Thursday, July 26, 2012

How He Spent His Summer (2012 Edition)

Earlier this year, Harry Lloyd was performing at London’s Old Vic Theatre as Duke Ferdinand, the scoundrel-ly brother to Eve Best’s eponymous figure in The Duchess of Malfi.  As his stage engagement drew towards an end on June 9th—and he took stock of his “slightly controversial beard,” as he called his unusual yet becoming facial hair at the time (Lloyd, in Berlinger)—he reflected on how he hoped to spend his upcoming (and now mostly-passed) summer. In late-May 2012, interviewer Max Berlinger reported that Lloyd “hopes to visit America over the summer, particularly the West Coast” (Berlinger).

With the latest news about The Fear, however, it may just be that Harry did not get his summer travels wish, and the U.S.A. was not graced with his presence.  Just as it was announced the other day that read-throughs of The Fear script had begun, it’s now been confirmed that principal photography (in Brighton) for the mini-series has definitely begun as well (Martin, “BCD…Begins”).  

Earlier today, Lloydalists came across the “new official synopsis” of The Fear, which was cited by Cult Box:


Pursuing his dream of rebuilding Brighton's derelict West Pier, Richie Beckett's hard-earned respectability is threatened by two new enemies: An invading Albanian mafia and an aggressive form of early onset dementia. Struggling to contain the invasion, sons Matty (Harry Lloyd) and Cal (Paul Nicholls) need a peacemaker, but Richie's erratic and extreme behavior only inflames the situation.

As his sons and wife Jo (Anastasia Hille) deal with the fall-out of his worsening condition, we see further and further into Richie's decaying mind. In desperation, Richie turns to old adversary Seb (Richard E. Grant)for answers. But with his short term memory fading, Richie's dark past bleeds into the present, revealing unresolved traumas that echo the chaos that now surrounds him.

What emerges is a spiraling battle to resist an implacable enemy, acted out on the streets of Brighton and inside the head of Richie Beckett. (Martin, “BCD…Begins”)


Indeed, the more tidbits unearthed about The Fear, the more eager we are to plunge ourselves into this “spiraling” world of criminal, social, familial, and psychic turmoil.


Instead of spending his summertime on the U.S.’s sunny West Coast, then, Harry will undoubtedly be preoccupying himself the rest of the summer and part of the fall researching for his role as a crime-boss’s son, preparing to face “ruthless new rivals” to the Beckett family’s legacy (Martin, “BCD…Coming”).  He’ll be playing peacemaker to Peter Mullan’s “erratic and increasingly extreme behaviour” and helping to answer the question Will Martin poises: “Can Richie and his family survive when his mind and world start imploding?” (Martin, “BCD…Coming”).

Even if much of Harry’s work has been slow to reach us lately, we seem poised for a flood of his work—and immersive work, too—in the coming months, if not year at least.  Certainly, it’s been a rather busy time for Harry, even if a lot of the “fuss” has been about waiting for pictures and shows he’s already filmed to be released.  His turn in The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, Part I (2012) came and went.  Although Great Expectations (2011) debuted abroad late last year, fans in America (and likely elsewhere) only got our greedy eyes on the BBC’s latest Charles Dickens adaptation this year.  We—and Harry—now wait for the completed Dreck (2012) and the post-production Closer to the Moon (2013) to come to theatres.





Works Cited


Berlinger, Max. “Hot List 2012: Harry Lloyd.” Out.com. 22 May 2012. Web. 26 July 2012. <http://www.out.com/out-exclusives/hot-list-2012/2012/05/22/harry-lloyd>.

Martin, Will. “Brighton Crime Drama ‘The Fear’ Begins Filming. Cult Box. Cultbox.co.uk. 26 July 2012. Web. <http://www.cultbox.co.uk/news/headlines/4301-brighton-crime-drama-the-fear-begins-filming>.

---------------. “Brighton Crime Drama ‘The Fear’ Coming to Channel 4.” Cult Box. Cultbox.co.uk. 14 May 2012. Web. 26 July 2012. <http://www.cultbox.co.uk/news/headlines/3737-brighton-crime-drama-the-fear-coming-to-channel-4>.





~ Researched, Reported, and Written by K & C ~

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