Thread to talk about the actor...oh fuck it. You know what to do
>>897 Let's make predictions!
>>901 Well that didn't come out like I planned!
1 - 4 are the categories. 5-8 are my predictions.
P.S. How do I erase all of my posts on this board because I'm pretty sure that I promised to buy a ticket for Shit Island and...I'd like to be excluded from that narrative.
>>890, >>891, >>892, >>894, >>895 Thank you all for helping me out of the rabbit hole of idealism down which I'd evidently fallen! Now that I've remembered the primary purpose - the Rehabilitation - the ballot approach fits into the scheme too. A way to look as though they're managing Tom's fans, because he's there to be a serious actor - while at the same time helping to seed the audiences with said fans! Where was the person who cooked up these ideas during Tayto?
>>891 About students/new grads working for free. If British Equity's rules work the same general way as the American union's, the new grads almost certainly had to be paid. And unlike the established actors, they probably weren't expected by the production team to then turn around and donate their salaries back to RADA. As for the students - the technical students in my drama school were required to work assigned productions at the associated professional theatre for free as part of our training. We were, however, paid for working as crew beyond the required slots for our program. TBH, I'm surprised that RADA doesn't have a way for its students to work on professional (i.e., for profit) productions as part of their training. I understand why they don't allow the actors to work outside the program, but in all the other disciplines, that would be invaluable experience and the best way for students to find out if the sometimes highly stressful life is really for them.
>>889 I do feel bad now that I didn't pick up on the signs that Tom really didn't want to be talking to that fan. I'm curious - do you think that even if she'd excused herself as she'd originally meant to do, would he have let it go at that? Or would he have felt obligated to continue the conversation even if she explicitly gave him an "out"?
>>892 Helping out RADA, "Taylor Swift and I are together and we're very happy", "we all live in a world where every phone has a camera"...the things Tom tells himself to get through his hardknock life.
>>894 Oh, I meant that post-Tayto, his comeback as a serious actor had been in the works for a while. I don't think it was something that was cooked up this year but something that began taking root last year when the media went after him for his Golden Globe speech. Since Tom himself has said that Ken B is his mentor, I'm positive he was helping Hiddles figure out his options. Something that's not too obvious but something that's also not movies, something that gives TH a boost in his journey to reclaiming his acting cred, something that got rid of the Golden Globe South Sudan fumble. The RADA Hamlet play is perfect and checks all boxes - working back to serious acting (no tabloids business for this 27 yr old), generosity in helping out his alma mater, etc etc.
>>903 Probably got ousted by Swift's PR. The way summer was handled last year, I do think his PR signed over his handling to her PR team. I've seen it happen with celebrity couples where one publicist will entrust their client to the other client's PR, and contracts are involved. Except in Tayto's case, it became clear later that one half of the couple did not have same goal in mind and just needed a human shield to distract from the Kimye scandal. That's when his management and agent were seen stepping in. I don't think TH ever consulted with them before he plunged in headfirst with Taylor.
>>893 I think that's because Kong made most of its money in the Asian market. The last time I saw its BI, it was the Asian market that pushed Kong into the BO hit territory. Otherwise, I think it would have met with a similar fate like Valerian and Dark Tower.
>>906 Yes, if he'd involved his team beforehand, the American members would have warned him the hell away from her!
>>896 Time for a makeover! It'll probably be a serious more thoughtful and mature Taylor Swift now. No more selfie squad stuff anymore but a more thoughtful poignant approach to life. Privacy, thoughtful quotes, more woke and less shook, mmhmm.
>>902 The kareha support staff can do it for you if you have your publicist give them a call. Just make sure it's Tree and not Luke making the call ;)
Apparently TNM 2 has no script, and they're still only tossing around plot ideas. I think they need to think like the Disney film Frozen, and Let It Go : ) There are so many Le Carre novels to pick from. The Perfect Spy is amazing, and Tom says that he loved it.
>>906 The fauxmance tabloid updates were definitely organized by her PR team, since almost every article was from her perspective or had gushing compliments about her. Except the radaronline article near the end, where Tom allegedly said he felt that they looked ridiculous in the tabloids. But I can't imagine anyone on earth being foolish/naive enough to sign a contract without consulting a lawyer and a publicist, first. Maybe Tom's American PR team who set up his "cheese board" Instagram page for his press tour convinced him. I haven't seen them around, recently...
>>889 To be honest Anon, I've never lived in England but most people would think like you did. It's obvious that in that circumstance it was up to her to let him go, she was the one who had to be considerate of his position and realize he couldn't just say "bye", particularly not after the year he had.
>>891 Well, he did a Kong screening with dinner that was pricer during Kong promo. I thought that was his "getting actual money for RADA", while this Hamlet seems to be more about advertising the merit of RADA as school (see students being involved not just as actors) to find private investors.
Page 4
https://www.rada.ac.uk/rada_files/pdfs/rada_supporters_summer_2017_newsletter.pdf
Besides, if he had done a "dinner with Tom" to raise money for RADA it would have been taken has a demonstration of egocentrism.
>>890 There's one flaw with your reasoning, you say "The ballot system guaranteed audience full of fans, not critics or theater lovers." So where's the rehabilitation? His fans already like him and no critic is going to gush about a play based on what his fans say.
If this play is for the purpose of rehabilitation with critics, it makes no sense. If it is with general audience, they don't give a shit about tayto, mainly because they don't give a shit about TS. Ask who TS is in any of the 27 and if you are lucky they'll tell you it's a pop singer.
For media rehabilitation (provided it's still needed) a blockbuster is better.
>>896 She won her trial, she can't have teenage SM anymore (I'm kidding, that she won her trial is the only positive thing I found to say about her).
Her bff Sheeran left twitter, so maybe she'll keep the account to avoid fakes, but abandon SM.
>>914 I'm not sure that Tom could land a blockbuster with his reputation still covered in fauxmance residue and after the GG speech incident. What consistent young actor lands blockbusters anymore besides Leo D? Chris Pine is about to do a TNT tv miniseries for gosh sake! It's rough out there in LA. Maybe Hamlet will throw off the tabloid magazine crowd at least, for a bit. The less mainstream his projects are, the better. Please Tom, do a sexy French film with Isabelle Huppert. And maybe he should look to produce and star in another tv series. Less competition, and great visibility.
>>912 Wasn't the American PR team just a part time contract hire during ISTL? That's what it seemed like...
>>914 It's about TH reestablishing himself in Hollywood through appearances. Appearance of a sold out, in demand play when really it's just in demand by his die-hard fans. I'm sure Ken B has saved 1-2 special seats for a few friendly critics who are either sympathetic to TH or owe Ken B a favor or are his buddies, and will write a nice review about Tom helping out his school and mentor with his polished acting chops.
General public in US knows Taylor Swift really well so I'm not sure which general public you're referring to that isn't aware of TS. She's everywhere here and so is her personal life. That doesn't mean they're all fans (tho she has a big female fanbase ranging from teens to women in their 20s and 30s) but she's heavily mainstream here. Even grandparents know and like her here lol Tom was a joke in the public here last year because of how he and TS presented him as her bf, and it affected his standing among Hollywood producers, hence dearth of offers despite Kong's success. It's only the industry ppl he has to convince he's not the joke he came off as last year so they won't be wary of giving him a chance again, and that will take care of industry mags too. Tabloids won't care about him unless he does something gossip worthy or if he decides to sell his personal life again. Personal life gossip is all tabloids and tabloid readers care about and that isn't who he's aiming his comeback at.
>>916 He should try to see if he can land something with any of the streaming platforms. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime or any of the On demand services. Shonda Rimes just moved all her shows off ABC and onto Netflix, and hers were some of ABC's highest rating shows. These subscription based streaming platforms are changing the face of conventional entertainment distribution and that's affecting studio and production decisions.
>>918 By On Demand services, I meant movies that will get released there before theaters or alongside their theater release.
>>917 Oh come on, I was nasty with this guy in every possible way last summer, but a simple play at RADA doesn't have the power to affect Hollywood producers. Are you saying they'll decide to invest millions on the basis that a small school theatre went sold out?
Before you said that the ballot was used to make sure no critic was present, now you are sure KenB will have seats for friendly critics - odd since even RADA's teachers had to enter the ballot - but let's say that were the case, wouldn't it simply piss off other critics hence ensuring negative comments and nullify this great master plan?
The world isn't just the US, nobody knows that better than Hollywood. Who paid for the last Mission Impossible and Kong film? The Chinese. Does it look like they think TH's is radioactive? No. Does it look like in the EU (the 27) people care about TS? No.
The studios care about getting a return in money, EU, China, Russia, South America, and all the South-East Asia don't care about TS enough for that to condition their opinion of TH - you should have read the Japanese journalists gushing about him during the Kong promo - and all these countries make a difference at the box office.
>>916 I wasn't necessarily speaking of a movie, it could be a tvshow. But between a RADA play and a successful hit, be it a movie, only the latter guarantees the exposure needed for worldwide media to talk about it. Kong in that sense already gave a help from a box office point of view.
>>881 Should have said: Yes! But we are used to the Crazy Smart one's hypocrisy around here. Because CS is the other side of a cray-cray penny she has to defend Miss Unrelated.
>>910 You might be on to something! That bish would have the gall to call her cooked up showmance song 'Bittersweet' instead of Contractually Obligated.
>>912 I wonder if he's going to cling to this project because it will give him a second shot at Bond, if they get the timing correct. You're right, let it go! Or do what Frozen did and turn it into a musical. He can star in Kong the musical and The Singing Night Manager. There can be an entire song made up of his annoying laughter.
I don't pretend to know how popular TS is in the EU member states. I suppose her tour numbers in those countries would hint at it. She's very well known here and well-known enough in general that TH decided to showmance with her - presumably to raise his profile. And a quick search of his name with hers on twitter tells me that they are still a package deal. He's not yet shook her off [I did a thing there ;)]. Yes his fans aren't going to mention TS, but her fans and those who only know them through Tayto will.
I don't know about how he thinks Hamlet is going to affect his HW career. I think that is second on the docket in terms of clean-up. But I agree with NewAnon >>890 (and others on the board) that this is meant to re-cred TH in terms of being a serious actor. The rehabilitation has nothing to do with fans, it comes from the choice of play, the venue, the short run (making it a hot ticket) and the charity aspect. They all scream actor who cares, not famewhore who showmanced - disastrously.
And I think its main purpose can be seen if we look at it in context. It was part of a trifecta which didn't come off. There was the Cannes conference which was all about being creative and artistic. Then there was the Camb. union speech which we think was going to be about Unicef. Those didn't happen for various reasons but suggest that he's going in like a D-5 on creative, serious, charitable, back to his roots.
NewAnon, I think you live on the west coast. Are you in the biz?
>>920 Except that it's not just some simple any old RADA play, it's a coproduction between RADA and Kenneth Branagh's own theater company, directed by Kenneth Branagh himself. It carries a certain respect while appearing humble. Look at the headlines that announced this, they all said something along the lines of Kenneth Branagh directing Tom Hiddleston in Hamlet. Not something like Tom starting in fundraising play for RADA. It's a clear attempt at stitching back Tom's reputation. The play isn't aiming at making Tom a hit sensation nor is it aiming to showcase him as the next big thing so I'm not sure why you keep bringing that up.
He wasn't at the top of casting lists before last summer but at least he was on the lists (usually as last choice but still there). He isn't anymore. This is an attempt at getting him back in the mix as an actor, hence comeback vehicle. He should appear to be the opposite of what his image currently is because of last summer. Image matters, look at Peter Dinklage in the upcoming sci-fi mystery Rememory. His acting and image from doing GoT worked so well together that despite his unconventional physical look as a lead for that genre, he got that film.
Having your own critic friends there who'll do you a favor is a lot different than having it open to any and every critic. No critic is going to write scathing angry editorials or articles that they didn't get tickets to Hamlet. It's not Hamilton. Why would they waste their time on that? This production isn't claiming to renovate the face of theater as we know it nor is it claiming to be better than the other shows in town. It's not saying Tom is going to do the best Hamlet performance ever done to date. It's not claiming anything extraordinary that would cause other critics to feel they're missing out and to get angry and write anything negative unless they specifically have a personal axe to grind with Tom or Ken.
Sure, Wanda Group financed Kong but it was before Tayto, the movie wrapped up before Tayto hit public. It was in post production by then. I don't see what bringing up EU and politics have to do with movie production unless we're looking at the current trade war friction between China and US which would impact Chinese financing in US movies. Already Legendary is putting out statements distancing itself from Wanda's funding.
Yeah, studios care about making money so they pick sure fire moneymakers. When producers make big movie pitches to investors or studio execs, they either have an idea of cast already or they'll start casting once they secure financing. Tom might have better marketability in Asia but he's not even the top guy there much less the only guy, and it's not a loss if he's not in it. I'm sure Chinese investors don't care about TS and Tom and last summer personally or specifically but they also don't care about Tom specifically just because of Kong. Also investors don't sit around coming up creatives, producers find a project and approach them. How many Chinese investors are rushing to finance movies demanding specifically that Tom be the main lead because of Kong's numbers? Are Wanda Group or Shanghai Films saying they'll only fund movies with Tom the guy from Kong in it? They'll fund whatever if the numbers are good enough. However let's make it more general. How many big movie pitches or decent movie pitches are currently being made to potential investors (not just Chinese or international ones) which specifically are considering Tom in a leading or one of the main roles after last summer? None after Tayto tbh.
Referring to your comment about the world outside US, unfortunately unless the movie calls for it, Hollywood does not aim at the international market as their primary demographic. Default demographic is always put down as white males (that's why we have the diversity problems that we do). The international market plays second to the domestic market for most movies.
>>923 yes I'm on the west coast. I'm in the non glam side of the biz but in the industry.
>>923 Interesting idea about the rehab trifecta!
I think that part of what's behind RadHam includes this: in the English-speaking world at least, he's become tabloid fodder and his name a literal punchline. Anon has pointed out that he used to be a golden boy to the UK press. Hamlet is a non-fame-whorish way for him to try and win back the favor he used to enjoy. (Which I think he wants both professionally and personally.)
About the industry, at the very least it signals that he's back actively looking for work (even if he had to create it in this case). And it will remind casting directors that he can do something other than Loki, which otherwise would be the only role he's seen in for a while between T:R and IW.
As I mentioned above, this production benefits him and KB/RADA in many ways. In particular, KB gets a well-publicized kickoff for the fund-raising campaign (even if this show doesn't actually bring in much money). And on the side, it also keeps the name of Branagh's theatre company alive.
>>924 Thank you, I thought this was very enlightening.
Especially the bit about him having been on lists but at the bottom, but now being on no lists. Is that something you know from working in the industry or an informed guess?
I'd also love to know your (and everyone's!) thoughts on where he was and now is on other lists than "tentpole blockbuster" (which I assume is what NewAnon was talking about above). I guess that there is an "innovative indie, won't make a dime" list, and that he was at or close to the top of that list (Ben Wheatley was clear he was first choice for HR, and he was also first choice for ISTL). Also, I guess, a list for movies with a budget of $50-60 million which may or may not be a breakout success. I would speculate he wasn't ever at the top of that list, hence he got CP only once Cumberbatch dropped out. I am guessing he wasn't at the bottom though as he seemed to be second choice after BC. And finally a British TV list - I actually think in early 2015 when he did TNM he was high up that list and maybe at the top, as he combined a decent degree of fame with being young and hot, but not yet so in demand that he would refuse to do British tv.
Where is he now on any of these lists, I wonder? Has Tayto been such a disaster that he can't get a job off any list? I find that a bit hard to believe, though as NewAnon says, image is important and his is still not good. Is it because he only wants projects off the "Tentpole" list, where he is nowhere? Is he rejecting decent indie projects? Be interested to know what everyone thinks!
>>927 Innovative indie/won't make a dime: Probably was near but not at the top of the list.
His track record in that category (not including the Joanna Hogg films which were early on in his career):
I think HR's budget was high enough to be in the next category.
To me, this track record reads as (a) financially, he can't help make a film make money, but neither could any of his better-known costars; and (b) critically, he will get good to great reviews but can't save a bad movie. So his strength in this category depends on his reviews, which in turn somewhat depend on his image/reputation. My guess is he is now at best right where he was pre-Tayto. Producers/directors in this category may want to wait a little longer until the Tayto stink has further dissipated. RadHam will appeal to them as a "comeback."
>>927, >>928 Movies with $50 - 60M budget that may or may not breakout: Probably was near but not yet at top of the list, though it depended on the role. I should have included CP here rather than in the first group!
Track record:
> CP (a bit more) I have the impression that Del Toro contacted him immediately after BC dropped out, so Tom may have been a close second in the casting.
> HR - was the first choice; billed 1st; lost money; mixed to poor reviews for the film, to the point that the actors didn't get much attention, so I think Tom's reviews were fine but not exceptional.
I think this track record is similar to that in the first category, with perhaps a little less strength in the reviews because the director and production get more attention here unless the performances are breakout. So my opinion is he hasn't budged from where he was at this level before last summer, and might even have dropped slightly from where he started before CP. It doesn't help that both films flopped financially and got mixed reviews. And there's a lot more competition in this category for the lead part! I think it will somewhat depend on luck of there being a role for which he's somehow a better fit than BC, Eddie R., Fassy, etc.
>>927 British (and somewhat, US) TV list: I agree with you on where he was. And of these categories, this is the one in which I think he's probably still strong.
I gather TNM was big hit in the UK and he was a big hit in it; while it wasn't as hot over here, it had a LOT of strong competition - the US is having a "peak TV" period! It's a feather in his cap that there's interest in doing a second series/season of it.
And for some reason I think that TV producers/directors won't care that much if at all about the hit to his personal reputation. Something tells me that this category is a little less concerned about reviews and more about casting that will help draw viewers.
I think this is the category on which he should focus for now. There are so many good short series happening in the US for the streaming services that he could make a big splash with a short investment of time.
>>927 Last one tonight, I promise! I'm also skeptical that he can't get a job from any of these lists. (And there's also theatre work.) My guess is that the lack of new projects is a mix of factors.
I wonder if he didn't perhaps take his eye off the prize for a while while he was preparing for/filming/publicizing so many projects in a row before last summer - CP, ISTL, TNM, H-R, KSI . He may not have had the time and energy to read through scripts in his few off hours. (Also probably didn't help that he spent some of those hours socializing with his cast mates during ISTL, H-R, and KSI.) Also, this might be where Anon's comment about Eton boys being told they're Masters of the Universe from age 13 comes in - once he started to get a lot of film/good TV roles all at once, he may have assumed that they would just keep coming (because, he thought, look at all the great work he was doing). And then there was taking off a chunk of last spring and summer to have "fun"....
Meanwhile, he has fierce competition for good roles, and they may be more active in making their own work. For example, BC found Imitation Game from the Blacklist script list and told his agent to go after it. Supposedly he's also now producing some of his upcoming projects.
He might be holding off for a "tentpole" lead role; he might be waiting for just the right indie/breakout part. Or he may be having a crisis of confidence and is deathly worried about making the wrong choice for his comeback.
>>931 Reading scripts is literally the only thing actors are supposed to do when they're not working, and I don't think that Tom can be described as lazy. There are a lot of talented drama student grads in London, and not all of them ascend the totem pole on stage and screen, in the UK amd the US. I think Tom/he and his reps got greedy/careless. Actors are supposed to book the next job before their last movie opens. Tom was flying high off TNM reception worldwide, and the some critical praise for ISTL, and had Kong in the can and Thor 3 about to film. So, he/his Team thought they could wait till the Emmy and GG nominations came in and that they could use the tabloid attention from the fauxmance to make him super marketable to studios. Instead, Tom was called out on the fauxmance, was tangentially involved in a reality star/pop star tabloid feud, and now his systematically cultivated Cambridge/RADA/hard working mysterious thespian halo has been knocked off. Tom needs to either stick to theatre and do 3 or 4 plays in a row to get the citics back on his side, produce and star in another limited tv/online series, or rebuild/rebrand in indy cinema and supporting roles in Europe.
>>932 Ascend the totem pole of stage and screen was soo melodramatic. So silly. I should have said so few acting students have successful film careers. Blah.
>>931 "For example, BC found Imitation Game from the Blacklist script list and told his agent to go after it." - Heynon, how is the Blacklist TV series related to the Imitation Game in this instance?
>>932 Sosorry, you hit it right on the head here: "and now his systematically cultivated Cambridge/RADA/hard working mysterious thespian halo has been knocked off." He cannot afford to be picky anymore if that's what's going on.
I would imagine he wants a career as hot as Tom Hardy's right now, but somehow do it being less busy than Hardy. But he can't have it that way. Like Heynon said in >>931 about thinking scripts would be handed to him from now on the way it was with ISTL, or being asked by A list directors to join in prestige ensemble spots like War Horse or the Woody Allen movie, without having to audition. My guess, or really, what I believe without really knowing the business at all - Hollywood wants to see if he's growing beyond a comicbook character and fauxBond - how far outside his comfort zone has he gone, is he willing to go? ISTL was only the start, and he has to continue finding roles that pull him out of himself. Maybe throwing himself into the theatre and/or a TV series for a few years will be the way he shows he's matured. Tom Hardy has 15 titles somewhere in development - optioned, script, announced, planned, exec prodcer, in a variety of titles and genres....Tom Hiddy has 1 listed, Hard Boiled. Maybe he was auditioning his ass off and getting turned down left and right before Ken solidified the Hamlet run.
>>927 It’s something I’ve seen. Tom was usually last in line for any big budget film if there was no exact cast in mind.
For Crimson Peak, he got the role because Benedict Cumberbatch personally recommended him when he left. Tom wasn’t 2nd in line or anything. And because of that foot in with Legendary, I think that’s how Tom got involved with Kong in the early initial stages of the treatment before an actual script was even written with a finalized director.
I don't believe Tom was ever in consideration for Bond. Actors sign NDAs when they audition for a role or are pulled into initial talks for it. None of that obnoxious Tayto stunting would have been accompanied by “Bond hopeful” in the tabs if he was actually being considered for it. It’d be a clear violation of the NDA. Or maybe he did violate the NDA and that’s why producers don’t want to work with him anymore.
I think Tom’s approach to the business is not very smart and he wastes his lucky breaks. Eg: his success in a Marvel ensemble and wanting movies at that level. Switching agencies shows that. That's how he ended up at the bottom of lists for big projects because his work at the time didn't justify him even being in the middle, much less top. If Tom had used his breakthrough momentum wisely while at ICM, he could have easily been doing projects at the level of Ex-Machina ($15m, great acclaim) around 2013 instead of something like Muppets. Even with WME, he could have achieved that if he'd been aiming for good meaty roles, not just pushing for leading roles or roles in big budgets or franchises. He hopped on that train late with High Rise ($8m), and quite frankly, I don't think he would have ever considered Laing if it weren’t for Jeremy Thomas.
Post TNM, Tom most likely would have been middle of the list for a leading role in movies at the level of The Snowman or top of the list for shows like Netflix’s The Mindhunters. He wasn't in consideration for Snowman at the time but I believe he would be considered for movies at that level now if it weren’t for the Tayto spectacle.
I know it sounds trite but image is important in Hollywood because it shows what an actor's goal is - acting or fame. He's not being considered for quality projects which he could have been after TNM and Kong. The image he projected last summer was that of a narcissistic actor who could turn a project into a "me me me" affair by calling paps during filming or leaking photos/ info from set or talking about only himself during the promo junket and would require constant babysitting. His Golden Globe speech also gave that impression. These are valid concerns any good producer or exec producer would have.
>>925 I'd always suspected this given your posts. Good to have it confirmed.
I can't tell a tent-pole from an indie sleeper so I won't even guess. He himself said pre-Tayto that he was the bridesmaid more than the bride. OLLA was Fassbender's before TH's. CP also belonged to someone before it fell to him, as noted here. The Sony leaks showed us that it wasn't false modesty on his part. He was never top of the list, even for a stinker comedy like Grimsby, and was considered B list by studios.
>>932 I think you're right. He and his people were betting on this. ISTL, TNM and Tayto were all meant to catapult him into the big-time. TNM worked in the UK, less so in the US. To paraphrase the song, 2 out of 3 ain't bad, but .75/3 is.
I'm sure he'll get another job but maybe not what he was wanting or expecting last year in March, April.
OT I'm currently on the roof of our building waiting for the eclipse. It's cloudy, of course. Junior is in his covered buggy and asleep but my MIL is still shielding him like a Secret Service agent. We look like tits in our glasses.
More on eclipses later.
>>935 Ever since he left ICM for WME he's been getting bad parts. Him and his team thought that just because he had great acclaim as Loki in the first Thor movie and Avengers that he could keep on going with that. But he got full of himself and switched to WME when ICM was getting him supporting but yet quality parts. With his actions with Taylor it just shows he's impulsive, impatient and just plain naive and with the Golden Globes speech narcissistic. He needs to stick to theater for awhile and if he wants to get A-list he needs to go on TV. He doesn't have the magnetism of a leading man at all.
>>937 What did the Sony leaks say about him? I only know that they pretty much described him as a desperate famewhore who will do anything the studios tell him to do.
>>936 No, I meant the Black List script list/marketplace that helps scripts get more notice and picked up: https://blcklst.com
>>936, >>940 And an article about the Black List: http://www.npr.org/2017/01/27/512047249/the-hollywood-black-list-turns-overlooked-scripts-into-oscar-movies
The Eclipse was magical, according to friends who live near or travelled to be near totality. Where I was, roughly in the 70% zone, it became 3degCelsius or so cooler, and I got some nice pics of the crescent-shaped sun as the moon was partially covering it by noticing the shape of leaves' shadows on the sidewalk. The birds were totally quiet during.
As ever I have learned a lot! Thanks all.
I think Sosorry is bang on in suggesting that he thought he would wait till after Tayto success (!!) and Emmy noms etc to see what was out there. The plan maybe also included planning a break in early 2017, knowing how much he would have been doing through 2016 (KSI, fauxmance, Thor 3). So, as he thought, see what comes up from September 2016 onwards, expecting to be booking by the end of 2016 and filming by mid 2017 after a break.
>>935 I had never really thought of how producers would see Tayto in terms of needing babysitting on press junkets etc. I just thought they would see it in terms of whether he was a credible leading man with the public. It's sad that he unravelled years of being a good company man with 2 months of messing around - I mean, he could not possibly have been criticised for how hard he worked on the ISTL tour in March/April 2016.
>>937 >>939 Here are some of the copies of the hacked Sony emails about Tom Hiddleston. The first email implies that his ego is easily flattered by film executives, and that Paramount had recently turned him down for a certain project. Tom is thought of as B list in general, but Sasha Baron Cohen wanted him for Grimsby and raised Tom to his personal A list for for a part in his film. Hmm...So directors who know personally of Tom's work wanted to work with him despite his status in the chain, before last summer. Unfortunate.
https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/69606
https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/79244
https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/93418
>>939>>945 Don't think you can get 'famewhore' out of the emails. Maybe his behavior, but not the emails! The most telling is that he wanted to play the part of a spy/intelligence officer in dramas, not comedies, i.e., wanted Bond bad.
>>943 It was only 70%ish percent here too but it was eerie and special nonetheless. The little one slept through it but I can say that he 'witnessed' it. No birds around to see their reaction. The traffic wasn't quiet. My MIL was! Miracle.
>>946 Bond was never in the cards for anyone besides Daniel Craig. Bond producer Barbara Broccoli just was one of the producers of his Off-broadway production of Othello, in which, Craig played Iago. There was a blind item that Tom was in their peripheral vision, somehow. But blind items can't always be trusted.
Tom was "accidentally" seen running yesterday in his hw ISTL Hank Williams ISTL baseball cap. Will we get planned grumpy cat Tom pap pics while he carries coffee, closer to the opening of Hamlet? Time will only tell.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYDDliNlyqp/?taken-by=tomhiddleston_daily
OMG. Remember when Tom came out to support his Avengers' director, and Buffy, Angel, and Serenity series creator, Joss Whedon, at the premiere of Much Ado About Nothing? Well Whedon's ex-wife, architect Kia Cole, has just denounced him in a personal essay as a 15 year serial adulturer, pathological liar, and fake feminist, which caused her to develop "Complex PTSD"! She designed their georgeous marital home, which was used as the location in the Much Ado film. Let us remember that the fallout from a real relationship in Hollywood is much uglier than a fake one. Links to Tom at the premiere and the story are below.
http://www.celebitchy.com/546819/joss_whedons_ex-wife_joss_is_a_compulsive_cheater_a_fake_feminist/
http://www.thewrap.com/joss-whedon-feminist-hypocrite-infidelity-affairs-ex-wife-kai-cole-says/
http://www.justjared.com/photo-gallery/2889192/tom-hiddleston-supports-joss-whedon-much-ado-about-nothing-01/
>>932 Oh, I didn't mean to imply that Tom is lazy. Just that he had so much going on, especially with how intensely he prepared for ISTL and how hard he worked on that promo tour, that he may have dialed back looking for work just a notch. And I think we're saying essentially the same thing at the end - that he/his team assumed that good roles would just come in on their own, particularly as you pointed out after any awards nominations. But as others' later posts have pointed out, he wasn't really high up at all in the feeding chain, and the competition is fierce. (Plus I suspect any actor would be better off having too many irons in the fire because of the number of projects that turn into vaporware!)
>>942 You're welcome, Whatsinaname! I think I actually heard about the Black List when I was first lurking on this board.
>>935 Ah, I didn't know that Ben C had recommended Tom to replace him in CP. So there's another role that potentially was just handed to him.
For Bond, agree that violating an NDA would put him on the old kind of blacklist. But how much did Tom really say about wanting the role other than that he'd be thrilled to play it? (I wasn't following him at that point, so I really don't know and am curious. I saw occasional articles that smacked a bit of "tall poppy syndrome" for his having even made that comment. There even was some interview where he hung his head when asked about it and said something about he wished that people would just stop talking about it.) And do you think his PR team was feeding the idea to the tabloids? I had more of the impression that the tabs were milking it themselves.
I think your last paragraph neatly sums up what he did to his image by associating with that pap-stunt-pulling, self-centered child last summer. Though he did already tend to hog the spotlight during promo tours, it wasn't to the point that he needed to be babysat. Unfortunately, it is now, and even having a sitter at the GGs didn't keep him from stepping in it! Someone must have read him the riot act and finally gotten through to him, because we saw that almost 180 turn in his behavior during the KSI tour.
>>946 Agree that the emails don't imply "famewhore." The first one does imply that he was still far enough down the ladder of HW success to be flattered (or that he should be flattered!) at the offer of a supporting role to Sasha Baron Cohen. As we know, TH has high need to feel loved/wanted, even for an actor.
The emails are from early 2014. Would he have been involved with Night Manager by that point as a produces?
The eclipse here was 75% - 80%. Didn't get all that dark, but the temperature definitely dropped a few degrees. And it really was cool to watch it, even if the glasses were dorky!
>>949 Last one, then I'm off to watch a leader of the free world who watched the eclipse today without wearing the glasses....
I suspect Tom's presence at that premiere was as much "would attend the opening of an envelope" as bit support for Josh W. At least I hope so. To me, Tom's feminist cred dropped a bit after his going along with (and continuing to use) the "mewling quim" line in A1.
>>947 I think you're correct, but that doesn't mean he wasn't dreaming about Bond, even as early as 2014.
>>949 If you have to say you're a feminist, you probably aren't. Whedon's fake feminism has been a story since the days of Buffy and Angel. I'm not surprised.
>>951 His people likely were feeding it. I remember there was a pap video taken of TH as he was walking near the cafe. The main topic of the pap's questions: Bond. Anon has told us that the neighborhood isn't really a hotbed of pap activity but somehow a pap showed up to chat with TH about Bond...just as he was getting his morning cup o joe... like paps showed up everywhere Tayto went. Neither was coincidental. If the paps milked it, it was because someone gave them the cow, stool and pail.
>>951 I think the media and internet read him the riot act. After the showmance and the GG, he couldn't continue with the piddling puppy act. Also I think about the cringe associated with Tayto down under. I recall both MR and CH having to answer Tayto questions, or dodge Tayto questions, during interviews and radio broadcasts. Not what you want from a colleague or from a work environment. That must be in the backs of people's minds.
And speaking of eclipses.... Dlisted tells me that - to no one's surprise - TS has posted to her SM. It appears to be a picture of a snake, so she's going to own that, I guess. I doubt she'll own her fakery as well. Oct. seems to be her usual album release month. Are we going to have SM hints and teasers through all of Sept. (Hamlet run) and then album drop and promo in Oct. (promo for/lead up to Thor in Nov.)? Does the universe hate TH that much?
Sept. will be all about speculation and Oct. all about dissecting the TH song (my new guess: Snake Charmer). Good luck with those two projects, TH!
Or am I exaggerating? Will focus fall on the new boyfriend and TH escape saturation mention?
>>955 Her new single will drop this Friday the 25th. It's called 'Timeless.' Allegedly. I say she missed an opportunity not dropping it as the eclipse was happening yesterday.
>>955 So it's coming down the pike quickly. I wonder if this is 'his' song, or if that will wait until the second single in about 2 or 3 months when you know who's you know what comes out. TH had better hope that this CD has a (surprise plot twist!) positive, forward thinking life spin and keep it about the new beau.
>>950 The Blacklist article/transcript was very interesting. Thanks again.
The first official "I don't want to review Hamlet" article: https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2017/matt-trueman-whats-point-reviewing-tom-hiddlestons-hamlet/?utm_source=newsletter1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter1
Not I thought a particularly powerful argument against reviewing. He says (1) I have to make a critical choice and reviewing this pushes out a review of something else (come on, do you really see plays every day? And you write for an online publication so are they honestly short of space); (2) it is sold out and plays to a small capacity theatre (but he concedes he will review sold out plays or those in small venues); (3) he doesn't review charity events (except when he does).
What it really comes down to seems to be his last few sentences: he doesn't have any real interest in the Hiddleston Hamlet. Why he feels like this he doesn't choose to analyse. I think it comes down to good old-fashioned pique: his view is not considered relevant by Branaghston, and he knows it.
>>958 It does sound like "Well, I probably wouldn't have reviewed it anyway so there HA!"
Care to bet that this fellow brings this up the next time he reviews TH or KB?
>>959 I meanly thought when I saw his pic that he looked a bit like TH only....not quite. I bet he is sick of taking women out for dinner and then asking if he has met TH (or other hotties) in his work as a theatre critic!
Tom, photographed out in the wild, wearing his uniform.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYGs6ZvlS7q/?taken-by=tomhiddleston_daily
>>939 I think depending on the type of story, Tom could do a lead role. He can do vulnerability and antagonism really well, and a modern mystery or a quiet psychological thriller would be a good fit. I can see him doing roles like Edward Norton in Primal Fear or Jake Gyllenhaal in Zodiac. Traditional Tom Cruise/ Bruce Willis type action roles or even romcoms are not Hiddlebum's forte. He can fit in a Wes Anderson comedy pretty well too.
>>944 Credibility with the public is part of it as well because of is the actor worth the hassle in $$$ when it comes to production costs. That's why some actors with serious substance abuse issues will keep getting good gigs even though they pose a huge insurance liability, because the public adores them and studios/ producers feel it's worth the risk in $$$. Tom is an idiot with how he blew his chances. That tanktop was nothing compared to how he arrived in Oz with Taylor and turned the entire Thor3 shoot about himself and Taylor. I'm pretty sure Marvel had to spent extra to ensure the privacy of the closed set, and Tom must have gotten some sort of warning about not allowing his relationship circus to follow him on set.
>>951 Even if you give Tom the benefit of the doubt and say TNM provoked the Bond rumors, if he was truly in consideration for the role, he immediately would have shut it all down because of the NDA. That's why you never find out about actors auditioning for whatever movies until it's about to go into pre-production. Likely scenario is what >>954 said. Tom wanted Bond and thought if he put it out there in the media that his Pine makes him a viable candidate for Bond, he would get noticed by Broccoli and company. He could have landed some other role in the Bond universe if he had networked instead of leaking and stunting.
>>965 That's what I think about Bond. He wasn't in contention but he wanted to be (as is evident from his glowing blushes when denying it). So his people leak it after TNM, he then quite truthfully says "I'm not in talks" but all the while hoping the buzz will force Broccoli's hand to consider him - the People's Bond.
>>958 He really struggled to try not to shit on the idea of charity plays but still ended up doing it anyways on RADA, and shit on Tom's acting potential as well. There will be some who will use this as an opportunity to gratify their Hiddleshate.
PS He used to know all this. He mentioned doing a chemistry audition with EO many years before they worked together, and he was very careful not to say what it was for. He also I think didn't say he turned down Grimsby - people got that from his indirect comments only after the Sony hack.
>>966 He really needs to mature up. I can't believe he has the agents and management that he does and then pulls juvenile reality star level media stunts like that.
>>968 It's basic actor 101. It'd be worrisome if he didn't do it. I don't know what happened to make him do the stuff he did last summer. It was all very juvenile, something someone very green with rookie management would do. Not someone like Tom with the representation he has.
TS's new album is called Reputation, and is being advertised with a b&w pic of her superimposed on newsprint.
Tom, girl, you in trouble!
>> Is he ever! It drops Nov. 10 - two weeks after T:R's UK release and one week after the US premiere.
Awww, the rite of passage of every TS ex: the album drop, the liner notes, the anxiety. I'm sure Harris will come in for the really stern stuff; he didn't play along. TH has been proactive with his praise of her and his brokenhearted act so she might have needed to be gentle with him or risk backlash. I don't think she can go with the story she used about the break-up, i.e., he was the one pushing for a more public relationship.
So we are going to get a build-up that runs parallel and then converges with his schedule. He must be kicking himself.
Remember last June when her tumblr fans were introducing themselves to his fans, and talking about weddings? Oh how the world has changed.
>>971 Good lord, I just saw that cover. Talk about the victim act on steroids. Tbh, I don't know how the general public will react to her lambasting the media when real journalism is under attack. Her fans are loving it but I don't know if this new rebranding (is it really rebranding though when it's the same ol' victim act?) is going to go down as successfully as 1989 did.
This article sadly articulates what I think is true about the fakeness of TS. Wow. Ouch.
https://medium.com/@DevinR127/we-need-to-talk-about-taylor-swift-for-a-moment-349905905110
Anyone else think that these quotes from an "exclusive insider" sound like a plant from Tom's PR team? This is some major preventive brown-nosing.... http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/08/24/tom-hiddleston-taylor-swift-album-fears-diss-track-reputation/amp/
>>976 I don't know about that. Didn't her publicist or "insider" say immediately after the breakup announcement that he was using her for publicity (which is true) and her fame (also true) and that he wasn't falling in love with the real her, just the illusion of her. Pretty much calling him a famewhore. That doesn't scream "i'm gonna write a loving song about our barely 2 month relationship together". I think they broke up in early August during the rumored fight they had and then announced their breakup in September, but they were long over by then.
HollywoodLife is not exactly a reliable source, but if that is indeed a plant of Tom's well he sounds like a pathetic wimp. Just take it like a man Hiddleston. It's a song, that's all. And it does sound like something he would say in an interview. It has the same tone as the infamous GQ interview where he was spilling his fake broken heart for her. No one messes with Taylor and leaves unscathed.
Also there was a Blind item that he and his friends called Taylor a c**t. Her team probably saw this. Not going to end well but Taylor is trying to rebrand herself just like Tom, so these two fakes can suffer for all I care.
>>976 It's Hollywood Life so I wouldn't take it seriously. Their stuff never sounds like any publicist calls them. If he is actually scared...grow a pair, Tom. Also, if TS's new single is any measure of what her new album is all about then last year's famewhore label and TS tanktop were the worst of it lol I didn't think it was possible for her lyrics to sound more juvenile as she got older but she showed us all.
>>978>>976 Hollywood Life can be described as just clickbait. The release date of Thor 3 is too close to the TS album release date for Tom's PR team and Marvel not to prepare in advance for a strategy. Please let Marvel protect the brand, and let Tom hire some crisis PR firm. My first impulse is that maybe Tom won't be insulted in a song, b/c a "Tom" song would bring up pics of the fauxmance, in which she took equal blame. TS seemed to label Tom w the famewhore narrative, and then she ditched him in the tabloids. It wouldn't help her brand to be associated with Tom anymore.
According to Rolling Stone the new track is going for Kanye (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/taylor-swift-new-song-look-what-you-made-me-do-apparent-kanye-west-diss-w499090,) though with its hackneyed lyrics and "poor me" attitude, it is hard to ascertain any particular target narrower than the world at large.
It is of course at number one - she has got 102m followers on Instagram after all - but whether it will be a critical success, or its message approved, remains to be seen. A number of commenters have already observed that "look what you made me do" is the defence invoked by rapists and child molesters everywhere. I think the tide turned last year for her as much as TH, actually. There is a greater willingness now to dig below the surface to interrogate the problematic messages she puts out about personal responsibility and her everlasting blonde victimhood.
One tweet I saw: Thought it was about Katy Perry. Or maybe John Mayer. Or maybe Tom Hiddleston. Or maybe Harry Styles. Or maybe Jake Gyllenhaal. Or maybe....
In the same way some can multi-task, she can multi-victim, playing the innocent, injured party to several 'cruel bullies.'
You made me do it. Nothing like the abrogation of personal responsibility.
I've not actually heard the song or seen the lyrics but the title could be perilously close to the truth for TS. Tayto seems to have been a response to Kim and Kanye's decision to speak about TS's knowledge of and agreement to his song's lyrics. They really did make her do it!
>>981 People are really dragging TS b/c the images from the new video seem to copy Beyoncé in Formation. The song has been bashed by critics, including the guardian, and by power ballad song writer Diane Warren. The album will be released on the anniversary of the date of the death of Kanye Wests mother, which is just insensitive, since the diss song is about Kimye. I refuse to link the video. But the lyrics cartoon video for the new TS single has an image of of a tall skinny cowboy in a suit and western hat, with a woman holding a gun like a Bond girl. Tom fans think that it's a sly reference to TH as Hank Williams in ISTL. As long as the general public doesn't pick up on it, there aren't any cruel songs about him on the album, and TH doesn't go on the same late night talk shows as TS does when promoting Thor, he can just relax as TS has to handle this complicated PR situation.
>>977, >>978, >>978 Oh I know that rag is ridiculous even for a tabloid. But to me, their article sounded so much like PR (or something lifted from one of the nannies' tumbles) that it amused me. I was thinking today that it almost sounded meant to provoke a "debunking" on Gossip Cop. And what did I find when googling Tom just now? A denial on Gossip Cop!
>>983 You were right on the money. Luke Windsor has officially learned how to contact gossip cop in a new emergency situation. Bless his heart! And I think TH's describing of TS not as an ex gf, but "as someone with whom he shares a history" is the new blow off line. Cold. Aggressively protective of TH's brand. Identical to what Team Beyoncé just did. Luke Windsor, congrats. Cheers to you, sir. Parabens. Keep it up. Keep up the fight.
https://www.gossipcop.com/tom-hiddleston-taylor-swift-reputation-album-diss-song/
Luke Windsor still sucks for approving TH to get with her in the first place. Both of them, TH and LW, knew of Swift's reputation with boyfriends yet they went along with it because Tom is an impulsive, impatient idiot that can't stand that his peers have been nominated for Oscars and have quality projects coming along compared to him.
Also, while I think TS is a sneaky whiny woman-child i doubt she release her album because of Kanye's mom death date. She mostly releases her albums around that time anyway. People are reaching far too much for their hate for her. The only thing she'll have against Kanye is songs against him, that's all, which she has done with the release single. I doubt Kanye's mom has anything to do with the equation.
>>981 Hmm...someone just said that what some Tom fans perceive is a Hank Williams based "cowboy" figure in the cartoon video for "Look What You Made Me Do", actually looks like a drawing of a 1940's film noir Sam Spade-like private investigator, and Swift would be the dangerous femme fatale with the gun. So in that case, Tom wouldn't be involved at all. I guess we'll see when she releases the video tomorrrrow.
>>984 What I find interesting about this GC denial is that it only denies that HL had a good source. Unless Team Tom's other denials to GC in the past, it doesn't call the actual content of the story ridiculous or use some similar putdown. I think that it, like the original story, are subtle shots across the bow to TS's team. The messages: Tom will continue to take the high road of only speaking well of her (in public, at least), which could make her look childish if she does do a diss song. Also, that his victim act (he'll be "crushed and hurt" if she does) is more appealing to the GP at this point, thanks to the GQ article, then hers is.
>>986 The film noir reference could be correct. I've seen a still from the full video with her made up like a dame from one of those movies (full lips, 1940s/50s hair, etc.)
Meanwhile, IRL, RadHam started tech rehearsals on Friday.
OMG! The male back up dancers in the real TS new video are all wearing the I heart TS tank tops in black, mid drift versions! She is so mean. Why does she need to reference Tom? He was ridiculed, not her? Cruel and unnecessary.
The effeminate male dancers in the TS music video wearing black midriff tank top shirt saying I heart TS.
>>989 http://variety.com/2017/music/news/taylor-swift-look-what-you-made-me-do-music-video-vma-1202540101/
>>989>>990 And she's selling I heart TS tops in the merchandise store as of now. Will Tom get a cut of that? No. Plus the video has a car chase scene where the paparazzi chase her to her death, just like Princess Diana, on the week of the death of Princess Diana! And she copied Whitney Houston and Beyoncé music videos where they stood next to versions of themselves, who are wearing costumes from all of their other music videos. I can't believe it.
>>989 etc - so much for Team Tom trying to steer her on to the high road.... This is all over the web and twitter now. Let's hope it dies down just as quickly so he can open RadHam in peace.
So evidently she's pissed that (a) the world mocked him for wearing that shirt, (b) he felt he had to explain it equals (c) disrespecting her because he wasn't proud to proclaim his love by wearing the squad uniform/official merch?
Did Taylor Swift just call out Tom Hiddleston in her new video clip?
We think so.
Following her surprise song release last week, the only thing Taylor Swift fans could look forward to more than the album (which is dropping on November 10) was the release of Look What You made Me Do’s video clip.
Premiered during the MTV Video Music Awards — which were hosted by Katy Perry, none the less — the video was everything and more. But perhaps one of the more subtle references, hidden between the Kanye West allusions, was Swift’s poke at former boyfriend Tom Hiddleston.
In a Formation-esque scene, Swift’s back-up dancers are seen wearing ‘I [heart] Taylor Swift’ T-shirts, eerily similar to the shirt Hiddleston wore at Swift’s 2016 Fourth of July party — yep, the one that made headlines for being as cringe-worthy as it was sweet.
So was it a dig, or are we reading too much into this? Considering the entire song is a play on Swift haters, we’re going to assume it’s the former.
The tumblr meltdown is going to be EPIC!
The not being mocked Tom can't come to the phone right now...he's dead.
Silver lining: she didn't make him wear the midriff version.
Too bad Michael K isn't posting at the moment because this needs his commentary.
Taylor Swift Threw Major Shade At Tom Hiddleston In New Music Video & It's Intense
http://elitedaily.com/entertainment/celebrity/taylor-swift-reputation-tom-hiddleston/2055344/
No one is safe on Taylor Swift's Reputation album. If you crossed her, she's coming for you. In true Swift fashion, ex-boyfriends are fair game. If you have followed every T. Swift relationship as closely as I have, you picked up a lot of subtle shade from the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video. If not, let me enlighten you. Tom Hiddleston in “Look What You Made Me Do” video seems non existent, but he's definitely there.
etc etc blah blah rehash blah blah
>>996, >>997 So on tumblr, the "toxics" are saying "told you so!" (That she'd go after him.) Meanwhile the nannies are claiming that it's meant to mock the media, not Tom. Too bad for them that every media outlet and random twitter person sees it as - a dig at Tom....
She didn't need to make him wear the midriff version - it was so many sizes too small that it showed his abs just fine! But really lucky for him that high heels weren't the right footwear for that party....
Closing out the thread...