Nine year old Meli, who is battling leukaemia, met actor and heartthrob Ben Barnes, on the set of the film The Picture of Dorian Gray which Ben is currently filming at The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London.

Starlight asked Ben if he would help realise little Meli’s dream which is to appear as an extra on the film set of a period drama. Ben said, “It was a joy to have lively Meli on set and help grant her wish.”

Read the full story at Starlight.co.uk

“Easy Virtue” is out in UK cinemas today!

To those based in the UK and Ireland, what are you waiting for? Go see it!

» Check the showings in London here.

Regarding the international release, do not panic. I’m sure it will be released in the US as well as many other countries. Once we have more information about this, we’ll make sure to post it as soon as possible.

And for those like me who still have to wait a few months to see this film, here’s another clip to make the wait a little bit better:

This is the teaser poster for “Dorian Gray” that Ealing Studios is using to promote the film at the American Film Market (definitely not the final one). From ShockTillYouDrop.com:

One of the many genre offerings being previewed at the American Film Market is Dorian Gray, starring Ben Barnes and Colin Firth.

While this grim adaptation of the Oscar Wilde tale is far from finished, representative Ealing Studios is granting attendees a first look at a promo reel cut for the event. Also, it’s going out with some promo art which we’ve taken a quick snapshot of for you.

• Edit: Bloody-Disgusting.Com has posted the previous Teaser Poster in better quality and also a new one. Check them out!

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This is all the information Ealing Studios have so far been able to provide BBF as regards the international release of “Easy Virtue“:

» UK & Ireland (Pathe) - Nov 7th, 2008 *confirmed

» Spain and Andorra (Dea Planeta) - Dec 08/Jan 09

» South Korea (Noori) - Dec 08/Jan 09

» Portugal (Valentim) - Jan 09 *confirmed

» Australia, NZ & all dominions (Hopscotch International) - Jan 09 (may move to March)

» Israel (Shapira) - possibly Jan 09

» Scandinavia (Svensk Filmindustri) - Mar 09

» France (Pyramide) - May/June 09

» Switzerland (Rialto) - May/June 09

» Italy (Eagle Pictures) - 1st quarter of 2009

» Turkey (Ayse Medron) - 2nd Quarter of 2009

Please keep in mind these are not official yet though they might be an indication on when to expect the film to be released in your country.

Ben Barnes has said that he finds it awkward shooting romantic sex scenes when he’s not completely naked. The actor said he would prefer to strip off nude rather than wear a “contraption” over his genitalia.

“Do you know why it’s impossible to have any dignity [in sex scenes]?” he told Absolute Radio. “Because usually you’re wearing some sort of ridiculous contraption to protect your modesty. It would just be so much better if it wasn’t there at all.”

Explaining further the instrument used to cover him up, Barnes said: “[It's] a sort of beige… cod-piece that’s sort of taped to you and there’s absolutely no way of maintaining your dignity under those circumstances.”

When asked about kissing Jessica Biel in his new film Easy Virtue, he commented: “Do you know what? People always say to you sex scenes are not sexy because everyone’s watching and blah, blah blah… [but] you can’t pretend that kissing Jessica Biel is a bad thing. You just can’t.”

I’ll make sure to add these to our “Ben’s quotes” section later…

There is a video that goes along with the article of their interview with him. Definitely interesting, you can watch it here!

And last but not least. Magical Menagerie has chosen BBF as their “Site of the Month“. It is very much appreciated, thanks!

Also, special announcement to our UK visitors: stay tuned for the following TV Specials regarding “Easy Virtue”.

» Wednesday 6th:
- UK Cable channel “Film24″ at 7.30pm
- “Film 2008″ BBC1 at 11.30pm

» Friday 7th:
- ITV 2 @ The Movie - Easy Virtue (30 mins) at 1pm
(This show will be shown again Saturday 8th November at 14:15 on ITV2 and on Saturday 8th November at 15:15 on ITV2 Plus 1)

» Thursday 13th:
Waking You Up (Entertainment) Starting at 08:00 with Colin Firth (might mention Ben and obviously the film).

Thanks to Heather for all this TV information!

We are also pleased to share several brand new HQ promo pics and some others in smaller resolution we have received:

Easy Virtue’s distributor Pathé uploaded a scene from the movie with Ben:

You can watch 2 other scenes from the movie and a mash up video at their official youtube channel.

Are you guys excited to watch the movie yet? :D

Lovely pictures, are they not?

In other news, Ben’s the third most eligible bachelor in the UK according to Tatler. » Read article.

And for those who might be interested, the Gap ad featuring Ben is in the Holiday edition of Details Magazine with Keanu Reeves on the cover.

I have some very great news for those of you based in the UK - or who can make it to London by tomorrow.

We are holding a competition - courtesy of Ealing Studios - offering three sets of tickets (2 each) for an Exclusive Screening with the cast and crew of “Easy Virtue” tomorrow November 2nd. The first three people to email us what the tagline for “Easy Virtue” is will get the tickets - first come, first serve.
Make sure to include your details in the email.

The details of the screening are the following:

Sunday 2nd November
9.45am for a 10am start
London.

Email us the correct answer (what’s the tagline for “Easy Virtue”?) at contact @ benbarnesfan.com!

Thanks to everyone who participated.
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners!

And a clip of Jessica Biel singing “Mad about the boy” taken from the film Easy Virtue!

Ben signing autographs and posing with fans outside his hotel in Rome 3 days ago.

I have also added lots of new pictures of these last few days thanks to Celebutopia and a BBF visitor, Sandra.

Gallery Links:

» Public Appearances > 2008 > 27th Oct | “Easy Virtue” Photocall at the Rome Film Festival
» Public Appearances > 2008 > 27th Oct | “Easy Virtue” Premiere as part of the Rome Film Festival
» Public Appearances > 2008 > 28th Oct | “Easy Virtue” Premiere as part of the London Film Festival

And here’s a video of Ben on GMTV on October 30th thanks to my dear friend Mel. He talks about “Easy Virtue”, getting close to Jessica Biel, being part of the film’s Soundtrack and of course “Hyrise” - will he ever see the end of it? I don’t think so.

Also, good news for “Easy Virtue”:

“Easy Virtue,” a bubbly comedy based on Noel Coward’s play about English high society in the 1920s, has emerged as a hot favorite to win the best film award at the Rome festival, which winds up on Friday.

Italian daily Corriere della Sera called the film “a little gem” and gave it 3-1/2 stars out of four — its highest marks for a movie screening in the main 20-title competition. Source