My note: This article by The Times is mostly a rehash of old information (and it’s an old interview done around the time period of Evening), but as there are a few extra bits, I decided to include it for anyone who is interested.

In evening, the actor Hugh Dancy enjoys a standout role. Surrounded by an armada of powerhouse performers — Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Natasha Richardson, Claire Danes and Toni Collette — Dancy, grabs a spotlight of his own.

Currently starring in Journey’s End on Broadway, Dancy took time out to discuss his career and new film at The Regency Hotel in New York.

It must be a gift as an actor to get a role like this.

It’s a great character. Great potential for acting. Great potential for disaster — for over-acting! It wasn’t a gift, though, because I had to pursue it.

What was it about the film that attracted you?

It’s just brilliantly written. It’s so unusual to read a character who, without being maudlin, depressing or an intellectual exercise, is simply not perfect. Someone who is flawed and is vulnerable. Buddy is also dramatic and goes through these extremes. But extremes without a human heart are just boring. It’s dangerous to portray a character who doesn’t have a centre. It was the centre of Buddy, that vulnerable, human centre, that I thought was really remarkable.

Does working with a cast like this do something for your own performance?

You’re always better when you’re working with good people. W hen you’re working with actors of this calibre, they’re generous. They can afford to be generous and they know that that’s what it’s about. So you profit from them, rather than being put in the shade. You get dragged into the light with them. It’s also daunting. I remember ringing my parents, just before we started, and telling them I was terrified. And my Dad said, yeah, but who doesn’t want to be in that position? And he was right.

What surprised you most about the experience?

It surprised me that I had to dance with Glenn Close and she had a broken ankle. The thing about these people who you know from reputation is that they’re normal, nice people at the end of the day. It was unexceptional in the best way, if that makes sense.

(more…)

Posted on January 10, 2008 by Anna
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I have uncovered more information about Hugh’s up-and-coming film role, Adam.

The movie also stars a slew of other great actors, including Rose Byrne (The Damages, Troy), Peter Gallagher (The OC), Amy Irving (Alias), and Frankie Faison (Hugh’s favorite show, The Wire). Sounds great to me!

Thank you to Rose Connection and Media Match for this extra information.

Posted on January 5, 2008 by Anna
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The tall, fresh-faced and very British Hugh Dancy has hit Hollywood hard. He’s stepping into the space vacated by Hugh Grant with a crafty elegance that makes him seem like a distinctive, mercurial yin, to Daniel Craig’s potent, earthy yang.

Evening features a dazzling cast headed by Claire Danes, with Vanessa Redgrave, Toni Collette, Glenn Close and Meryl Streep. It’s preceded by The Jane Austen Book Club where he raises the pulse of a bunch of lonely single and divorced women.

Dancy started his career as a model, but before that, he studied English literature at Oxford, following in the footsteps of his distinguished father, who is a professor of philosophy.

“I tripped into acting, really. I arrived at boarding school when I was 13 and I didn’t particularly want to be there. I missed home, so I went a little bit off the rails. One time, as a punishment, somebody sent me to the theatre . This was an all-male school, so the theatre was the only walk of life where the local girls got involved,” Dancy says.

“I was roped in to acting, and it was a great way to get exposed to something that I normally would never have done in a million years,” he says.

From his first TV role, playing David Copperfield in a BBC version of the Dickens novel, Hugh went from one costume drama to the next, collecting raves every time.

“I was beginning to wonder if I would ever make it into this century with a role in which I wore trousers and not tights or suits of armour that are a constant threat to your manhood,” he says.

(more…)

Posted on December 30, 2007 by Anna
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I think we would all agree wholeheartedly!

7. Hugh Dancy - Evening
Hiding deep within this chick flick’s 1950’s privileged society flashbacks was Dancy as the guy on the wrong end of a woman’s passion for another man (Claire Danes, Patrick Wilson respectively). It wasn’t much of a role, really, but what Dancy managed to do with it was nothing short of miraculous.

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Anna
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And now… on to the gallery update! I added a bunch of odds and ends, so I’ll just get right to the point. I hope to get tagless pictures of the Evening press con pictures soon.

Also, I have received news from Hugh’s people that they are currently working on an active fan mail address. Hugh does not currently have a fan mail address, so if you send a letter to any of the supposed fan mail addresses, he will not receive it. Hopefully this will change in the near future for anyone who wants a signed picture.

• 01 x The Jane Austen Book Club: Posters
• 01 x Burberry Campaign: Fall 2004
• 01 x Burberry Campaign: Fall 2005
• 02 x Burberry Campaign: Spring / Summer 2005
• 02 x June 10th: 61st Annual Tony Awards
• 02 x Men’s Vogue, July 2007
• 06 x May 11th: 73rd Annual Drama League Awards
• 12 x June 2nd: “Evening” Press Conference

Posted on December 20, 2007 by Anna
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