Friday, February 29, 2008

Commercial for Moevenpick

Commercial for Mövenpick (1997).

Read More......

Keeley on GMTV (Feb 1, 2008)

Read More......

Video from the Radio Times Photoshoot

Read More......

Montage of "Ashes to Ashes" Clips

Read More......

Miscellaneous Recent Pictures



Keeley and her son Myles at the premiere of Noddy's Island Adventure in October 2005. (More pictures from that event with Matthew and baby Maggie here.)






Promotional pictures for Ashes to Ashes, and a photo of Keeley arriving at the premiere of The Bank Job earlier this month. (More pictures from that event here. More pictures from Ashes here.)



Keeley and Philip Glenister with Chris Moyle of BBC Radio 1 on the set of Ashes.

(Photo credits: last picture from K-H.com; others from The Mirror.) Read More......

Article: DI Alex Drake's a sight for sore eyes

From The Mirror, February 18, 2008.

--

She's had a kicking from the critics, with some suggesting it was an inside job for Keeley Hawes and she even didn't audition for Ashes To Ashes.

But I can reveal that not only did she try out for the part of DI Alex Drake, she also had to audition looking like a pirate.

Keeley said: "I had to go and read for the part like everyone else. I had to meet Phil (Glenister) to see if we would hate each other.

"But I went with a big patch on my eye after I was scratched in the cornea by my nine-month-old son's nail. It wasn't my greatest moment.

"Then there was a wait - and it was quite a big build up with the scripts and meetings.

"By the time I was offered the part it was more, 'Thank God for that', rather than worrying about it."

And no-nonsense Keeley doesn't see herself as a sex symbol, despite wearing some pretty saucy outfits in Ashes.

She said: "It's just a label that people like to give you rather than something you think about yourself.

"I have three kids, so sex symbol status under my roof went out the window a while ago.

"It's flattering but I'd rather people concentrate on the show or Keeley's perm [Alex's perm?] or something."

So there you have it, DI Drake puts the frizz in the Fuzz, and she's a pretty arresting sight.

-- Read More......

Keeley and Philip Interview

From The Stage, February 6, 2008.

As we prepare for the long-awaited premiere of Ashes to Ashes tomorrow night, TV Today caught up with its two principal stars, Philip Glenister (returning as DCI Gene Hunt) and Keeley Hawes, who plays newcomer Alex Drake. (Don’t forget our interview yesterday with supporting actors Marshall Lancaster and Montserrat Lombard as well. [click here])
As with yesterday’s interview, the discussion includes some spoilers…


The first thing we notice about Gene this series are his new snakeskin cowboy boots. How did they come about?

Philip Glenister: When we were going for the look for Gene in this, Rosie our costume designer and I wanted to move away from the camel coat… I remember when I was a drama student and had no money whatsoever, I used to go back to Harrow to Barclays Bank and ask for another £200 to get me through term.

Keeley Hawes: I thought you were going to say 100 grand, I thought you were a bit posh! I thought, hang on!

Philip: That’s now. Back then, as a drama student in 1987 £100 was huge. Obviously being a student you never got to see the bank manager, you got to see a minion. I just remember this guy who used to wear these suits, and he had cowboy boots. And he was big into his Westerns, and he said, ‘if you ever appear in a Western, I’ll give you the money - but you have to appear in a Western’. So I kind of feel I’ve fulfilled his wish by playing Gene. Certainly in Life on Mars, he was the sheriff.

There’s a lot of Western imagery in the first episode of Ashes to Ashes to reinforce that.

Absolutely.

Is that reflected throughout the rest of the series?

No, I don’t think so. Overall, it’s got an incredibly different feel about it. It’s got its own identity. It’s incredibly tongue in cheek in many respects, which I think is great. I really think it’s fabulous.

Keeley: Life on Mars was very different. The second you see Alex is in 1981, you realise it’s going to be very different. Purely from being in the Seventies, you know, it was very subdued and tonally very different, visually very different. Suddenly you’re bang! with the red and the leather of the Eighties. So immediately, whether you like it or not, you’re somewhere else. It’s very clever.

I think a little bit has been edited out somewhere along the line, because Alex arrives and is under cover as a hooker, so I spend the whole time [dressed as a prostitute] — I don’t think it’s that clear that that’s what I’m doing. It just looks like that’s what I’m wearing because that’s how they dressed in the Eighties!

Philip: And who put all those clothes in your wardrobe and forgot the skirts?

Keeley: As you do!

Did you enjoy the experience of shooting Ashes to Ashes?

I got mascara down my face because I cried laughing. It’s ridiculous. It sounds like I’m bullshitting, but it’s true, I laughed so much.

On screen, the humour’s contrasted with a very creepy vibe from the clown… Oh, that was horrible!

It seems that there’s a deliberate attempt to treat the disconnect between the present day and the past in a very different way to Life on Mars.

Yeah, there’s a very different connection from Sam’s use of the telephone. All that had to change, really, or…

Philip: Also, Sam’s association with the future was through the TV, which was pretty unique with Life on Mars, with the Test Card girl. And we’ve kind of taken it a little bit further. The image of the clown is much darker and I think the whole thing about clowns is that they’re quite creepy.

Keeley: It’s a very clever idea. And they were so of the era. There was a big Pierrot clown phase. I remember my sister had them lined up, and I used to think ‘Woah!’ (shudders) All those little china heads…

There does seem to be an obvious chemistry between Alex and Gene…
And wasn’t that scooping [of Alex into Gene Hunt’s arms] brilliant, though? It was so quick and clean…

Philip: It’s amazing what a bit of editing can do! It must remind you of your wedding day.

What is it about Gene Hunt that makes women go weak at the knees?

The writing!

Keeley: I think, now that we’ve been through the whole ‘new man’ thing in the Nineties, I think ultimately Gene’s a real man… God, I’m going to get things thrown at me in the street!

Philip: Do, do, please!

Keeley: But he’s a real man like your Dad, in the best possible way. He’s sort of everything you want a man to be. You want a man to scoop you up. You know, all this bullshit about ladies being equal is all well and good, but ultimately it’s sort of a fantasy that she’s having, that Gene is someone to look to, someone who can look after her.

Philip: But also isn’t he a challenge?

Keeley: A challenge for Alex, definitely.

Philip: Just as Sam tried to change him…

Keeley: Stop bringing him into it. There’s an obvious chemistry between you and Sam…

Do you think Ashes to Ashes will appeal to a wider audience than Life on Mars?

Philip: I do hope so!

Keeley: It’ll be because of my boobs in episode 5!

Philip: I just feel very protective towards the whole franchise in many respects, and to the character.

On that subject, did you have any reservations about bringing Gene back?

Philip: Yes. We had a long conversation during [the filming of Life on Mars]… John [Simm] said, understandably I think, “I can’t really do any more with Sam,” so he went off to do other things. And then they said to me, “Well, we’ve got this idea. Can we just finish filming and then talk about it?”

So I didn’t really get involved until Life on Mars had finished. And then we talked about Ashes to Ashes. We had a lunch and Jane Featherstone said, “Keeley Hawes as Alex Drake”. And I said “If you can get Keeley Hawes…” (Keeley shrieks with laughter) It’s true!

Keeley, your character knows the story of Sam Tyler inside out. Did you personally know Life on Mars in the same way?

Keeley: I went out with Jane Featherstone…

Philip: …and she said “If you can get John Simm back!”…

Keeley: No! But I said I’d love to do it, and then I hurried off to HMV and bought the box set.

Philip: You mean they didn’t give it to you? The stingy bastards! Send them the receipts!

--- Read More......

Article: "Gene Hunt? He's Just So Sexy"

From the Manchester Evening News, February 7, 2008.

--

It's always unwise for men to try to predict what women are thinking. But I'd hazard a guess that being picked up and carried into a police station in the arms of Gene Hunt might be near the top of a few female wish lists.

Keeley Hawes didn't mind a bit when she made her debut as dazed DI Alex Drake in Life On Mars sequel Ashes To Ashes (BBC1, tonight, 9pm).

"I'm going to get things thrown at me in the street, but Gene's a real man. He's like your dad, in the best possible way. He's sort of everything you want," she says.

"You want a man to scoop you up, I think, as a woman. You do. All this bull about being equal and all the rest is all well and good.

"But, ultimately, I think it's lovely as a sort of fantasy that she's having, that Gene is somebody to look to, somebody that will look after you, somebody that will defend you.

"When girlfriends of mine watch it, they say, `Oh my God, he's so sexy.' You think, `Yeah, he is.' And he's a challenge for her."

Shot in the head, 2008 police psychologist Alex wakes up in 1981 and finds herself working alongside DCI Hunt, played by Philip Glenister, who has moved from Manchester to London.

Having studied the case notes of Sam Tyler (John Simm) and his coma recollections of life in 1973, she knows just who Gene, Ray (Dean Andrews) and Chris (Marshall Lancaster) are.

But Alex believes them and their world to be fantasies created within her own mind.

On the edge of life, she fights to return "home" to daughter Molly, while stalked in 1981 by a Pierrot clown - representing death - inspired by the figure in David Bowie's Ashes To Ashes video.

Viewers who reckon this is simply a re-run of Life On Mars may be in for a surprise as the story develops. The year 1981 is significant as it's when Alex's parents were killed in a car bomb. She arrives in July of that year, three months before the explosion.

High-profile

Episode two features the first meeting between DI Drake and her mother Caroline Price, a high-profile lawyer played by former Coronation Street star Amelia Bullmore. She, of course, has no idea who Alex really is.

"That's why she thinks she is back there... to stop their death or find out the reasons for it. She has to put the pieces of the puzzle together," explains Keeley, about the main storyline linked to the Ashes To Ashes title.

After the initial scooping up, sparks fly as Alex spars with her "imaginary constructs".

By episode three we see her giving Gene a right-hand slap, followed by a left-hand punch.

"I think she enjoys 1981, secretly, much more than 2008 - like Sam eventually did realise that he actually preferred their way of doing things.

"She does find it exciting. I think she finds Gene very exciting. But she has this dilemma with her daughter that she has to go back to."

Like John Simm and Life On Mars, Keeley is in nearly every scene of Ashes To Ashes.

"I went to see this play with my hair still in a perm and bumped into John. It was really nice to talk to somebody who had been through that, and to both go, `Yeah, my God, this is what it's like.' It was like survivors of a crash or something. It was really nice to see him and he's been very sweet about me and everyone."

The year 1981 was two years into Mrs Thatcher's first term as prime minister - or "The Great Handbag", as Gene calls her. The first yuppies are in town and the landmark Scarman report on that year's Brixton riots is on the horizon. Keeley admits she felt pressure coming into one of the most anticipated dramas of 2008.

"It's nice to have a comfort blanket, because there's already interest in it. But, by the same token, it's really terrifying because you don't want to let anybody down and be the weak link. I know it was a part that lots of people would like to have taken on. So, yeah, I'm pretty scared."

-- Read More......

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Hello magazine scan

Ashes to Ashes promotional interview from a recent issue of Hello.

(Photo credit: K-H.) Read More......

Friday, February 22, 2008

"The Bank Job" World Premiere #5





Keeley at the London premiere of The Bank Job, February 18, 2008 at the Odeon East End theatre.

(All pictures: WENN.) Read More......

"The Bank Job" World Premiere #4












Keeley at the premiere of The Bank Job, February 18, 2008.

(All pictures: Getty.) Read More......

"The Bank Job" World Premiere #3




















KH with Matthew, Jason Statham and Sharon Maughan at The Bank Job premiere in London, February 18, 2008.

(All pictures from Getty.) Read More......

"The Bank Job" World Premiere #2
















KH and Matthew at the premiere of The Bank Job in London, February 18, 2008.

(All pictures from Getty.) Read More......