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Evening Standard

I have been sent this very interesting article on Ben from today’s Evening Standard and I couldn’t just not upload the scans for you all. Enjoy:

Among other things, he talks about his family, his school years, Hyrise and his career. Definitely worth a read.

Have a lovely weekend!

Comments

L said:

you wouldn’t happen to have them bigger? because they are hardly readable…

Cheers

October 17th, 2008

Leslie said:

THANK YOU SO MUCH for these scans but I agree with L, can we please have the interview slightly bigger? Can barely read and it’s horribly frustrating.

October 17th, 2008

gaby said:

Sorry, but I can`t read it. Could you do something abuot it?

cheers

October 17th, 2008

Tatiana said:

Argh!! The print’s too small to read. :(

Lovely pictures, tho….but then again Ben always looks good, ha. sigh.

October 17th, 2008

perlz said:

Thank you so much for this!! He looks wonderful. Too small to read though.

October 17th, 2008

Mandi said:

http://benbarnesonline.net/articlesenglisheveningstandard.htm

October 17th, 2008

Mandi said:

Oops sorry… the link above is where you can read it :)

October 17th, 2008

Debbie said:

This was the most depressing interview I’ve ever read! He seemed so sad! Is anyone else worried that this poor boy is headed for burnout? I hope the break he has before starting Dawn Treader will help refresh his spirit!

October 17th, 2008

Ekta said:

Hey Debbie i totally agree with you …
its such a sad interview ….
i am so worried for him … wish i could help him so much …
the reporter sounds so rude …
She calls Ben “a house plant that needs more sun” then ” pale …”In person he’s not wildly beautiful, it’s more that he’s photogenic on screen”….. so rude of her ….
she kinda insulted him more than couple of times…

October 18th, 2008

tishah said:

hhmmm this is probably one of the most dejecting interviews of him. poor thing… this showbiz thingy must really burn him out….

October 18th, 2008

Ekta said:

Tishah … i totally agree with you …
but he sounds so alone in this article …
how can he be alone …
as a die hard fan …
i am so heart broken …
poor guy …

October 18th, 2008

Magda said:

It made me feel sad, too! he sounds more like a child. :(

October 18th, 2008

Ekta said:

I am very sad too ….
poor soul ….
hope he gets thru this safely …
my wishes are there with him all the time …

October 18th, 2008

Lauren said:

No matter how hard things get, always remember that you’re an amazing actor and that we love you Ben! You’re going to do awesome in Dorian Gray!

October 18th, 2008

Magda said:

But the thing about girls made me feel jealous! xD

October 18th, 2008

Mandi said:

I felt the same way about it being a sad article. I’m glad that I wasn’t the only one… I will be honest, I’m in this business of entertainment too, and you can’t please everyone. Journalist will write whatever they want. Ben doesn’t seem to be a guy that would let that stop him. :)

Although, I did learn more about his personal life. I never knew that his mother was a marital/sex therapist. Trust me, that had to do something about Ben’s personal relationship… Anyone see the movie Meet The Fockers?? It could have been as bad as Barbara Streisand’s character… Although I’m sure that his mother is a lovely woman… LOL

As for the talk about the girls… There’s a rumor floating around that he’s dating Rachel Curtis. Richard Curtis’ daughter… but frankly I’m not sure how true it is…

October 18th, 2008

Liz said:

It’s not true. She (Rachel Curtis) denied it, stating that people had got confused because her boyfriend was named Ben too. She did meet ‘our’ Ben at a Kooks concert, though. Still, if you want my opinion, this girl sounds like an attention seeker to me, and I bet she appreciates/d all the buzz about her maybe dating Ben.

October 18th, 2008

Chelsea said:

Hmmm, you know- this is the first interview I’ve ever read with Ben that truly did make me feel sad. I agree with everyone who says he sounds kind of lost and burned out. :( But that really makes me sad to think about cause Ben is such a great soul. Although, it was nice to get to see him in a little more depth. I do hope he gets a break from all this downer stuff soon! He deserves something really good to happen to him!

October 18th, 2008

kimmiy said:

hey !! does any one know how to e-mail Ben Barnes? or contactt him so I can write him a letter?
if u do e-mail me at kimberly_butterfly10@hotmail.com thanks!!

October 18th, 2008

Mandi said:

Oh that’s funny about Rachel Curtis. I was curious yesterday and she’s has a website (that’s run by her friend or something) and she’s got a blog on there… she talks about “her” Ben and how he’s got early morning wake up calls to be on sets and how she met the parents and whatever… Definately worth the giggle but it did confuse me a lot as to what was true and what wasn’t.

From what I’ve seen of his schedule in movie releases, I think Ben might get a break for the month of December. I know he starts filming Dawn Treader then… ;)

October 19th, 2008

Harriette said:

Aah so now we know what happens to Emily Wotton lol. Aw but such a sad interview, i agree with Ekta that journalist … so rude.

October 19th, 2008

helena123 said:

It is a sad interview but… I remember reading an Emma Watson interview in ES and the journalist made it seem like she was really depresed and like she didn’t like her life because of all the craziness – turns out this was pretty much BS. Emma later stated on her website that she does not feel that way at all and that it was the journalist who made it seem like that.

So I’m just saying, maybe we shouldn’t take this too seriously. Yes he’s probably stressed and stuff but to me it sounds like the journalist was waaaaay overplaying it, if you know what I mean.

October 19th, 2008

Lauren said:

I was just curious. I haven’t gotten around to reading the book yet, but does Dorian kill Emily in the book? If he doesn’t, that addition to the movie is a pretty interesting way of interpreting Dorian’s character… wonder how Ben felt about doing that?

October 19th, 2008

Liz said:

There’s no Emily in Dorian Gray (as far as I remember. You’re making me doubt now!). Dorian actually falls in love with Sybille, whom he only loves because she is an actress (idea of loving art for art and not as a political means, for instance). So when she tells him she’s going to quit acting to get married to him and have children, he is basically disgusted with her and ends up killing her.

It looks like the film’s going to be quite different, so I hope I’ll still like it as 1) I am a huge Oscar Wilde fan 2) I hate it when my favourite books are adapted and the plot line is completely changed / some scenes make no sense (ie. the latest version of Pride & Prejudice).

As for the interview as such, I think the journalist added pathos to it. It seemed to me that he was just being serious and analysing his life until now. Nothing to worry about. I could actually relate to many things he said and how he said them, and I’m not in the least depressed. ;) He comes across as being passionate about what he does and loving to lead a quiet, laid-back life when he’s got the opportunity. I loved how he said “I make it sound like I’m really boring and don’t go anywhere. It’s not true!”. It made me laugh because I love staying in reading or writing or listening to music, and I often find myself saying the same thing. Hehe.

October 19th, 2008

Mandi said:

I agree with the whole books turned into movies, Liz!!! I HATED the newer version of P&P! I mean, seriously, would Lizzie Bennet actually scream at Darcy?? No. No should wouldn’t! She was a lady!! :P

Emily Wotton *ahem!* *ahem!* and according to IMDb she IS in the movie being played by Rebecca Hall… The latest interview that was done on the making of DG was with Rebecca and Ben and Rebecca says that she wasn’t going to go into detail, but that she goes somewhere she shouldn’t is caught by Dorian. She’s in there :)

I’m very introverted as well… so I understand the wanting to just lead a very laid back life. Not everyone is extroverted to the point where they can be around people all the time. Everyone is different. Ben is very private. I can see that and I empathize with it more than most can…. But what I meant about the interview seeing sad was that the journalist seems to concentrate more on the negative rather than the positive.

October 19th, 2008

Liz said:

I know what you mean about the interview being “sad”. I get your point. But yes, I think the journalist made it sad, not that Ben is actually sad. If it makes any sense? ;)

P&P with Keira Knightley was horrible. I mean, she really annoys me in the first place, and that film was more of a Brontë sisters kind of story, really. Mr Darcy coonfessing in love in the rain with ruins in the background? Hello! Nothing will ever beat the Colin Firth version. EVER! Jane Austen was too practical and down-to-earth to come up with that cheesy Hollywood version. They totally ruined the story.

As for Emily Wotton, it sounds so… I mean, when you read the book, the homoerotic relationship between Dorian, Lord Henry and Basil is so very obvious. But now they’re giving Lord Henry a daughter and she’s Dorian’s “object of affection”? It sounds very silly to me. I wonder why they didn’t use that homoerotic context and made it up to date. That would have been more faithful to Oscar Wilde and it would have been very modern and interesting, especially nowadays with the gay rights and gay marriage / adoption issues. And what about the idea of art for art? That would have been very interesting to dig a little deeper on that as well. Dorian’s “love” for Sybille is actually thought-provoking, all the more in our entertainment / fame-obsessed society. I really want to like this film, but I have a feeling I’m going to be disappointed. :( Oh well.

October 20th, 2008

Debbie said:

I agree about the new Pride and Prejudice. It’s too bad they wouldn’t consider doing it again. Wouldn’t Ben make a LOVELY Mr. Darcy? He would be perfect in my opinion!
BTW, I enjoyed reading everyone’s insight into Ben’s state of mind in the interview. I do have a problem believing Ben would feel in doubt of his ability with women. Why would he not be sure if he’ll ever get married? I think that’s a SURE thing, and its one thing I would bet in Vegas on! LOL

October 20th, 2008

Liese said:

Umm…. If I am not mistaken, Dorian (in the book) breaks off his engagement with Sybille when–after they are engaged–she performs horribly in a play. The book made it sound as if he were more in love with her amazing ability to act than Sybille herself. Sybille winds up committing suicide the night he breaks off the engagement and after that was when he first noticed the change in the painting. I think the only person Dorian kills (in the book) is Basil. Then he has an old friend basically chop up and dispose of the body. There was a definite homoerotic undertones there. What I’d like to know is what messed up Dorian in the first place. I know the book mentions his grandfather who raised him was hard on him, but I wonder if it was the fact that so much emphasis was placed on his beauty by Basil and Henry? It seemed that in the beginning of the book Dorian was almost ignorant of his beauty until those two pointed it out. I don’t know…. Seems pretty interesting, though.

I agree about what a bummer it is that some movies are different than the books. I was a bit disappointed when they added the little “love” scene in with Susan and Caspian. I read the book to my class last year, and some of them came back and complained about the kiss. Granted, they were only in fourth grade, but…. ;)

October 21st, 2008

Mandi said:

I know I read somewhere that both Anna and Ben were a bit concerned about the infatuation that was portrayed in the movie. But they were both convince that it was for “cinematic purposes” only. It was a bit uncomfortable for me for the following reasons:

1. When I was 8, I read the books and literally went to my mother and told her that Caspian was officially my boyfriend. So to have that bubble popped, it sort of crushed my 8 year old heart!
2. I despised the scenes. Not really sure if it was because a) it shouldn’t have happened or b) because I should have been the one that kissed him since Caspian was my first fictious boyfriends and even though it’s been over 17 years later, you never really loose that possessiveness over your first true love… ;)

As for Dorian Gray:
Dorian does break off the engagement after Sybille decides to quit acting to be with him and that is when the portrait does begin to change yes… But Dorian’s realization of his beauty was made by Henry who encourages him to fulfill his inner most desires; Dorian’s beauty is a gift.
The darkness of the whole book is that Henry is able to twist words to seem eloquent and beautifully decrepid.

I really need to re-read the book it’s been a while… but this was the story that was used against Oscar Wilde of being homosexual which was against English Law in Europe. The scene which Liz is refering to, was the scene that used against Wilde. He spend 2 years in jail and when he was released, he moved to France and changed his name… it’s a tragedy for such a great author of his time.

October 22nd, 2008