Movies

Dame Helen Mirren "expected" to win an Oscar.
The 69-year-old actress, who starred as Britain's Queen Elizabeth in the 2006 hit 'The Queen', has revealed she'd anticipated winning the Best Actress gong despite facing competition from the likes of Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet and Dame Judi Dench.
She said: "I must confess it was rather expected. Everybody was saying, 'There's no competition, you're going to win.' But of course you can't be sure. I felt like I'd already won just by being there. The Queen was a role that had filled me with trepidation but I never imagined that it would end in this.
"When you win it is incredibly intense. All your family are watching, all of Britain is watching, five billion people all over the world are watching, all of your contemporaries are watching. And the knives are out ready to stab you for putting a foot wrong. It's terrifying and incredible."
Subsequently, however, Dame Helen has felt a hint of guilt for winning the prestigious award.
She told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: "A slight sense of guilt for engaging with the whole thing at all. Awards in general are the antithesis of what an artist is about so there's a push/pull feel about it. That said, I still went and had incredible fun so I don't know what that makes me."

Gal Gadot doesn't get "star-struck" when she meets big Hollywood names.
The 29-year-old actress had to audition opposite Ben Affleck for her role as Wonder Woman in 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' and although she was nervous because she wanted the role so badly she didn't feel in awe of the Oscar winner.
However, she was very excited to recently meet Shimon Peres - the former President of Israel, her home country.
In an interview with Israeli website Ynet, she said: "That's the thing with me, I don't get star-struck over actors. On the other hand I just saw Shimon Peres in New York and I acted like a 12 year old girl. I think people like Peres or Hilary Clinton who are part of important decision making and part of historic moments impress me. Ben Affleck didn't make me nervous ... Ben was really nice. When we first met we talked about his movie 'Argo', the Middle East and our kids.
Although she is comfortable among her acting peers, Gadot - who has a three-year-old daughter, Alma, with her husband, Israeli businessman Yaron Varsano - got very excited when she recently met Madonna.
The screen beauty is a massive fan of the pop superstar and admits she even bowed to her when she introduced herself.
Gadot recalled: "When I was young I really liked Madonna. I ran into her a month ago and got really excited. I said to her, 'Madonna, my queen.' I did a bow and everything. She looked at me like I was crazy but then we talked and she was really nice."
As well as Gadot and Affleck - who portrays Batman - 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' also stars Henry Cavill as Superman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman and Jesse Eisenberg as super-villain Lex Luthor. It is scheduled for a March 2016 release.

Salma Hayek became "frustrated" with acting.
The 48-year-old star has confessed she nearly gave up on the movie industry because none of the roles she was offered after starring in Frida Kahlo biopic 'Frida' in 2002 were the kind of things she wanted so she almost turned her back on her career to raise her daughter.
The brunette beauty - who has seven-year-old Valentina Paloma with her husband François-Henri Pinault - said: "I was very frustrated in my early forties because after 'Frida' I was disappointed that I wasn't getting good roles; when I had my baby I thought that this was my new life and so why should I keep being unhappy in my career.
"Acting had become more like a hobby rather than something I was driven to do."
However, Salma - who stars as the title character in the new action thriller 'Everly' - is pleased she has started to find herself playing more "fun and interesting" characters.
She told Total Film magazine: "It's very exciting. There's so much action that you don't know what to expect from one moment to the next.
"I'm glad that I'm doing projects that I find fun and interesting."

Rafe Spall feels "unbelievably lucky" to be an actor.
The 'X + Y' star is grateful to have a career in the movie business as he is such a film fan himself, although he admits he often forgets how fortunate he is after a long day of filming.
He said: "[I feel] unbelievably lucky. Like most actors, I'm a punter. The film fan in your heart never leaves.
"[But even doing] 'Prometheus' in a spacesuit with Ridley [Scott] directing you, you still go, 'F**k - when's lunch? Oh man, I'm tired'. The collective known for a group of actors is 'whinge'."
In addition to getting hungry on set, the 32-year-old actor often finds himself struggling to control his laughter, but fortunately he has learnt a trick to keep him from cracking up.
He told Total Film magazine: "I discovered the trick for any budding actors reading this - you put your hand in your pocket and pinch your leg really hard that distracts you from laughing. Because laughing is always hilarious for the first few times. But when it's actually take up time and it's costing money, it becomes really bad. The more serious it becomes the hard it is to actually stop laughing".

Cate Blanchett's sons aren't impressed by 'Cinderella'.
The Australian actress - who has three boys, Dashiell, 13, Roman, 10, and Ignatius, six, and adopted baby daughter Edith with husband Andrew Upton - plays the stepmother in the new live-action fairytale and though it is targetted at their age group, Cate admits her kids were more excited when she played Galadriel in 'The Lord of the Rings' franchise.
She admitted: "They were really excited for me to be in 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' and, you know, less excited about 'Cinderella'."
Cate stars in the film opposite 'Downton Abbey' star Lily James in the lead role and she was very impressed with the 25-year-old star.
She said: "I think about myself at her age and I was a complete nutcase, whereas she is so self-possessed, but warm and generous. She makes her own fairytale really.
"She is very empowered, but not in a very right-on sort of way. And she rides a mean horse."
The 45-year-old actress is now planning a break but admits she finds being without work difficult.
Asked what's next in an interview conducted before she adopted Edith, she told Grazia magazine: "Probably doing nothing, which I find difficult.
"That's what I plan to do next - absolutely nothing. F**k all."

Kenneth Branagh cast Lily James in 'Cinderella' because she has a "lovely heart" just like the character.
The 54-year-old filmmaker knew the 'Downton Abbey' star would be perfect in the lead role of his reimagining of the classic fairytale when she first auditioned because she shares so many qualities with her alter ego Ella.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph newspaper, he said: "Her voice is warm and musical and she has a strong sense of humour which is very important, plus she's a beautiful girl. I think that she has a lovely heart and that comes through in her work."
Although Branagh is a fan the 1950 animated Disney version of 'Cinderella', the director want to shoot a live action remake of the beloved cartoon movie.
Instead he worked on the basis that many people wouldn't have seen the iconic film so he could bring in new elements to the story.
He added: "The tale has been in various cultures for the last two-and-a-half -thousand years and is very flexible and has had very many adaptations. It was important for us to reinvent Cinderella and make her a more pro-active, more 21st Century character.
"For me it's not a question of better; it's a question of different. The animated classic from Disney is a quite magical piece of movie-making but it was made in 1950 and I felt there would be a vast number of people who would never have seen it or seen it in the context of the life we lead and so there would be room for another one."
Lily stars in the new Disney film with Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, Stellan Skarsgard, Derek Jacobi and Hayley Atwell.

Ralph Fiennes is to receive the Legend prize at the Jameson Empire Awards.
The 'Spectre' star is to be honoured with the prestigious accolade at the annual ceremony which takes place at the Grosvenor House hotel in London this Sunday (29.03.15).
Fiennes is being recognised for his three-decade spanning movie career and acclaimed performances in films such as 'Schindler's List' - for which he was nominated for an Oscar - 'The Reader', 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and the Harry Potter franchise, in which he played Lord Voldemort.
The 52-year-old actor has also stepped behind the camera to direct on occasions, making his helming debut on 2011 film 'Coriolanus'.
Speaking about this year's recipient of the accolade, Empire magazine Editor-In-Chief Morgan Rees said: "When you look at the body of work he has given us, both on screen and behind the camera, he has achieved so much. I can't think of anyone who deserves this award more. Ralph Fiennes is truly an Empire Legend."
Previous winners of the prize include Tim Burton, Dame Helen Mirren and last year's Legend of our Lifetime Tom Cruise.
James Nesbitt will host this year's ceremony and 'The Imitation Game' leads the way with nominations with nods in six categories, Best Film, Best Director (Morten Tyldum), Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Actress (Keira Knightley), Best Thriller and Best British Film.

Anna Kendrick thinks her on-camera smile gets "worse and worse" every year.
The 29-year-old actress, who recently starred alongside Ryan Reynolds and Gemma Arterton in 'The Voices', has revealed just how awkward she finds the red carpet experience when she's asked to pose for photographs.
She said: "Every year that goes by, I think that my on-camera smile is going to get easier. ...And it's got worse and worse, to the point where I'm giving that Britney Spears terrified smile, where the lips are upturned, but there's nothing but fear in the eyes."
Meanwhile, the actress who played Becca Mitchell in the 2012 musical comedy 'Pitch Perfect' alongside Rebel Wilson and Elizabeth Banks has revealed she loved making the sequel because it reminded her of being back in school.
She told the UK edition of Glamour magazine: "It's a lot like school. ...Some of the girls got me into [reality TV show] 'The Bachelor', so that became a group texting moment for us, and when you get back together, you remember every little quirk of everyone's personalities."
Anna also revealed her rather unusual reason for wanting to turn 30, which she does in August.
She said: "I feel like 29 is just total garbage, I'd rather just be 30 for two years. When I say I'm 29, I think I sound like I'm trying to make sure everybody knows I'm not 30. ...I look like a teenager."

Ralph Fiennes' "healthy" pay cheque from the new James Bond movie 'Spectre' means he'll be spending more time on the stage.
The 52-year-old actor, who stars as intelligence agent Gareth Mallory in the latest 007 movie, is being paid so handsomely for the role that it gives him the freedom to indulge his love of theatre.
The award-winning star is currently starring in 'Man And Superman' at the National Theatre in London and is set to play Halvard Solness in 'The Master Builder', the Daily Mail reports.
Before appearing in the second production, however, Fiennes is to return to the Bond set in May to complete filming his part.
Meanwhile, 'Spectre' producer Michael G Wilson recently denied the film's script was changed to secure incentives in Mexico.
It had been speculated Mexico made suggestions about a number of aspects of the eagerly-awaited new movie, including the nationality of an actress and the villain, as well as the villain's intended victim.
However, the producer denied the claims, saying: "There is nothing in the script that we hadn't had before. The villain was always an Italian ... we already shot that in Rome."
'Spectre' is set for release later this year.