Monday, 23 May 2016

Photos: Naomie at Chelsea Flower Show press day at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 23, 2016 in London

Naomie Harris attends Chelsea Flower Show press day at Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 23, 2016 in London, England. The prestigious gardening show features hundreds of stands and exhibition gardens.

Naomie Harris at the Rhododendron Society stand at RHS Chelsea Flower Show on May 23, 2016 in London, England.

Naomie Harris was visually in sync with the blooms at the Bunchoose Nurseries this morning as she posed wearing a tailored white suit with shorts

Bond girl Naomie Harris was visually in sync with the blooms at the Bunchoose Nurseries this morning as she posed wearing a tailored white suit with shorts

Thursday, 19 May 2016

The lush locations in John le Carré's Our Kind of Traitor

Hot on the heels of The Night Manager, the espionage thriller boasts opulent hotels and stunning scenery

By Radio Times staff

Tuesday 10 May 2016 at 6:15PM

If you were one of the six million people who tuned into the BBC's adaptation of The Night Manager, you were probably swept away by the gorgeous locations as well as the fine acting. (Check out our guide – Roper's Majorca lair is Spain's most expensive property.)

On Friday, a new John le Carré hits the big screen. Our Kind of Traitor stars Ewan McGregor as a poetry professor who's befriended by a wealthy Russian (Stellan Skarsgard) while on holiday with his girlfriend (Naomie Harris). On their last night, the Russian reveals that he's involved with the Mafia and needs the professor's help.

Like The Night Manager, Our Kind of Traitor jets off to some pretty spectacular locations: luxury hotels in Marrakech, an even more luxurious Parisian spa, a snowy Alpine hideaway.

So we tracked down location manager Adam Richards, whose other films include Florence Foster Jenkins (in which Liverpool doubles as New York), Atonement and Pride & Prejudice, to find out how we can follow in the poetry professor's footsteps (preferably without bumping into the Mafia en route).

Marrakech

Perry the poetry professor meets the Mafia in the bar of his Marrakech hotel: theRoyal Mansour. In fact, it's not so much a hotel as a holiday village because you book a "riad" – a traditional Moroccan house with a courtyard – rather than a plain old room. The cheapest option includes a plunge pool, solarium and roof terrace and will set you back over £800.

Perry is later invited to a lavish birthday party at Palais Namaskar, which is located just outside of Marrakech, between the Atlas Mountains and Djebilet Hills. In daylight, it looks even more heavenly. The 41 rooms, suites, villas and "palaces" sit in lush grounds connected by meandering walkways. So what'll it cost you? At this time of year, you can bag a room for £465.

You may be relieved to know that there's no chance you'll also end up in the Russian's crazy nightclub – it's actually a private residence.

Radio Times Travel offer: 6-day tour of Marrakech & the Atlas Mountains from £649pp

Paris

When the poetry professor's new Russian pal proposes a game of tennis, it turns out to be no ordinary court. The match takes place in a plush Parisian spa – although in reality the exterior is Waddesdon Manor, a National Trust property in Buckinghamshire built in the style of a 16th-century French chateau.

Waddesdon Manor

The gorgeous marble-columned swimming pool inside belongs to the RAC, a private members club in Pall Mall. As well as a gym, Turkish baths, treatment rooms, squash courts, members also have access to several chic lounges, restaurants and bars.

"We could only film at the weekend and at night," says Richards. "So we’d come in Friday evening and dress the set, come back the next evening and film, then strike the set Sunday morning so the place could be used by members, reinstate it Sunday evening to film Sunday night and then strike everything out by 11 o’clock. It was a tricky location!"

Finally, the tennis court can be found at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.

Bern

The Einstein Museum is in Bern but isn't really that scary. "Not at all, I’m afraid," says Richards. "That’s all marvellous editing and lighting."

However, the interior of the hotel was The Dorchester, a five-star hotel on Park Lane in London, where you can't book a room for less than £500.

The Alps

Yes, McGregor is in the French Alps: the peaks in Pralognan-la-Vanoise to be exact.

"It's a small, unknown resort, the last resort that you come to, right at the end of the road," recalls Richards. "Beautiful place but getting the trucks up with all of the equipment was a bit of a nightmare!"

Sadly, you can't stay where the poetry professor does: it's privately owned.

London

As well as The Dorchester, look out for St Pancras station, the banks of the Thames, Greenwich Park and Arsenal's stadium.

Our Kind of Traitor is in UK cinemas from 13th May

Daniel Craig 'turns down £68m deal for two more films' as bookmakers stop taking bets on Tom Hiddleston being the next 007

I'm done as Bond, Craig tells movie bosses: Star 'turns down £68m deal for two more films' as bookmakers stop taking bets on Tom Hiddleston being the next 007

By REHEMA FIGUEIREDO FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 23:39, 18 May 2016 | UPDATED: 06:16, 19 May 2016

Daniel Craig has told studio bosses he is ‘done’ playing 007, sources claim.

The news comes just days after bookmakers called off bets on Cambridge-educated Tom Hiddleston becoming the next James Bond.

Craig is the highest-paid actor to play the role, netting a reported total of £38million for the four films he has appeared in.

Action hero: Daniel Craig has reportedly told studio bosses he is 'done' playing 007 and turned down a £68million offer from MGM studio to return as Bond for two more films

Favourite: It comes just days after bookmakers called off bets on Cambridge-educated Tom Hiddleston becoming the next James Bond

He has played Bond since 2005 and helped bank well over £2billion in box office revenue, helping ease MGM’s bankruptcy issues.

Insiders said Craig turned down a £68million offer from MGM studio to return as Bond for two more films following last year’s hit Spectre. The sum included endorsements, profit shares, and a role for him working as a co-producer.

One LA film source said: ‘Daniel is done – pure and simple – he told top brass at MGM after Spectre. They threw huge amounts of money at him, but it just wasn’t what he wanted.’

He added: ‘He had told people after shooting that this would be his final outing, but the film company still felt he could come around after Spectre if he was offered a money deal.’

One source said that executives had finally agreed to let the actor go after growing tired of his criticism of the franchise.

Craig, 48, told interviewers last year that he would rather ‘slash my wrists’ than agree to another Bond film.

He has played Bond since 2005 and helped bank well over £2billion in box office revenue, helping ease MGM’s bankruptcy issues

One source said that executives had finally agreed to let the actor go after growing tired of his criticism of the franchise

But he later said he was contracted for a fifth film and would agree to it ‘for the money’.

Before Bond, the actor, married to actress Rachel Weisz, was best known for thriller Layer Cake, being Angelina Jolie’s love interest in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and various TV roles. Craig has been plagued with a knee injury sustained filming a Spectre fight scene.

The source said: ‘With knee problems and general exhaustion, he felt it was a journey with an ending.’ The studio delayed the next Bond film after Craig committed to a 20-episode US TV adaptation of Jonathan Franzen’s novel Purity.

Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Idris Elba and Naomie Harris starring in The Personal History Of Rachel Dupree

Idris Elba andNaomie Harrisstarring in ThePersonal History OfRachel Dupree

They shared the screen as Nelson and Winnie Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, and now Idris Elba and Naomie Harris are planning to bring their chemistry to a new film, novel adaptation The Personal History Of Rachel Dupree.

Claire McCarthy wrote and will direct the indie drama, which draws from Ann Weisgarber's book. Harris will be the title character, pregnant with her latest child even as she worries about the five she already has with her untrustworthy husband, played by Elba. Worried about how her family will survive the incoming cold winter, she's forced to take matters into her own hands, preparing to fight for her survival and that of her children. Her husband, meanwhile, seems set on her staying put and focusing on his ambitions.

Sounds like it will be an intense, dramatic face-off between the pair, and the rights will be on sale at Cannes. Elba will next be seen in Star Trek Beyond (out July 22) and heard in Finding Dory (29 July). Harris hasOur Kind Of Traitor due this week.