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current news…

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What Rupert is up to…

Rupert is:

    • playing Orsino in a musical adaptation of Twelfth Night at the Young Vic from 2 October to 17 November 2018. What’s On Stage story here and tickets available here.
    • a guest at the convention Magic Con to be held in Bonn, Germany on 26-28 April 2019, along with Alex Vlahos (Mordred in Merlin).
    • appearing as James in new 6-part comedy-drama The Bisexual for Channel 4. The lead roles are played by Desiree Akhavan (also writing and directing), Maxine Peake and Brian Gleeson – and given the title, I sure hope Rupert gets to date at least one if not all of them! Notification via his agent’s site. No mention on the official website or press releases (yet).
    • singing (and dancing???!!!) as Mr Knightley in a new adaptation of Jane Austen’s masterpiece, titled EMMA, A New Musical. He will be in the London production, while another production is running on Broadway. I am just blown and overblown with bliss at the very idea! We don’t have any details of dates yet, but here’s the announcement in broadwayworld.com. And I would just like to add OMFG!!!
    • featured in the new trailer for the film Writers Retreat (2015), which will be available (finally!) in the US on 17 April, via Amazon for DVD (Region 1) and Prime Video. Huzzah!
    • voicing the role of Cicero’s friend Atticus in a new Big Finish series of audio plays called Cicero, which is being released in May 2018. It is currently available for pre-order. I found Cicero following a heads-up from Angie about Rupert also being part of the Big Finish adaptation of Dracula. Thank you, Angie!
    • the first guest announced as attending Celtic Reminders, a Merlin convention to be held in Paris on 13-14 October 2018. Hurrah! Up to another three guests will be announced. update: Unfortunately this event has now been cancelled.
    • appearing in Will, a 10-episode series on Shakespeare with a rock n’ roll aesthetic. It looks like the sort of thing you’ll either love or hate – and I’m hoping I’ll love it! IMDB page, with no listing for Rupert. Confirmed with Rupert, who says he’s playing Sir Walter Raleigh! Release date of 10 July in the US and 20 September in Spain. update: He is now listed on IMDB as appearing in the episode 104 “Brave New World”.

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The following entries have been updated:

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appearances

EM-Con Worcester (2018)

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Rupert attended EM-Con Worcester on 8 April 2018. While the con was a bit busier than the previous one in Kent, Rupert took the time to have a good chat with all the fans who came his way. He’s such a great guy to meet!

He didn’t take part in any panels this time, but there were autographs available and a photo shoot. I took the opportunity to ask for a ‘portrait’ shot of just him, as well as one of me with him. Here’s a scanned and cropped version for your delectation…

Isn’t he lovely? ♥ Once I have the full version, I’m wondering how best to use it for the site. Are splash screens terribly passé these days…?

appearances

Medway Comic and Screen Festival, Gillingham, Kent (2018)

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Rupert attended the Medway Comic and Screen Festival along with Alex Vlahos (Mordred in Merlin) on the Saturday.

It was a nice, friendly, small convention, so I had the chance to have a bit of a chat with Rupert, which was lovely. I don’t have any real news to pass on, though! We haven’t seen him for a little while, but he says he’s been doing lots of workshops.

Given that I’m moving back to Australia later this year, I took the opportunity to give away the last of my Merlin Locations tat. Most of it went to my fannish friends, but I gave Rupert a beanie and Alex a baseball hat. They were both kind enough to thank me for the hats via their autographs.

The organisers of the Merlin 10 Year Anniversary Convention were then kind enough to use the beanie to hold the tickets when they asked Rupert to draw a raffle winner. How cool is that! You can see the video here on Twitter. Thank you, all, and congratulations to Tess!

All in all, it was a really lovely day, with lots of Rupert and lots of Merlin Family fun. I’m gonna miss you guys!

appearances

London Carol Concert (2017)

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Rupert took part in the London Carol Concert fundraising event for the Rainbow Trust, at St Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge, on the evening of 6 December 2017.

update: Rainbow Trust announced that the evening raised more than £30,000!

I went along, and it was a fantastic evening, with much lovely singing from a variety of acts, as well as the readings. Not to mention minced pies and mulled wine! And there was the delightful church itself, too – St Paul’s in Knightsbridge.

The people in the banner photo contributed the readings. From left to right, they are Robert Portal, Jason Flemyng, Mary Nightingale, Maureen Lipman, Rory McConnachie, Rupert, and Annabel Croft.

Rupert read the poem A Visit from St Nicholas (commonly known as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas), by Clement Moore. He did a terrific job, of course, and put plenty of oomph into it.

I snuck a couple of photos, which aren’t very sharp, but hopefully the Rainbow Trust will share some of the official ones – of which there were plenty taken!

Rupert and Annabel Croft
Rupert and Annabel Croft

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

false positives

Not going to happen: The Tutor (2017)

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There has been a listing on IMDB for quite some while, indicating that Rupert would appear in a film called The Tutor, with a 2017 release date.

It sounds like a rather nice story, so I was disappointed to find out that it probably won’t happen now. Rupert explained that The Tutor was a project originating via his former agent, and he suspects that the connection was lost following the switch to his current agency.

interviews

interview by Julie at MCM Comic Con, London (2017)

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I had the honour of interviewing Rupert on the Sunday afternoon at MCM Comic Con in London. He was just as obliging and delightful about it as you would imagine. One of the reasons I like him so much is that, whether it’s on panels or individually, he really does try to give honest and meaningful answers to whatever he is asked.

So, let’s get into it! I started off with a couple of easy ones…

What has been your favourite role, and why?

I’ll say Sir Leon [Merlin], because it’s opened up lots of doors, and I got to spend time with people, get close to people, film with amazing people, and film in amazing locations.

What was your favourite location?

Pierrefonds Castle.

Everyone says that!

Yeah, but it was amazing. It really was.

Chateau de Pierrefonds in France, also known as ‘Camelot’ (photo by Julie).

What do you look for in a director?

One that wants to hire me! Someone who has done their work, and is very passionate about the project they’re doing – and who I trust and can get the best out of me.

You really like Metin Hüseyin.

Love Metin, yeah. Love him.

Any particular reason?

I think he’s just kind, and very good and very gentle, and not too much ego. He wants the best out of actors, he really cares about performance. So, that’s why I love him.

What did you do in the few years between leaving school and studying with LAMDA?

I did lots of things. I taught in a school, I worked in the City, I worked in The GAP, I directed plays for children, taught drama – quite a lot of things.

Actually, when I first left school, I got accepted into musical theatre at drama school, but I couldn’t get the funding together. Which, in hindsight – I think when you’ve first left school, you’re desperate to start your life – and then you go, actually, it’s quite good to not do that. But obviously I wanted to be able to do musicals. I waited, and started doing a couple of plays before drama school – but it was very hard, and I knew I had to train. I applied for LAMDA, and that was it. Because by then I knew I didn’t want to just study musicals. I liked them, but I knew that I wanted to do other things.

Do you think it’s useful, though, to live a ‘real’ life for a while, work in ‘real’ jobs?

Yes, I think so. It’s weird because when you first do acting at school, it’s an extracurricular thing, which is amazing and really fun. However, when you go into it as a job, sometimes it’s so… it takes over your whole life, and sometimes you need to have other passions to keep you sane – and in acting you need to learn a lot of different things, different skills – that’s one of the reasons I love it.

I think it’s good to take time, but some people’s careers happen when they’re very young, and others’ careers are – I like to think I was going to be a ‘leading man’ as opposed to a ‘leading boy’. [laughs] Well, maybe not ‘leading’, but ‘man’.

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appearances

MCM Comic Con, London (2017)

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I have had the most awesome Ruperlicious day today! Rupert attended MCM Comic Con in London, along with Merlin castmate Alex Vlahos, on the Saturday and Sunday. They seemed to be having a fun time of it, and the fans certainly were, too.

Autographs

I started off my Sunday with an autograph from Rupert. He was kind enough, as usual, to ask me what was happening with me, so I told him my big news – which is retiring from the day job, and being able to write full time. He was appropriately congratulatory in response!

It’s been far too long (for us fans, anyway!) since we saw him last in Wrexham, but he seems to have enjoyed taking some time out.

He seemed pretty impressed by my Sir Leon t-shirt, which is a Red Scharlach special, and he quizzed me about it at length. So (later in the day) I asked if we could take a ‘reaction shot’ for Red…

Rupert is astounded by Red Scharlach’s artwork!

After my Rupert autograph, I went to seek one from Warwick Davis. He’s such a great guy with us fans, has the most gorgeous smile, and he’s just been in everything that’s anything – including Merlin, of course!

I had to ask them for a Merlin photo, as there weren’t any on display – but a very nice one was duly forthcoming, and I asked him to sign it with ‘Courage, Strength and Magic’. He is such a sweetheart. ♥

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random

Merlin’s 9 year anniversary

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Tom Hopper (Sir Percival) was feeling as sentimental as the rest of us on this, the ninth anniversary of the first episode of Merlin being screened on 20 September 2008.

He posted the above photo on Instagram and waxed lyrical about the “instant brotherhood” formed between Arthur and the knights. Rupert is mentioned as giving Tom “tips on how to drink coffee and chat” – very civilised, is our Sir Rupert! And of course that’s him in Sir Leon’s casual gear in the centre of the photo at Arthur’s right hand.

Tom goes on to say to the Merlin fans, “I can’t thank you enough for the love.”

It’s our pleasure, Tom!