RICHARD MADDEN
MARCH 2023
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What’s new this month? |
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Xxx - date |
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Thursday 30 March 2023 |
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We
have been treated to a new Citadel trailer today: Citadel - Official Trailer 2 | Prime Video - YouTube Enjoy! |
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Sunday 26 March 2023 |
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Just catching up with a few bits and pieces of
Richard-related news … Warren
Alfie Baker, an LA-based British clothes stylist, has been appointed to look after
Richard’s ‘look’ during the Citadel
press tour:
The rumour is that Citadel has been renewed for a
second season … Citadel TV Show Renewed for Season 2 at Amazon – The
Hollywood Reporter There is an article about Citadel in Total Film
Magazine April 2023 edition … where Joe Russo states “and we’re gearing up for season two of Citadel right now”. So it would seem to be more than a
rumour!!!
I finally
managed to set up a connection to the Citadel Prime IG account … so, having
missed the first message following set-up, this week I was rewarded with this
photo:
Citadel
(@citadelonprime) • Instagram photos and videos Citadel
(@citadelonprime) • Instagram photos and videos
Joe Russo – the Russo Brothers being the
producers of Citadel – is attending the Sands International Film Festival
which takes place in St Andews in Scotland between
14 April and 16 April: A total surprise until the screening begins,
evidently: And,
finally, there is a rumour that Richard has been cast in an action movie for
Amazon, co-starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt!
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Wikipedia |
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Friday 17 March 2023 |
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Gemma Chan
has been visiting LA for the premiere of the Apple Original Series -
Extrapolations – which also stars Kit Harington – and she met up with Richard
too, posting this adorable selfie yesterday evening
(LA time):
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Sunday 12 March 2023 |
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Amazon has posted the first scene from Citadel: You
Are A Spy | Citadel Clip | Prime Video - YouTube Richard also attended the Creative Artists Agency
(CAA) Pre-Oscars party on Friday evening – he is pictured here with James Corden: |
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Citadel
(@citadelonprime) • Instagram photos and videos Priyanka being interviewed at
the recent SXSW Studio event, firstly in conversation with the Head of Amazon
Studios: Priyanka Chopra Jonas
in Conversation with Jennifer Salke | SXSW 2023
Keynote - YouTube Priyanka Chopra Jonas
in the 2023 SXSW Studio - YouTube Apologies if my formatting leaves a lot to be
desired … it looks a whole lot better when typed or copy and pasted, than
when it is loaded … and I did spend hours trying to correct formatting
issues! |
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Tuesday 07 March 2023 |
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The Citadel Trailer has
arrived!
The Citadel trailer dropped yesterday, having been
delayed because it was felt inappropriate last Wednesday, following the train
crash in Greece. The trailer features a train crash scene. Here is the trailer: Citadel
| Official Trailer | Prime Video - YouTube Priyanka Chopra Jonas & Richard
Madden on 'Citadel,' the Huge Action Sequences, and Making a Globe-Spanning
Spy Series PUBLISHED 1 DAY AGO Executive Producers Joe & Anthony Russo and showrunner David Weil also talk about how the series will
interconnect with spinoffs around the globe. From executive producers Joe & Anthony Russo and
showrunner David Weil, the Amazon Studios
global spy thriller series Citadel follows elite agents
Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), who had their
memories wiped before escaping into new lives with new identities. When a
former colleague (Stanley Tucci) comes
calling eight years later, Mason must track down former partner Nadia, in
order to stop a powerful shadow agency from destroying everything. During a press conference to preview the new
global production that will be expanding into different interconnected series
around the world, the Russo brothers and Weil were joined by Madden and
Chopra Jones to talk about how this unique idea came about, what viewers can
expect from these episodes, finding the perfect cast, creating something new
and original of this size and scope, balancing emotional drama with huge
action sequences, the layers to these characters, and why this is the perfect
format for a project like this. Question: How did this production come about? JOE RUSSO: This is a
really unique television event. That’s what excites Anthony and I the most about it. The concept was an idea that Jen Salke presented to us, a few years ago – the notion of
telling a story that could be interwoven throughout the world, and that would
have a flagship show and then regional shows, written, produced and directed
by regional talent,that
could interweave with the flagship show. We thought that was such a novel
idea for a narrative and an amazing way to create a really diverse, global
community of storytellers, to tell a giant mosaic of a narrative together. After
our work on the Marvel films and spending so much time traveling the globe,
this was an idea that was really exciting to Anthony and I,
and ignitable for us. It seemed like an incredible challenge. ANTHONY RUSSO: Joe and
I had never heard a premise like this before. It’s a real credit to Jen Salke’s vision for what Amazon is capable of. She brought
us an idea that was basically a model for a show that was so ambitious and
wide-ranging and global in its nature. This is something that Joe and I have
been working toward for many years now, as storytellers. We really love the
engagement of the global film community. It was an incredible opportunity. We
went to work trying to find the right story that could fulfil that ambition,
and we’ve had amazing collaborators, in order to find that. David,
what can we expect to see with this first season? DAVID WEIL: Citadel is the story of two top spies.
There’s Mason Kane, played by Richard Madden, and Nadia Sinh,
played by Priyanka Chopra, Jonas, and they are top spies
at the most powerful spy organization you’ve never heard of, called Citadel,
which of course is by design. And the day we meet them is the day that
Citadel falls. It’s brought down by this nefarious new spy syndicate called Manticore. We then cut to eight years later, where we
pick up with Mason Kane, who’s living this quiet life in Oregon with his wife
and his daughter, and he has no memory of who he was or what his past was,
until one night when a gentleman by the name of Bernard Orlick,
played by the one and only Stanley Tucci, knocks at
his door and needs his help to take down Manticore
before they create a new world order. Mason discovers that Nadia is still
alive, and the two of them journey the world, taking down Manticore
and unraveling the very dangerous secrets of their
past. That’s just the first episode. There’s a lot more. Why were Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas perfect for these two characters? JOE: We’re
incredibly fortunate, the cast is just exceptional in this show. What Anthony
and I really love about this is the high concept of it. Both Richard and Priyanka get to play multiple versions of themselves.
This notion that their memories have been erased allows them to create new
characters who then have to rediscover who they were. And then, their new
personalities come in conflict with their old personalities. That was the
idea that most excited us because I don’t know that I’d ever seen that
before, where you have multiple characters dealing with a crisis of
personality and a crisis of conscience. So, to have this cast that also
includes Stanley Tucci and Lesley Manville, and to
be able to portray these complex characters, this show doesn’t work without
the elegant powerhouse performances that they all brought to the show. David, what’s it like to keep all of this
straight? WEIL:
There’s a lot going on. What’s so beautiful and ambitious about this entire
spy universe that we’re creating is that we’re doing it in tandem with
partners all around the world. We have announced the India series and the
Italy series, and we get to work with these incredible writers, filmmakers,
actors, and producers, truly from all around the world, and build this entire
story together. It becomes this tapestry told in different languages and
through different cultures, in a very authentic way. It’s not just a Western
point of view that we’re viewing this story, but we really are doing
something original, and we’re holding hands and building this, at the same
time, with our fellow creators and producers. Where did you get to travel in these first six
episodes? JOE: We go
to Spain. We go to London. We go all over the world. We go to Miami. Part of
the fun of the show is this globetrotting aspect to it. It’s also essential
to the core concept of the show, that we’re gonna
be telling stories, all over the world. We have we have a production that
just wrapped in Italy. We have another that’s about to start in India. You’re
gonna travel to every corner of the world on Citadel. This is brand-new IP that’s completely original
and unique. How does that impact and enhance how you’re able to tell a story
and make it all your own? ANTHONY:
That fact, right there, is another enormous credit to Amazon. They are the
type of company, and they have the type of will and ambition, to attempt
something this large that’s built on the backs of original IP. It’s a very
unusual combination, to take a big swing like this with with
new material that nobody is familiar with. For all of us, that was also a big
thrill, creating the story from scratch and being able to go anywhere with it
was. WEIL: It
gives you license to dream. It allows for the best idea to always win,
wherever it comes from. You’re not necessarily tied to source material. So,
if the creators in Italy or India have an idea in the middle of the night,
and they call us and say, “Hey, what do you think about this, for a character
in your series?” We can do it. We can really try and build together, in that
way. It’s very unique. JOE: And
it’s fun for audiences to discover a new story. They’ll have no idea where
this is going. What can you say about the type of action
audiences will see in this? JOE: It’s
very cutting edge. It’s very modern storytelling. True to the genre, there
are some very, very large set pieces throughout the series, competitive with
the cinematic exploration. That was the mission here, to bring large scale
spy storytelling to Amazon and to digital distribution. The exciting part of
it for us is the scale of the action sequences and the ambition it took to
execute those. ANTHONY:
The technology we explore in the show is very forward-thinking. It is
grounded in a world that we all know and recognize, but as you peel back the
layers of the unknown, part of the unknown is the very sophisticated tools
and systems that spies can use to to do things that
most of us can’t. What is it about spy stories that we keep coming
back to and that’s so attractive about that type of world? JOE: We
all wear masks in our lives. There are many depths and dimensions and facets
to each of us. And so, to be able to see, on screen, characters who embody
that spirit and give you that wish fulfillment is
always exciting. This show allows the viewer to step into the world of Citadel and
feel like they, too, are a spy within it. Priyanka, what was the appeal
of this series, for you? PRIYANKA
CHOPRA JONAS: This show has so many layers and complexities. There’s a word
that we used, right from the beginning, which was duality, for every
character. Don’t believe what you see. Everything is just conceptually crazy.
It’s just so exciting to be able to share it with the world. It’s been a long
time in the making because it’s so ambitious. I’m very excited about it. Richard, who is Mason? RICHARD MADDEN:
Mason is a very complicated man. The joy of this has been being able to play
these two very, very different characters, but both in the same body. They
are both the same man in lots of different ways, but each version of him, you
pull out different aspects of humanity and who we are, as people. One of them
carries a lot of scars from the past and a lot of trauma, and the other one
doesn’t carry any of that baggage. He just has a whole bunch of unknown to
him. So, we end up having these two very different characters. What was
exciting to explore about them is, how much of your character traits are
built in, and how much are inherited through trauma and experience? Did you just focus on one character at a time, as
you were playing them, depending on what was required of you? MADDEN:
That’s a great question. It varied. Sometimes I couldn’t just focus on one of
them. What David did so beautifully with the script is create these things
that I could use to juxtapose against each other. What elements of each
character gets pulled out, at what point? As we go on, during the journey of
the show, you get to see what elements are built into both of them and that
are actually in you, as a human being, rather than just because of your
experience in life. It was a great challenge to have both of those things to
pull out, at different times, and mirror each of them, when playing its
character. Priyanka, who is Nadia? What
is she about? CHOPRA
JONAS: I thought she’d be really simple, but no. Our characters have sides to
them and their personalities. I feel like Nadia carries a lot of baggage. She
has to navigate really thick waters and hold her head up high, while her
character is changing and her life is changing, all around her. She has to
stay centered because of the burdens that she
carries. That makes her very juicy to play, as a character, because every
choice that is made by her is burdened and laden by so much pressure, and she
thrives in it. It was really wonderful. Richard and I had a great time. I
love working with him. We danced really well together. This was just a really
ambitious show. If we didn’t have each other, understanding what the other
needed, this would have been hard to do. MADDEN:
Absolutely. And we kept each other in check. Sometimes you were like, “Okay,
what character am I? What do I not know?” CHOPRA
JONAS: The show is completely non-linear, so you’re going back and forth. We
had to remind each other of the story. It was like a big jigsaw puzzle that
we had to remember. It was so much fun to do. This series has intimate character development,
but also heavy action. You’ve both done action sequences before, but how did
this compare? CHOPRA
JONAS: I have a scar on my forehead, on my eyebrow, that’s courtesy of Citadel.
I don’t even cover it anymore. But the stunts were amazing. Joe and Anthony
brought the most incredible stunt team onto the show. They have worked with
the best in the business, and we were really lucky to be able to work with
people like that. Our stunt team was incredible. Nadia is a badass. She comes
from a place of trusting her body and her instincts, and I got to explore a
lot of that with the stunts that we did. Every time I would read new pages,
the stunts would just get bigger and bigger and bigger. It was amazing to be
able to imagine that, and then walk onto set and actually execute it. It was
great. MADDEN:
There are huge set pieces in this, and that’s something that’s amazing to be
a part of. Not only that, we often see shows that are 80% drama and 20%
action, or vice versa. This show aimed to be 100% of both, and I think that’s
what we’ve managed to pull off. In the middle of these huge sequences with
explosions and cars blowing up, we have this really intimate drama between
these two characters and how they dance together. For me, that’s what was so
exciting about these huge action pieces. They are infused with heart and
drama and storytelling. We get to see a lot about these characters and how
they physically interact. It’s not just great action sequences, but there’s
drama at the heart of each one of them. CHOPRA
JONAS: The choices in the action pieces are made because of what their
characters are feeling. There’s a story interwoven in all the stunts, and
that was just very cool and new for me. As the creative team, what’s it like to see your
actors bring these characters to life? JOE: We’re
really blessed to be working with exceptional actors. Spies traffic in lies
and deception and murder and betrayal. So, not only are they having to encapsulate
characters who have spent a better part of their adult lives, trafficking
those kinds of things, they’re also playing people who have zero connection
to that world, and who are living a normal existence and have an emotional
connection to what their current life is and the current individuals in their
lives. When those two smash together, it’s as complicated an idea that I’ve
heard, for actors to play. WEIL: They
make us better. Every day on set, they push us to be better storytellers, to
ensure that there’s as much realism in these characters, and as much scope
and scale in both the action storytelling as the emotional storytelling. It’s
a dream. Joe and Anthony create this energy on set that is just fully
collaborative. We all get together, we read through scripts, and we talk
about ideas. It’s almost like a theater troupe.
It’s a very, very special way to work. CHOPRA
JONAS: That’s one of my favorite things about this
show, and I feel so invested in it. I was nervous. All of these guys have an
insane filmography. You walk in with nerves about what to expect, but what I
didn’t expect was the collaborative nature. We would sit down talk about it,
and we had suggestions, ideas, and changes. It would be done immediately. It
was always about putting the show first and what’s best for the show.
Everyone came in with that intention, and it was just so easy and great. ANTHONY:
The roles that Priyanka and Richard are playing are
the highest degree of difficulty, for the many reasons we’ve already talked
about. They’re playing two different versions of themselves with different
sets of memories, and how that processes, in terms of their behavior and their choices and their thoughts. But also,
they’re playing something that has the highest degree of emotional complexity
and, at the same time, the highest degree of physical challenge. For them to
be able to do that and to pull that off, on a physical level, on an acting
craft level, and on an emotional level, it’s something that Joe and I and
David would just sit back and marvel at. JOE: It’s
exhausting to watch it. MADDEN:
But we have them getting us through it. It really is a brilliant family. The
pace of it rolls together, and that’s what it’s like on set. It’s a lot of
adrenaline, every day. CHOPRA JONAS:
It really is. MADDEN:
Everyone turns up at the top of their game, and we have to fire off each
other and spark together and, and that’s what we managed to do, so
beautifully and in a really creative way. Would you shoot the action sequences over several
days, and then get a couple days to rest? How did that work? MADDEN:
No. CHOPRA
JONAS: Was that an option? MADDEN:
You were on your toes, the whole time, but that’s what was brilliant. It gave
us the opportunity to not just do action stuff, and then go into drama. We
would be in the middle of a fight sequence, and then go into a piece of drama
together, and try to pat down the sweat a little bit, so that you look good
in the close up, and then back into a fight sequence again. We got to really
spin between it all, at all times. CHOPRA
JONAS: Yeah. There wasn’t any time off, ever. What makes this series the first of its kind and
how might it impact the industry, being so globe-spanning? JOE: What’s
great and unique is that the reach of a company like Amazon and it’s a
digital distribution network for storytelling is that each region is
critically important to the storytelling of the show. Everyone that we invite
into this has an equal level of weight and importance to the story, and
that’s really unique. I’m not sure this is something that we could have done
with a theatrical release, creating a world where different regions are
fashioning stories around a flagship narrative like this. That’s something
fresh and exciting about digital distribution and its reach. You haven’t seen
anything like this before because the technology and the company behind it is
new. It points towards where storytelling can go. Audiences are ready for
something new. And so, for us, as storytellers, it’s exciting to have a new
format that we can play in. ANTHONY:
The show is capitalizing on two very exciting trends that we’ve seen in
storytelling, over the past several years. We’ve all been developing a strong
passion for narrative universes that have a sprawling, years-long expression
to them, where characters change and morph and move between different
iterations. At the same time, we’ve seen this rise in global filmmaking and
the ability of non-English language movies and shows to travel to other
cultures. Typically, they’re the more English language dominated cultures.
So, this show is almost taking those two trends and smashing them together,
for the first time, which is exciting. CHOPRA
JONAS: As someone who worked for a very long time in non-English media, it’s
so exciting to see the success of subtitled work in English language
territories. The ambition of this show, which was so attractive to me, is
like the social experiment of it. The flagship show is an English language
production. You have an Indian show. You have an Italian show. And then, the
characters and storylines blend into each other and intersect. Will that take
a territory of people and have them watch another
language? Are the audiences of the Italian show going to want to watch the
Hindi language show, where they have no similarity in language? That’s so
exciting and interesting to me, that cross-pollination of cultures, and how
entertainment goes beyond borders and language now. It’s about storytelling,
and Amazon, as a partner, is so great at that. Jen had the ambition to want
to do something that had never been seen before. It’s so cool. Citadel is available to stream at Prime Video on April 28, 2023. The link: Priyanka Chopra Jonas & Richard Madden on 'Citadel's Huge
Action Sequences (collider.com) |
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And
another one: Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden say their understanding of each other made work
easier on Citadel: ‘It was so much fun’ At the
virtual trailer launch of Citadel, Priyanka Chopra
and Richard Madden spoke about the challenges of portraying dual characters
and their experience of working together.
On Monday
evening, the trailer of the much-anticipated spy thriller Citadel dropped.
Starring Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden,
the Russo Brothers series will premiere on Prime Video on April 28. The lead
stars, along with the creators and showrunner David
Weil, interacted virtually with selected global media to discuss the show and
their experience of working together. Talking about Citadel,
Priyanka said it has so many layers and
complexities and ‘duality for every character’. She added that everything is
just conceptualised as ‘crazy’ and it’s exciting to be able to share the
trailer with the world, as Citadel has been in the making for so long. As already
seen in the trailer, the lead characters will be seen regaining their memory
after eight years, having escaped a life-threatening attack. The actors were
asked about prepping for the shoot and balancing the past and present mode of
their characters. Richard Madden, who plays Mason in
the six-episode action thriller, said that the experience varied for them. He
also shared how it was a ‘challenge’ to work with the past and present at the
same time. “It
varied. And sometimes I couldn’t just focus on one of them because that’s
what David (showrunner) did so beautifully with the
script… to create these things that I can use to juxtapose against each
other. So what elements of each character get pulled out at what point? And,
you know, during the journey of the show, you get to see what elements are built
into both of them. And they’re actually in you as a human being rather than
just because of your experience in life,” the Game of Thrones actor said. Echoing his words, Priyanka Chopra said that she too thought playing Nadia
would be simple but having two sides and personalities complicated things.
She also said that her character carries a lot of baggage and has to navigate
really thick waters. Elaborating on the
same, the global superstar said, “She has to hold her head up high while her
character is changing, her life is changing all around her. But she has to
stay centered because of the burdens that she
carries. I think that that makes her.. just very juicy as a character for me to play because
every choice that is made by her is burdened and laden by so much pressure.
And she thrives in it, so it was really wonderful.” The actor also lauded
her co-star Richard Madden saying she ‘loved working’ with him. She added
that they had a ‘great time together’ and their ‘understanding of each other’
helped them sail through this ‘ambitious show’. Priyanka Chopra reasoned,
“Because, yeah, the show is completely non-linear. So you’re kind of going
back and forth, and we had to remind each other of the story. And we were
like, “Wait, we did that in that scene.” And then, we’d bring David in. It
was like a big jigsaw puzzle that, you know, we had to remember. And it was
so much fun to do.” The actors also
discussed the action and stunts in Citadel as Priyanka
chipped in about getting a wound during the shoot. “I don’t even cover it
anymore,” she said as she showed off her scars to the team. She added, “I
think Joe and Anthony brought the
most incredible stunt team onto the show. I mean, obviously, with their
repertoire. They have worked with the best in the business. And we were
really lucky to be able to work with people like that. Our stunt team was
incredible. I really think Nadia is a badass, and she comes from a place of
trusting her body, and, you know, her instincts. And I got to explore a lot
of that with the stunts that we did. Every time I would read new pages, the
stunts would just get bigger and bigger and bigger (laughs). It was amazing
to be able to imagine that and then walk into the set and actually execute
it.” Richard Madden, on his part, said that the show
has an ample dose of action and drama. He said, “I think that’s what we’ve
managed to pull off because in the middle of these huge sequences with
explosions and cars blowing up and all of that, we have this really kind of
intimate drama between these two characters and how they dance together. So,
for me, that’s what was so exciting about these huge action pieces… was that
they are infused with heart and drama and storytelling. We get to see a lot
about these characters, and how they physically interact, not just great
action sequences but there’s drama at the heart of each one of them.” Priyanka Chopra pitched in to add, “Like the choices in
the action pieces are made because of what their characters are feeling, and
so there’s a story sort of interwoven in all the stunts. And that was just
very cool and new for me as well.” Citadel also stars Lesley Manville, Osy Ikhile, Ashleigh Cummings,
Roland Møller, and Caoilinn
Springall. The web series is executive produced by
Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Mike Larocca, Angela
Russo-Otstot, and Scott Nemes
for AGBO. © IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd First published on: 07-03-2023
at 08:27 IST The link: And an earlier interview with Priyanka Chopra: |
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