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 ]

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Children's literature is a fast-growing genre thanks to 'Potter' & Co.

The success of 'Harry Potter, 'Twilight' and other has created a halo effect for the entire genre. And kids aren't the only ones doing it.For years, the book industry has been mired in debates about the plight of independent booksellers, the rise of Amazon and the fate of print as it struggles... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sony Reader gets a new design, Evernote integration and a free Harry Potter book for $129

In the market for a new e-reader? One could certainly do worse than Sony's Reader line. The company's been packing features onto its devices, and the already leaked latest entry is no different, with upgrades over its predecessor, packed into a newly redesigned body with bigger, better looking... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2012-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Fifty Shades of Grey' is bestselling book ever in Britain

'Fifty Shades of Grey' has passed the 'Harry Potter' books and 'The Da Vinci Code' to become the country's bestselling book. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hunger Games finale split in two

The final book in The Hunger Games trilogy is coming to the big-screen in two parts starting in 2014. Lionsgate Films announced today that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 will be released November 21, 2014, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 will follow on November 20, 2015. The... Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2012-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales higher in bookshops with cafés

As Independent Booksellers Week gets into full swing, the Booksellers Association has released... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter 'Book of Spells' will come to life via Sony

J.K. Rowling's 'Book of Spells' will allow players to wave wands and cast spells using Wonderbook technology. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter comes to Kindle

All the books in the Harry Potter series will arrive in the Kindle lending library – free for Amazon Prime members – on June 19. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alohomora! Free Harry Potter books coming to Kindle

Harry Potter has joined the Kindle lending library.Amazon.com announced Thursday that on June 19, the ebook editions of J.K. Rowling's seven Potter novels will become part of the Kindle service available to Amazon Prime subscribers. Members can download a book for free once a month. Amazon's... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder Blog: Amazon Program Offers "Harry Potter" Series to Kindle Owners

Members of the Amazon Prime subscription program will be able to read "Harry Potter'' ebooks for free through the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, a move intended to encourage consumers to buy Kindle devices. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2012-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From Harry Potter to the dark side

JK Rowling's first book for adults will be a "blackly comic" novel set in an idyllic English town where all is not what it seems, her publisher says. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2012-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: dispatches from a diehard fan

The Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Fla., more than lived up to its hype for this fan. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Harry Potter' ebooks go on sale on Pottermore

The "Harry Potter" series, which has conquered mediums from books to movies, is finally available in ebook format. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Studios gorge on young-adult fiction amid success of 'Hunger Games'

The literary genre is white-hot in Hollywood, with filmmakers bidding on unpublished books and paying as much as $1 million for the rights to relatively modest sellers.The back-to-back blockbuster successes of "Harry Potter," "Twilight" and now "The Hunger Games" have turned the hunt for fresh... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter ebooks coming to schools, libraries around the world

Pottermore has partnered with ebook company Overdrive to bring electronic versions of the 'Harry Potter' series to libraries and schools in five languages. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sony offers first Harry Potter book free with new reader

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 01/09/2011 - 08:51 Readers will be able to download the ebook of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for free with the limited edition model of the new Sony Reader. Further details have emerged about the Reader, which is set to go on sale in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Titan buys Harry Potter movie guide

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 15:17 Titan has acquired an accompaniment to the Harry Potter film franchise, which drew to a close this summer with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II”. Harry Potter: Page to Screen: The Complete Film-making Journey will... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter's Pottermore E-Book Site is Now Open--for Scammers

Scam artists are selling fake early access to the Pottermore Web site or asking for personal data to register an "account." Either way, you're going to be sorry if you interact with them. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Prevention Magazine Grows a Digital Network

Prevention magazine's new digital advertising network of niche health sites, dubbed the Healthy Living Group, is now in full swing since its May launch, with about 12 million monthly unique visiting the 35 sites in the network. The digital network is also now ranked 11th in the health category,... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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