Michelle Gayle: ‘They said don’t leave EastEnders – I never regretted it’

From Grange Hill to the West End, via Eurovision and the Brit awards, the star has built multiple careers. She talks about stage-school pressure, TV diversity and playing Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed ChildMichelle Gayle was 10 months into her role as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child last March – and in such full swing that she was in “total denial” of the pandemic – when the West End closed its doors. Sitting in a chintzy backroom of the Palace theatre now, she talks in athletic terms about 12-hour rehearsal days and re-building her stamina. The whole cast is ecstatic to be back, she says, but they are also whispering about how tired they feel.Exhaustion aside, she speaks of her debt to Noma Dumezweni, whose casting in 2016 sparked online outrage from some at the prospect of a Black Hermione. JK Rowling piled in to the furore to defend the casting and call out the complaints as racist. Dumezweni won an Olivier award for the part. “I owe her a lot of gratitude – I’m standing on her shoulders,” says Gayle. “She got through that [time] with incredible grace and proved she was there on merit because she’s a bloody good actress but she had to take a big hit online to do that. When someone of the quality of Noma steps up, no one’s got anything more to say and then the conversation’s dead. It’s a shame that you have to be brilliant to end that conversation, but there are enough brilliant black actors out there.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-10-13 08:41:05 UTC ]
News tagged with: #hermione granger #cursed child #full swing #palace theatre #harry potter

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Hodder scoops Times fashion editor Walker debut on maternity leave rivalry

Hodder & Stoughton has scooped two novels from debut author and Times fashion editor Harriet Walker. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Janet Smyth leaves Edinburgh International Book Festival

Janet Smyth is stepping down from her role of children and education programme manager at the Edinburgh International Book Festival after eight years. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barack and Michelle Obama reveal first projects for Netflix

Barack and Michelle Obama have revealed their first string of productions for Netflix which includes a project with author Michael Lewis. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Virago Modern Classics bags Gayl Jones 1975 debut 'masterpiece'

Virago Modern Classics has bagged the “searing” first novel from Gayl Jones, hailed as a masterpiece on its initial publication in 1975. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poynton leaves Faber after 12 years

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sphere publisher Strange leaves Little, Brown

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anne Sarrag to leave The Reading Agency

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Baltimore Mayor Pugh to take leave of absence in midst of 'Healthy Holly' book controversy

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[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why Baltimore’s Mayor is Taking a Leave of Absence Over a Scandal Caused by Her Children’s Books

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[ Slate | 2019-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Natalie Jerome leaves Bonnier after two years

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming sells 10 million copies

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[ BBC News | 2019-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michelle Obama’s book has sold almost 10 million copies, a historic high for memoirs

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michelle Obama's memoir sells more than 10m copies

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[ The Guardian | 2019-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michelle Obama book vies with Trump exposé at book awards

Michelle Obama’s Becoming goes up against Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury at the British Book Awards. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2019-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eugenie Furniss leaves Furniss Lawton for production company 42

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tross leaves Hodder for Bookouture as Bord builds non-fiction list

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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