgame) and Toheeb Jimoh (ted lasso) was calm and composed with just the right balance of humor and seriousness.

I used to enjoy covering the early morning Oscar nomination announcements because of the overwhelming excitement when someone hears a favorite actor or filmmaker being mentioned. But I can’t say they were Enjoyment.

However, the BAFTA nominations were. “We have tea and smoked salmon, honey,” Millichip cooed.

“And it’s at a reasonable hour, dear.”

My thought all the way.

AMY WINEHOUSE…AND HER CATS!

For about 18 months, or maybe it was more than two years, singer Amy Winehouse lived two houses down the road from us when we lived in Camden Town, North London (we’re now EastEnders).

It was a residential house, at least it looked pretty posh on the outside. The poor owners spent a fortune on the renovation.

Winehouse lived in an apartment across our cobbled street before he moved much closer.

Her father Mitch, a licensed taxi driver, would pick her up and drop her off day and night. On a few occasions this Camden backwoods, which is supposed to be nice and quiet, is overrun by hundreds of fans, paparazzi, nosy neighbors and cops, isn’t it?

Actually, Amy did us a favor.

Drug stores were popular in our street because a number of thorn bushes were planted in front of various buildings. Apparently these factories dumped narcotics that I have no idea where the buyers were likely to pick up.

It used to drive me crazy because if drugs were picked up late at night or early in the morning, our dogs would bark and wake us up.

However, no remedy hid in the thorn bush for two years, for which we were thankful.

But the Amy Circus was different.

However, we all felt protected by her. My son sometimes went into the house and “visited”. I have never understood the kind of trickery involved. There were cats in the house and he helped feed them. Another neighbor helped clean up after the cats.

I was reminded of all this when I walked out of my office to get my hair cut, but the road off Old Compton Street was blocked off while Sam Taylor-Johnson was filming a scene back to black, a film about the life and music of Amy Winehouse.

Marisa Abela (Industry) as Amy and Eddie Marsan (Fast & Furious Gifts: Hobbs & Shaw) what Mitch played were recordings at Bar Italia and Ronnie Scott’s jazz club. I knew very well what was being filmed, but I asked security and assistants what the film was. “It’s a butter commercial,” someone told me.

Okay, what kind of butter?

“I may not say it, but if I whisper it, don’t spread it,” was the witty reply.

I had my hair cut – yes, I know all the jokes like “What hair?!”

As I sit in the chair in Cuts, I hear someone yell, “Cut everything off…”

It was Marsan who had a little joke.

What a lark.