TOP 100 ACTOR SITES
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| Randy Jackson: No Lambert clone on next 'Idol' LOS ANGELES (AP) -- There won't be anyone quite like Adam Lambert on the next season of "American Idol."... hosted.ap.org |
Valerie Bertinelli to run in Boston Marathon BOSTON (AP) -- Valerie Bertinelli plans to run the Boston Marathon to raise money for cancer research.... hosted.ap.org |
Tahar Rahim on his star role He may be just a boy from the French countryside, but an award-studded future is all mapped outIn the finest of showbiz traditions, Tahar Rahim went to Cannes a nobody and came back a star. His knockout performance in director Jacques Audiard's stunning prison film A Prophet has been the talk of world cinema ever since, earning prizes and nominations at a startling rate. So much so that the 28-year-old at the centre of it all is quite bewildered. "It's like I went up the red steps at Cannes and never came down," he says.Having won Best Actor at the European Film Awards in December, Rahim last week found himself among the nominees for Bafta's Orange Rising Star Award (for which the Observer is a media partner), alongside British talents Nicholas Hoult and Carey Mulligan and the Hollywood actors Jesse Eisenberg and Twilight's Kristen Stewart. Tonight he's at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles."I'm just a boy from the countryside," he told me. "These awards ceremonies exist in another world, like myths. They're not something I ever thought about, so it's not a dream come true. It is the impossible made real."Rahim, the son of Algerian-born parents, grew up in the eastern town of Belfort, famous for the nutty Comté cheese. "There's really nothing to do there," he recalls. "Some kids go walking in the mountains but I just went to the cinema. So when I told my parents I wanted to be an actor, even though this wasn't normal for Arab kids or anyone in the town, they were sort of expecting it and were very supportive."After studying in Montpellier, Rahim arrived in Paris aged 22. His first real acting job was in a cult TV show called La Commune, written by Abdel Raouf Dafri, who also had the original script idea for A Prophet. When director Audiard visited the screenwriter one day, Tahar found himself sharing a car to the set with the director of several of his favourite French films, including The Beat That my Heart Skipped. "I knew it was Audiard and I said I was a fan but I think I was a bit silly. I was shocked he remembered me months later when I went for a part in A Prophet."After eight callbacks the actor landed the lead role of Malik, a 19-year-old Arab who rises through the hierarchy of Corsican and Muslim mafia in a Paris prison. It almost overwhelmed him. "I rewatched all Audiard's films and studied the performances by Vincent Cassel, Mathieu Kassovitz and Romain Duris, but that was a terrible idea," he says. "It stopped me from feeling bold enough to put in my own thing. But when I did, I was suddenly flying."Audiard is proud of his acting discovery. "Tahar is the gentlest boy, so to transform him into Malik is one of the best achievements of my career," he says. "But it's what makes Malik such a fascinating hero, because you see this kindness in a soul that's being brutalised."Will A Prophet make Tahar Rahim a star? Although we are talking in French, his English is impressive and he has just played a Gaelic warrior in The Eagle of the Ninth for director Kevin Macdonald, and soon begins work for director Ismaël Ferroukhi. But first there's the Globes, the London Critics' Circle, the Césars and the Baftas."I know this might never happen again," he says, bubbling with excitement, "so I'm going to try to remember it all, which is not very easy for me. I really want to see my film's English poster. It's the best version – it's got a danger to it, a blood-red poetry that matches the film."To vote for the Orange Rising Star, go to www.orange.co.uk/bafta Jason Solomonsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cowell pens $500m Sony deal Simon Cowell has signed a $500m (€352m) deal with Sony. breakingnews.ie |
Actor Gary Coleman jailed in Utah SANTAQUIN, Utah (AP) -- Actor Gary Coleman was arrested in Utah on a warrant for failing to appear in court, police said.... hosted.ap.org |