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 ]

Other news stories related to: "Michelle Gayle: ‘They said don’t leave EastEnders – I never regretted it’"


iBooks Bestsellers: Potter, Paula Keep Up the Pace

J.K. Rowling and Paula Hawkins kept their #1 and #2 slots, respectively, on the iBooks bestsellers list as 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2' and 'The Girl on the Train' continue to captivate audiences. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Mass Merchants Feel the Love from 'Cursed Child'

Mass merchandisers accounted for 33% of the first week sales of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 & 2,' according to Nielsen BookScan. The uptick was a much needed boost for the embattled retail channel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Cursed Child sells 2.6m through BookScan US

J K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Arthur A Levine) sold nearly 2.6m print units in its first week through BookScan US, the third-biggest single week total for a book since accurate records began.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


This Week's Bestsellers: August 15, 2016

In its debut week, print units sales for the #1 book in the country, ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2,’ are more than double those for the next 99 books combined. Plus Colson Whitehead’s ’The Underground Railroad' gets the Oprah nod and the #3 slot in Hardcover Fiction, the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


iBooks Bestsellers: 'Cursed Child' Duels with Patterson and Moriarty

Shocking no one, 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2'​ stays #1 more than a week after its much-ballyhooed release. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Cursed Child racks up biggest single-week sales since Deathly Hallows

J K Rowling and Jack Thorne’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) has become the fourth fastest-selling title of all time, with 847,886 copies worth £8.76m shifted through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market last week, making it 2016's biggest selling title of the year in just... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


NBCUniversal strikes deal for 'Harry Potter' films, theme park extras

NBCUniversal is continuing under the spell of “Harry Potter,” striking an exclusive deal with Warner Bros. to bring films of the juggernaut franchise to two NBCUniversal cable channels. The agreement, announced Monday, extends the relationship between the two media companies by conveying... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Explosive sales for newest 'Harry Potter' tale: 2 million and counting

Harry Potter's appeal continues, with huge sales numbers coming out from the release of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' a book version of the script used in the West End play. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Twenty years of Harry Potter marked with year-long campaign

Bloomsbury is set to celebrate 20 years of Harry Potter with a year-long campaign, including special anniversary publishing and new projects with key partners. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Harry Potter's 20th birthday to be marked with British Library show

Twenty years after the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 2017 show promises ‘a journey to the heart’ of JK Rowling’s storiesIdeally positioned in King’s Cross, just a stone’s throw from the mythical beginning of the journey to Hogwarts on Platform 9 3/4, the British... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Audio Book Club Meets the Cursed Child

To listen to the Audio Book Club discussion of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, click the arrow on the player below. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2016-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Cursed Child playscript sells 680,000 in UK in three days

The Harry Potter and the Cursed Child playscript has sold 680,000 print copies in the UK in its first three days of sale – making it the fastest-selling book in a decade. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


In the US, UK, and Canada, Harry’s on Another Roll With ‘Cursed Child’

North American sales of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' top 2 million copies, UK sales blow past records, all within days of Rowling's new release. The post In the US, UK, and Canada, Harry’s on Another Roll With ‘Cursed Child’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Explosive sales for latest 'Harry Potter' tale: 2 million and counting

Harry Potter's appeal continues, with huge sales numbers coming out from the release of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' a book version of the script used in the West End play. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


'Cursed Child' Sales Top Two Million

Scholastic estimated Wednesday morning that 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two' sold more than two million copies in North American in its first two days of sales. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


iBooks Bestsellers: Potter Sells Like Lightning

The Boy Who Lived returns to the iBooks Bestseller list as the Book That Sold, J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two,' rides the broomstick of public fervor to #1. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is fastest-selling UK book this decade

The script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child becomes the fastest-selling book in the UK this decade. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2016-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


General Electric Is Using Instagram Stories to Promote Its Snapchat Series About Volcanoes

Instagram Stories launched Tuesday, and brands are already using the Snapchat-like feature, which lets marketers and the digital platform's 500 million monthly users curate daily moments that disappear after 24 hours. In fact, General Electric is using its first Instagram story to push a video... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What J.K. Rowling said about Harry Potter post-'Cursed Child'

Rowling spoke about her plans for Harry Potter following the premiere of the play 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' which depicts Harry and his family years after the events of the original books and films. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Midnight Parties for 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'

The new Harry Potter went on sale last Saturday night, and bookstores across the country celebrated with midnight parties. Here we present a sampling of photos from those festivities. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this