Londoner's Diary: Ralph Fiennes disowns number-one romp with J-Lo
ACTOR Ralph Fiennes may have received his last Christmas card from Jennifer Lopez: last night he took the opportunity to savage their 2002 rom-com Maid in Manhattan. Speaking at a School of Life event at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster, the Schindler’s List actor railed against the “excessively commercial” side of the movie industry and mocked the blip in his film past.
“It’s exciting to see a film for a new director, new performers and actors: there’s hope there,” he said. “Especially when it goes against the aggressive trend of the excessively commercial thing that is designed to sell, to make money. I think those forces are probably necessary. I mean, I embraced them, look at Maid in Manhattan.”
Later, when Fiennes was asked about his most challenging role to date, he ignored Oscar- winners The English Patient and The Constant Gardener. “It was Maid in Manhattan,” he puffed, with a smile.
Fiennes isn’t the only one to disown the film. It was written by The Breakfast Club scriptwriter John Hughes, who chose to be credited under a pseudonym. But it reached number one in the box office in its opening weekend, and went on to gross over £120 million worldwide. And Lopez won’t be the only one to be disappointed by the comments. Hosted by The School of Life, the education and events company founded by philosopher Alain de Botton, the evening proved frustrating for several guests.
Though billed as an interview with Ralph Fiennes, the philosopher Slavoj Žižek dominated the discussion. “What kind of philosopher has more statements than questions?” asked one unhappy punter. “A chance to hear Ralph Fiennes speak and he’s not given the chance,” lamented another. Maybe Žižek is just a rom-com fan.
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Some inspirational winners at the Muslim News Awards for Excellence at the Grosvenor Square Marriott last night. But an awkward moment for guest of honour Sajid Javid.
Compère Yasir Dharsi told the audience that he and Javid were old mates — the Communities Secretary offered a blank look. Dharsi, it transpired, worked at BIS when Javid was in charge and once approached his boss with a cheery “’Sup?” It had, he said, been the beginning and end of their acquaintance.
Cheeky boys caused a No 10 Pussy Riot
Cabaret singers Bounder and Cad, aka Guy Hayward and Adam Drew, perform at Crazy Coqs in Piccadilly tomorrow night, and the metropolitan elite may be shaking in their Oxfords.
The lapsed Cambridge choral scholars were once invited to perform at 10 Downing Street, back when David Cameron and Nick Clegg were in charge. The Londoner hears that their song — a Cameron/Clegg-themed version of Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr’s Me and My Shadow — was ruled out as “too close to the bone”.
However, the pair were persuaded to perform it once Cameron had retired, earning them the Whitehall nickname of “the Pussy Riot of Downing Street”. Let’s hope they behave themselves tomorrow...
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Quote of the Day
‘I’ve finally succumbed to a blowtorch’
Mary Berry accepted the inevitable modernisation of cooking on her BBC Two cooking show last night
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Jerry flashes the cash to win ENO singers
To the Rosewood Hotel in Holborn last night for English National Opera’s Spring Gala. But many a conversation was interrupted by the clink of a glass — a cue for a surprise flashmob from the ENO Chorus.
Guests including singer Myleene Klass and lawyer Nancy Dell’Olio were entranced by their rendition of La Traviata’s Brindisi, but model Jerry Hall and her husband Rupert Murdoch were the most impressed.
The singers were offered as a lot in the fundraising auction later in the evening, with Hall winning their company at her Christmas party. Will Rupert join in come December?
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The best of Britain’s tourist industry were at the National Portrait Gallery last night to bid farewell to Lady Cobham, outgoing chair of Visit England. Sue Owen, Permanent Secretary at the DCMS, applauded Cobham’s matchmaking skills: “If the world was filled with Pennys, there would be no need for Tinder,” she said. Cobham’s successor, Denis Wormwell, told of their first meeting: “I’d never met a Lady before. I’m from Burnley, where men are men — and so are the women.”
Sting in a shipwreck tale
“Be yourself no matter what they say,” sings Sting in Englishman in New York. So it’s good to hear that he is taking his own advice with his Broadway musical The Last Ship. The show, a semi-autobiographical story of dockers in Tyne and Wear, proved too alien for New York, and went down with all hands in 2015 after only a few months. But all is not lost.
Last night The Londoner was at The Arts Theatre for the press night of The Wipers Times, the new play by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman. Guests included Nigella Lawson and Rachel Johnson, but we also saw film director Trudie Styler, Sting’s wife, in attendance with The Last Ship co-producer Karl Sydow. “We’re planning to take it up and down the country next year,” he told us. “And yes, Sting will be there — it is his musical after all.”
Despite its short Broadway run, the play was a hit with the critics and was nominated for two Tony Awards. Hopefully a Sting in the tale will prove box office gold on this side of the Atlantic.
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Tantalising prospect of the day: last night Nigel Farage announced on LBC that “if Brexit is a disaster, I’ll go and live abroad”. Good luck getting a visa.
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Fashion’s finest are in the pink
Before Ruby Tuesday comes Pink Monday. Last night fashion investor and philanthropist Wendy Yu, centre, welcomed well- dressed pals including the British Fashion Council’s Caroline Rush and Tamara Ralph, creative director of Ralph & Russo, for a rosé-drenched feast at the Marie Antoinette suite at The Ritz. Let them eat cake.
