hits.

Yesterday Ivonne uploaded 8 HQ scans from the November issue of Vanity Fair (Italy), as well 3 HQ scans from the November issue of A magazine. Many thanks to Michele for sending these to BBF!

In addition to the scans, I have also uploaded 12 new/old high quality portraits of Ben taken outside the Soho Hotel in London back in November of 2007. Enjoy!

EDIT: Thank you to Elena for the following translation of the A magazine article.

BEAUTY PASSES. LONDON’S HOUSE REMAINS.

Ben Barnes, in movie theaters with ‘Dorian Gray’, is a concrete guy. He bought only an apartment with the money he raised.

Prince Caspian Ben Barnes, 28, pureblood Londoner, laughs about the torments of his Dorian Gray, directed by Oliver Parker, and says: “Vampires are in fashion, luckily the adolescents have found other “creatures” in whom sink their teeth”. Yet, in front of the suite at the hotel in Toronto where the movie premiered (during the famous movie festival), hundreds of girls were waiting for his autograph. Ben is part of the well-nourished rank of English actors who conquered Hollywood. “Dorian Gray hasn’t been an easy movie”, he tell. “We made a good literature revise! Oscar Wilde is unique, I would like that the movie will help young people to re-discover him. He is special in every page. Let think to the description of the solitude and prison of Dorian when he secretly goes to the attic, to see again the painting of his youth and beauty, the one that, after all, stole his life…”. Nice and cultured (“my parents let me being an actor, on condition that I didn’t interrupt university”), Ben never breaks away from the theatre, and he continues to switch from Hollywood blockbusters to little refined English movies. In his last, Easy Virtue, he is an English nobleman who marries an American girl, Jessica Biel, and has to make his parents accept her. Ben has a very expressive gaze, a rangy body and elegant, beautiful hands.

HOW MUCH IS BEAUTY IMPORTANT FOR YOU?
Nobody is numb to beauty, especially in our times, so focused on the form rather than on the substance. Beauty always arouses emotions, it is a pleasure for eyes, not only mine, but beauty is emotion, so it can come from something asymmetrical. Kristen Scott Thomas, for example, who worked with me in Easy Virtue, is very beautiful for me, but not in a typical way. I believe in the world of ideas, beauty is tied up with ideas, and this is what Dorian Gray deals with”.

HOW DO YOU LIVE YOUR SUCCESS, PERHAPS THE ENVY OF PEOPLE OF YOUR AGE?
Success in the movie business is always relative, it depends from the takings of your last movie. To me, it gave me the certainty of my autonomy, I bought a house in London, a city that I will never leave. I have had a rigid education. Even now, that I could buy anything, or satisfy every desire, I have a sort of awe, some hesitation in surrendering to my temptations.

WHAT ARE THE TEMPTATIONS FOR A YOUNG MAN, NOT YET IN HIS THIRTIES?
Beautiful cars, fancy clothes, nice restaurants, traveling in first class, being able to invite your friends in exclusive places…I lead a simple life though…I know Robert Pattinson, “the vampire” as we call him, and I know how much he suffers for his popularity, how sometimes he comes out dressed like a homeless person, trying to go unrecognized and living as he likes. In America, though, the cult for celebrities is much stronger than in England, where irony goes with everything. The English have grown in the sign of beauty and elegance, they surely don’t go around wrapped up in pyjama-like clothes, like in America. Beauty and good taste for me, and for my country, go together. However, for America, great and brave Country, beauty and money are indissoluble. The difference is great”.

YOUR TYPICAL DAY?
I wake up early and walk. When I shoot scenes in places, I like to dip into nature .. lakes, woods, glaciers .. like in the Narnia series, I feel a great joy and a feeling of great calm. Apart from my job, I like reading everything, newspapers, magazines and books. One of my favorite authors is Nick Hornby: I don’t lose any of his books. In the evening, I go out with my friends, but more often I prefer to stay at home and reading. When I’m in London, I walk more than when I’m busy shooting on a set”.

WHY?
It is an authentic pleasure to discover some districts of my town. I’ve grown up in Central London. American house, without books, anguish me. As a certain bad taste in their furnishing, like a bad tv sitcom. But I’m not snob. On the contrary, I hate words like: snob, star system, dear, have a good day and honey, that Americans say to everyone, maybe just before they are shooting at you”.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DIRECTED BY TIM BURTON, DIRECTOR OF THE NEXT ALICE IN WONDERLAND?
“Yes. He is a great and genius non-traditional of the screen and then he always put sensuality in his movies, he has an infallible visual taste. However, even I have some dreams, for example, acting with Johnny Depp and Russell Crowe, they are great”.

WE KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PRIVATE LIFE…
“Just because it is private. I’m surely not one that sells memorials. However, I’m single at the moment, among the actress of my generation I like Claire Danes, who married my friend Hugh Dancy, and Kate Bosworth. It is not easy for an actor to find a girl outside his environment, being able to follow him, accepting his neurosis for a role, his travels. I rely on fate”.

hannah said:

whoa! thx for posting! where did u find the pics of ben from 2007! ?

December 3rd, 2009

MK said:

Just wonderful! great finding, dears!!!! than you!

December 3rd, 2009

S said:

Thank you Stephanie. You brighten up all of our days! Ben rocks!
x

December 3rd, 2009

mar said:

¡¡madre mía¡¡¡ está divino, como siempre.

December 3rd, 2009

Lawry said:

He looks gorgeous on these portraits. Thanks for posting them^^

December 3rd, 2009

brunnerzs said:

Tis pictures from 2007?! They are so sexi, sweet, ect.!

December 3rd, 2009

loredana said:

Sorry i don’t speak english very well, i’m italiana

i have a question

how can i do for to know nex pubblic apparation of ben barnes?

thank you

December 3rd, 2009

casandra said:

Woow Ben looks awesome. I do not believe that pics are from 2007!!
I thought that pics of Ben were taken a short time ago !!
Thanks so much, guys!!

Ben luce tan guapo vestido de ropa casual, y aunque las fotos son del 2007, el luce igual de sencillo, alegre y jovial que ahora…bueno lo unico diferente es que ahora tiene barba y es aun hasta mas sexy x3
Ay Como amo a este hombre !!!
xoxo

December 3rd, 2009

Sandy said:

Thanks Stephanie …..of course I’m enjoying these pics!!!! These pictures are even before Prince Caspian came out in May 2008. He looks so handsome.

December 3rd, 2009

Andrea said:

Oh my Gosh!!! Are you kidding me?!?! This man totally takes my breath away!!!! The pictures from the SoHo Hotel…he looks so young and “fresh faced”….so yummy!!!! :) I <3 BEN!!!!

December 3rd, 2009

Andrea said:

Oh and thanks to Ivonne as well….good to know she’s still involved with BBF!!!! Hi Ivonne!

December 3rd, 2009

Heather said:

Was Ben dissing Americans in the A Magazine article? From the comments that I’ve read at BBonline and BBsource, some of his American fans felt he was disrespecting Americans. What do you all think? I’m American and I wasn’t offended…or should I be?

December 3rd, 2009

Heather said:

Might I add that it was a translated article.

December 3rd, 2009

Kim said:

I’m also American and not offended one bit. He’s from a different culture. I think people are getting a little too offended and sensitive over it. It’s a translation. He has a dry sense of humor that often gets lost in writing.

December 4th, 2009

Christine said:

Where can I read a translation of the article? Thanks

December 4th, 2009

Stephanie said:

I’ve added a rough translation of the A magazine article to the update. Thanks to my friend Elena! =)

December 4th, 2009

Lori said:

Read the article…I’m American…not offended…He’s talking about the Hollywood culture and not ALL Americans as a whole.You have to admit there are very superficial people in Hollywood. Thanks for the translation!!

December 4th, 2009

Ivonne said:

Hey Andrea,

It’s nice to see you guys remember me! I’m definitely still involved but Stephanie does such a wonderful job :)

December 5th, 2009

Serena said:

As an American, I wasn’t offended by his comments. Then again, America is quite diverse and what other people see is not the best portrayal. Not everyone acts like they belong on the Simpsons or Jerry Springer but if that is all that someone is exposed to in order to give them an idea of that culture, then it’s natural for them to think that way. Just like if the only British culture that an American is exposed to is the silly sitcoms on PBS, then they won’t get a rounded view of what folks are really like there. It’s all in the stereotypes.

That said, the pictures are great.

December 5th, 2009

Natália said:

Woooow, my god, I’m brazilian, and my dream is:
A film with directed by Tim Burton and Ben and Depp acting together, my favorite actors *——————–*
bye bye

December 6th, 2009

LIsa Ward said:

I’m American and I have fallen head over hills for Ben Barnes. The photo’s are great. I just recently saw Dorian Gray. I love the movie. Ben Barnes is a beautiful. It’s be a long time since I found an actor so appealing.

January 10th, 2010

Thamiris said:

Eu amo o ben banres..muiito mesmo! e concordo com ele.
?eu só tenho uma dúvida..ele é gay?

January 17th, 2010