Ben Mendelsohn

Ben Mendelsohn is just a cool cat. Not because of trying, but because he doesn’t have to try - and that’s what makes him into a true cool cat! Ben always plays a baddie in films or TV series, and does it so well. He is able to play the stereotypical baddie but also the likeable baddie or the back sheep baddie that you don’t know if you like or not. Which ever baddie is needed for the big screen, Ben will do it with a BAD ASS attitude. SO, was it a surprise when he rocked up to a possible cover shoot for Sunday Times Culture in grey tracksuit bottoms and a tired grey t-shirt? Not at all! If he’d made more of an effort I might have believe that he cared and that it was all an act and no truth to this BAD-ASS character we see on screen. And that’s where the difference lies in Ben’s acting and his actual persona. When you see Ben on screen you often end up disliking him, but in real life he’s that cool guy with a glint in his eye. The guy that has a definite edge, but is fun to be around. Not loud or rude, but calm and on point! Ben is the new Sheriff in town. He’s nonchalant and his demeanour commands respect, but he also plays the Sheriff of Nottingham in the new filmatisation of Robin Hood, and I bet he had the New Forest in Nottingham loosing its pines of fear.

Shot for The Sunday Times Culture

Nicole Kidman

Hollywood don’t have many queens, and achieving a ‘Queen of Hollywood’ status involves having plenty of accolades, longevity and maintaining an aura of unknown about them. Nicole Kidman ticks all the boxes. With Nicole the shoot was originally planned to be a 10 minute one. However, as the day evolved and we were told of Nicole both being struck by the flue and suffering from bad jet lag, the shoot was shortened to a manageable 5 minutes.

The first thing that struck me when she walked into the room was how tall she was, the second was how amazing she looked despite the condition her condition was in, and the third was that it was simply put harder to take a bad picture of her than a good one.

3 films being released in just a few months, one being an Oscar contender, Nicole will comfortable maintain her seat on the throne as one of Hollywood’s Queens as well as perhaps Australia’s most famous person. All titles she’s earned from hard work and nothing passed on through bloodline or money. But she was born in Honolulu and was given the native name Hōkūlani - which in Hawaiian means ‘Heavenly Star’ - so maybe she has had more help getting to where she is today than what we know about?

Shot for The Observer New Review

Toni Collette

Toni Collette is the lead in the newest must see horror film Hereditary. If you want to wind down off the coffee and still not sleep for a few days, then this is the film you should see. I am not big on horror films because I often find them to be a little too far fetched, tacky and often bad acting. They don’t tend to trigger into my own fear. However, this sounds like a film that will scare the living ‘bejesus’ out of me. The kind of film that plays with your psyche, the unknown, the things we don’t see. This is the film I’d bring a spare pair of pants to see. It’s the kind of film where I’d check the seat before I sit if it’s the second screening of the day.

The shoot with Toni was down in a basement room at Covent Garden Hotel. A room with a little too much character to carry off a whole shoot, so a backdrop was brought out. It was the last thing on Toni’s schedule of the day before being rushed off to the Graham Norton show. It was evident that she’d had a full day already, mixed with a heavy jet lag, so I tried to keep the conversation to trivial non-sense that demanded little in return. First an acknowledgement of her being only 8 days older than me, followed by my amusement that we were both able to mimic a horse trotting by clapping and snapping our fingers. The amazement on both our parts of how similar we therefor must be was undisputed and agreed to - over a laugh…

Often when people suffer from such a schedule and jet lag it is hard to hit the note. However, between the occasional yawn, her Australian, chilled and fun way of being, came shining through… I can only hope that I will one day work with Toni when she is full of energy and fully rested - if I can keep up?