I wanted to play Miss Havisham because she's an iconic character who pervades our world in various forms. So many people have written about her or based other characters on her over many decades. I was interested in what it was that was so appealing about her, what it is that seems to get under people's skin. We're talking about a woman who is deeply, almost psychotically manipulative and potentially really psychologically damaging to Pip and Estella, the two children that we see her have this direct impact on. There was a curiosity there for me. Also reading the scripts and appreciating ... [Continua a leggere]

Gillian Anderson has a tattoo on her right wrist that is in Sanskrit, and when I ask her what it means she tells me, laughing, that its rough translation is “none of your business”. Anderson is a curious mix of cautious and carefree, clamming up about some skin ink yet talking openly about her brother, Aaron, who died three months ago of a brain tumour. He was just 30. I remark, rather obviously, that it must have been a tough year. “Well, there’s certainly been a lot happening this year. But I feel like I’ve learnt. I feel like I’ve c ... [Continua a leggere]

The wealthy heiress, who was jilted on her wedding day and lived as a recluse for decades afterwards, haunts her tumbledown mansion clad in a dusty matrimonial gown. Miss Havisham - with her white matted hair and wedding feast table preserved in cobwebs - has been played by older actresses in previous major incarnations. Joan Hickson played her at the age of 75 in 1981, while Anne Bancroft was cast in a 1998 modern reworking of Dickens's story at the age of 67. But for the new take on Great Expectations she is portrayed by Gillian Anderson, who at 43 is the youngest screen star to pl ... [Continua a leggere]

'You've changed," I tell Gillian Anderson. In 1996, she was chosen as the world's sexiest woman by FHM magazine's readers; this Christmas she will be bald and on fire as Miss Havisham in the BBC's adaptation of Great Expectations. So what made her take this role? Anderson bristles: "That's not really a serious question, is it? The real question is, 'How the fuck did I end up as the world's sexiest woman in 1996?' – not why would I do Great Expectations. Any actor would want to do Great Expectations. I never set out to be the world's sexiest woman." No doubt. In any case, ... [Continua a leggere]

A mouldy wedding cake is perched upon a laid table and several dusty clocks are stopped in their tracks at twenty minutes to nine. Onto the scene appears a white-haired, spectral figure treading the wooden floor in a rotting wedding dress and one shoe. The cracked lips break into a smile and a deathly white hand is extended to greet us. Hello - it’s Hollywood actress Gillian Anderson, doing a fine impression of Miss Havisham, the spurned bride of Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations, on the set of BBC One’s forthcoming three-part adaptation. The classic tale of ... [Continua a leggere]

There are one or two questions I want to ask Gillian Anderson but, first of all, Gillian Anderson has a question for me. "What was my death like?" she asks -meaning her death as Miss Havisham in the BBC's new adaptation of Great Expectations, which she filmed earlier this year but hasn't seen yet. Having just watched all three episodes, I can tell Anderson that her death, in a massive tower of flame, is pretty spectacular: shocking, moving, but most of all intriguing because it signals a new take on one of literature's most famous characters. In Charles Dickens's original novel, ... [Continua a leggere]

TAEM- William, your latest endeavor involves the memoirs that you have written. Please tell us about the book, it’s publisher, and where our readership can find it. WBD-The book is called ‘Where There’s Smoke …. The Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man’, and frankly, it’s the story of my life. It’s a pretty unusual life which I tell with candor and humor – from radio drama in the early fifties to The X-Files. I have been delighted with the response to the book. People will have different interests – whether it’s the history or ... [Continua a leggere]

If you've not yet started dressing for the festive season, take a tip from Gillian Anderson - wear red and show some flesh. The actress led the Christmas babes who all turned up to the Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol red carpet tonight. The ladies turned out in force with a number of Christmas frocks, dressed head-to-toe in glitz and glamour at the BFI Imax in London for the UK premiere. And it was actress Gillian Anderson who stole the limelight as she stepped out in a festive red frock with her cleavage shown off with its slinky cut. The former X-Files star also went for some g ... [Continua a leggere]

Sarà una favola di Charles Dickens a liberare Gillian Anderson dal fantasma di Dana Scully? Nonostante un discreto curriculum lavorativo e due film in uscita nel 2012 (Mr. Morgan's Last Love e The Curse of The Buxom Strumpet), l'attrice americana non riesce a liberarsi dal personaggio della serie cult degli anni Novanta X-Files. Per questo, dopo aver ottenuto una nomination ai premi BAFTA per il ruolo di Lady Deadlock in Casa Desolata prodotta dalla BBC nel 2005, la star di Hollywood ha accettato con entusiasmo il ruolo dello spettro bianco di Miss Havisham nella nuova mini serietelevis ... [Continua a leggere]

La lista dei film partecipanti alla categoria Premieres del Sundance Film Festival 2012 è stata da poco annunciata. Uno dei titoli in rilievo, per la sua singolare stravaganza, è senza dubbio Goats: una commedia corale che narra la storia di un ragazzino di 15 anni, interpretato da Graham Philips (Un'impresa da Dio, Ben 10 - Corsa contro il tempo, The Good Wife), che lascia la sua casa poco convenzionale nel deserto di Tucson per frequentare la Gates Academy, un disciplinato liceo della East Coast Statunitense. Sarà proprio al liceo che inizierà a farsi domande s ... [Continua a leggere]

Miss Havisham is such an iconic role — did you always want to play her?As much as I’m familiar with the book it’s not in my mind as one of my favourites as it is for a lot of people. But this was a time when I was as excited by the adaptation, if not more so, than the book. I felt I might have a way in to the character and I fell in love with the script. Miss Havisham had a real historical impact. In what way?There are various things that have come to my attention in terms of the Miss Havisham effect. Not just the potential addiction to loss and the pain of loss but ... [Continua a leggere]

LOS ANGELES — It’ll be a busy shopping season at next month’s Sundance Film Festival, whose star-studded premieres are up for grabs by potential theatrical distributors. Some premieres usually enter the independent-film showcase with U.S. distribution already lined up. But festival director John Cooper said all the premieres that Sundance announced Monday will be looking for distributors. “I don’t think that’s ever happened before,” said festival director John Cooper. “It makes for a much more exciting buyer’s market, I think. At ... [Continua a leggere]

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute announced today the films selected to screen in the out-of-competition Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The Festival will be held January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival. John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The fact that most of the Premieres have been produced completely independently further underscores the resourcefulness and tenacity of filmmakers in this cli ... [Continua a leggere]

Here Ray Winstone who stars as Magwitch and Gillian Anderson who stars as Miss Havisham talk about playing two of Dickens iconic characters and why Great Expectations is a must see for viewers who enjoy a bit of Dickens at Christmas. "Christmas without a BBC show or drama is not really Christmas is it. You have enough to drink and eat and then you sit down by the fire and watch a good drama, and there's nothing better than Dickens at Christmas," says Ray Winstone, the East-London born actor who follows in the footsteps of past luminaries such as Finlay Currie and James Mason in the ro ... [Continua a leggere]

Gillian Anderson, best known for playing Agent Scully in The X Files, has been unveiled as the new face of Charles Dickens' tormented Miss Havisham, in the BBC's festive adaptation of Great Expectations. The American actress looks every bit the jilted bride imagined in the Victorian classic, but her performance is sure to be measured against that of Helena Bonham Carter, who is playing the same character in a production to be released next year to coincide with Dickens' 200th anniversary. The 43-year-old may be best known for her dealings with the supernatural, but she's also previously p ... [Continua a leggere]