Shirley MacLaine’s illustrious career comprises more than 50 feature films highlighted by an Academy Award® win and six nominations, six Emmy® Awards nominations and seven Golden Globe® Awards, including the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also an international best-selling author for her 2008 book, “Sage-Ing While Age-Ing” followed by her latest New York Times best-seller, “I’m Over All That – And Other Confessions,” released on April 5th, 2011.
Carnival Films’ Managing Director, Gareth Neame said, “My late grandfather directed Shirley MacLaine in Gambit in 1966 so it is a delight for me that she will be joining us on Downton Abbey. Julian has written another brilliant character in Martha Levinson, who will be a wonderful combatant for Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess and we are excited at the prospect of Shirley MacLaine playing her.”

Laura Mackie, Director of Drama at ITV said, “It is so exciting to have an actress of Shirley MacLaine’s stature joining our brilliant Downton Abbey cast for series three and a tribute to the show’s success on both sides of the Atlantic”.

The first series of Downton Abbey premiered on ITV in the U.K. and on MASTERPIECE on PBS in the U.S. to critical acclaim and collected a number of awards including six Primetime Emmys®, a Golden Globe® and a Producers Guild Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television. The second series increased its audience by 20% in the U.K. and is currently transmitting in the U.S. with an increase of almost 30%.

Downton Abbey, written and created by Julian Fellowes, is a Carnival/Masterpiece co-production. The producer is Liz Trubridge and the executive producers are Gareth Neame, Managing Director, Carnival Films, Julian Fellowes and Rebecca Eaton, Masterpiece.

As the adopted daughter of Den and Angie Watts, Sharon Watts was one of the original cast of characters to hit the screens when EastEnders launched in 1985. Sharon married Grant Mitchell but fled the Square soon after, when her affair with his brother Phil was revealed in one of EastEnders’ highest rating episodes in 1994.

Having grown up in The Queen Vic, Sharon returned to Walford’s famous boozer in 2001 to take the helm as landlady. When Sharon ‘Rickman’ departed the Square in 2006 following the death of her latest husband Dennis Rickman, she was pregnant with his child.

Letitia Dean says of her return: “I am really looking forward to being part of the EastEnders team again, as it has always been very close to my heart. I cannot wait to work with my old colleagues and see what is in store for Sharon.”

Bryan Kirkwood, EastEnders Executive Producer, adds: “I’m thrilled that Letitia is coming back home to Albert Square where she belongs. Sharon is a real favourite amongst EastEnders’ fans and I for one can’t wait until she arrives back next summer.”

Loosely based on Gideon Raff’s Israeli television series “Prisoners of War”, it centres on an American soldier taken prisoner during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Left for dead, the soldier (Damian Lewis) miraculously returns to the U.S. after years in captivity. Danes, in her return to series television, plays Carrie Mathison, a driven CIA officer battling her own psychological demons who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to his rescue was a setup, and that this national hero may be connected to an Al-Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil.

Catch up with the star of the show, Damian Lewis…

Damian Lewis is sitting opposite me, drinking tea in a wood-panelled library in a discreetly opulent Central London hotel. With his clipped Old Etonian accent and understated self-confidence, he seems the epitome of Englishness. Which is why it’s surprising that so many of his highest profile roles have been Americans.

His latest drama, Homeland, is no exception. Lewis plays US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody, who has been held as a prisoner of war for eight years by Al Qaeda. On his return, he is feted as a hero. But CIA officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) believes that, far from being an All-American patriot, he has been turned, and represents a grave threat to national security.

Here, the charming and affable Lewis talks about the series, his career to date, and how he’d give it all up in a heartbeat just to change one single moment from his past.

You had a great education, went to Eton, and at the end of it, you turned around and said to your parents that you wanted to go into the most capricious business imagineable. Parents dread their children wanting to act. How did yours react?
They were brilliant, and oddly supportive. They had seen me on stage at that point. A group of us put on a play at school, and my parents saw me, and I think they decided that it wasn’t going to be a complete waste of time. And so in the last two years, when I should have been working for my A levels, I decided that I wanted to go to drama school. I’d stopped working, and my shocking A level results reflected that. So I was only going to go off to a not very exciting university anyway, and so I went to drama school. My mum said “Go, with our blessing.” And what she really meant was “And that means you can stay at home with me for another three years.” I grew up in London, so I lived at home throughout drama school. It was a very un-studenty three years. I went back to a nice family house every night where, if I was lucky, mum had left out a fishcake.

You went to The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Have any of your contemporaries from there gone on to stardom?
There was a very rich seam of talent all around us. Joseph Fiennes was a contemporary of mine. Ewan McGregor was in the year ahead, Daniel Craig was in the year ahead of him. Just in front of them were people like Ben Chaplin and Rhys Ifans. Dominic West was just behind me.

And from there you went on to the RSC. Was that a valuable part of your education as an actor?
Yes it was. It gave me a campus life that I hadn’t had. It was a bit like going through another training – you’d have voice lessons and verse lessons, and you’d rehearse all day and perform all night. And you just happened to be living in a small wendy house of a 17th Century workman’s cottage right next to the River Avon, with Shakespeare’s graveyard 300 yards one way and where he lived a couple of miles the other way. It was a rather extraordinary, rarified existence for a year. I loved it. And I would imagine, having visited Oxford and Cambridge many times to go and see my friends who were studying there, and I played cricket there quite a lot *cough* – where I scored a century – (the only one I’ve ever scored, and it was against a team called The Grannies!) I imagine our existence [at the RSC] was quite similar, just living in these beautiful, bucolic surroundings.

Jumping forward a bit, somewhat out of the blue, you land the lead in the most expensive TV show ever made [Band of Brothers]. That must have carried quite a lot of pressure with it.
It was totally out of the blue, because they didn’t know me from Adam. I think part of the reason I got that role was because he was a 1940s war hero, and even though he was an American, there was something old-fashioned about him, and upright. I think they felt they might find him in England, in a stiffer, more upright actor than a cool American hipster. It was a big sea change, and it was a huge hit, although it had a pretty inauspicious start, because the second week it was on air, 9/11 happened, and people’s appetite for death and destruction and a rather realistic vision of war – it just wasn’t what people wanted at that point. But it sort of regenerated itself. It’s the most extraordinary beast, Band of Brothers. It still feels like it only happened last year, because people are still so connected to it. It’s ten years ago now, and people are still watching it for the first time, or for the 100th time, and people still want to come up to me and talk about it. Armed forces in Afghanistan watch it as inspirational tools, soldiers are actually taught it for lessons in leadership. And the manoeuvre that Winters perfected the day after they landed at Normandy, when he took the four 88s shelling the beach- that’s taught in West Point. I was filming in Crete about five years ago, and the US Navy landed, and they’d been watching it. It’s got an extraordinary reach. And I did feel pressure. There’s a huge responsibility – as there always is if you’re playing somebody who’s alive – to represent him well. And as Tom Hanks said, as we started the whole endeavour, on our first day at boot camp, “Don’t think of this as making a piece of TV. Think of this as an historical document. That’s what we’re going to try and recreate here.” It was brilliant.

Where does Band of Brothers sit in terms of work that you’re proud of, and what else is up there?
It sits right up there; it’s certainly the thing that I think I’ve done that’s had the biggest profile. One of the things that’s had the smallest profile is arguably what I’m most proud of, which is a small independent film called Keane, which I made about four years ago. I’m very proud of The Forsyte Saga, I enjoyed that enormously, and an Ibsen I did at The National Theatre, Much Ado About Nothing for the BBC, I loved doing that. And I’m extremely proud of Homeland.

Moving on to Homeland, what attracted you to the role?
After my experience on Life, which I loved, but it was at quite a lot of personal cost, from a family point of view – that sounds a bit melodramatic, we’re all still together! – but it was long hours working with Helen sitting in the house with the kids. I wasn’t prepared for quite the workshop hours you work on some American TV shows. So I said to my agent ‘Only if it’s extraordinary, and if it’s on Cable TV, so it’s a five-month commitment rather than a ten-month commitment. [Cable series tend to be 12 episodes as opposed to 24 on networks.] Unbelievably fortunately, this thing came my way, and I very nearly said no to it, for all the reasons I’ve just explained. But it was really compellingly written. The pilot – which was all I read – had political ambition, it was psychologically detailed and specific, dark in places, and so ambitious. It was tapping into conditions that interest me – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and men returning from war, and bipolar disorder in Claire’s character. While tackling these rather serious issues, it also managed to be a page-turner. And it also managed to be a political show at the same time, posing the question ‘In our pursuit of terrorists, have we gone about it in the right way?’ It just seemed brilliantly representative of a slightly uncertain, paranoid world we live in now. It’s a bold claim for one hour of TV, but I spoke to them, and they convinced me that these were all themes that they wanted to pursue. And they sustain it. They’re brilliant, and I’m unbelievably lucky to be working with them. Thank God I said yes to it.

Is it quite attractive playing a character who’s so ambiguous, who might be good, or might be very, very bad?
Yeah, ambiguity is a complex thing to play. It can leave you being a little unspecific, if you’re not careful – if you’re consciously vague, and you then allow the audience to project onto you. But if you’re doing it well, the reverse is true – you commit yourself to decisions totally, and it’s just about how adroit you are with your changes, that is in the end what creates the ambiguity. You have to be lightning quick and nimble, there’s a mental and imaginative agility in the performance which is really fun. It’s a challenge – there are so many things to play, and if you try and play everything at once, then it’s a bit of a pudding, so you have to make specific choices and then just change on a sixpence. Another thing that really appealed to me is it’s very subversive. It’s very controversial to have a US Marine, who is as great a symbol as anyone or anything you can think of that upholds our Western freedoms and our beliefs, and goes and fights on our behalf all over the world. To have one of those people ‘changed’ is very controversial.

How was it working with Claire Danes?
Lovely. She’s whip-smart, and extremely committed and focused. Quite disconcertingly, sometimes. She can be in this extraordinary scene, and the director says cut, and before you’ve turned around, she’s walking back to her chair and just out of character. She plays ‘Words with Friends’ endlessly, which is that interactive Scrabble game. She’s always got about five or six games going on with different people around the world. It’s her way of relaxing. She’s got half the crew doing it with her as well. She’s just lovely. I love being in scenes with her, it’s thrilling.

The drama touches on PTSD, terrorism, death, torture and mental illness. It’s not a knockabout comedy. Does that affect your mood during filming? Do you take any of that home with you?
No, I don’t take work home. Stay an American all day long, that’s one thing I do do. It’s too confusing to switch in and out of accents. So I go to work as an American, and until my make-up’s taken off at the end of the day, I remain that way. And then I actually switch off from work alarmingly quickly. I have to rev myself up quite a lot to go back into work, because I’m quite good at down time.

Homeland has been described as 24 for grown-ups. What do you make of that?
I think the parallel with 24 is inevitable, because Howard [Gordon] is a co-creator on this, and had run 24 for the last four or five seasons – he took over from Joel Surnow. It’s not really 24. It’s far more of a psychological, political drama – I think the paranoia plays much more strongly. Just the style in which it’s filmed is very different. It takes its time, it allows it to breathe, whereas 24 was a high-octane, crack-like experience. It made me just feel extraordinarily uneasy, watching 24, it was a very uncomfortable feeling. I think Homeland is too, because of the subject matter, but there’s an enjoyment in just being able to sit in things a bit more. I think this allows you to do that.

Is it true you used to practice being interviewed by Wogan in front of the mirror at the age of ten?
I did. And now I’ve been on Wogan. Finally! I did his radio show.

The ten-year-old you craved that fame and adulation. Now you have it, how does it feel?
It sounds awful, doesn’t it? I’m not very good at just sitting and considering. I’m always on the charge a little bit. But sitting and reflecting now, I suppose it’s quite romantic, when you put it like that. Yeah, I did used to do that as a ten-year-old. When I couldn’t sleep, I would get out of bed in my pyjamas and turn on the light in the bathroom upstairs and just talk in different accents and pull faces in the mirror, pretending I was being interviewed by Wogan. He’s part of our cultural history. He’s commentated on something I’ve done before – a celebrity golf thing or a celebrity football thing I did.

Ah, the celebrity football match in which you lobbed Arsenal and Germany keeper Jens Lehmann from 25 yards, and hit the bar. How much of your success and your gongs would you give up to have that shot go six inches lower?
All of it! It was unbelievable. 70,000 people at Old Trafford. It was about the 15th minute. I was playing alongside Jamie Redknapp in the centre of the park. I just looked up and saw him inching out of his six yard box, and I just went for it. And I saw him, he had that look in his eyes as he backpedalled, saying “F*** me, I’ve been done”. And it just rattled the crossbar. The last thing Bryan Robson said to me – he was our coach – he said “Damo, you’re on Zidane. Keep yer legs closed.” And I clattered into him – I’ve always been a shocking tackler, I’m like Paul Scholes. I’m always late, and just bad at it. I clattered him. Jamie Redknapp came over and said “Damo, Damo, calm down. You can’t clatter into Zizou like that. You could’ve broken his ankle.” I thought “Alright, it’s just that the twice-world footballer of the year was a bit quicker than me!” And in about the 30th minute, we were right by the touchline, and I thought “He’s going nowhere!” And he just looked at me, and nutmegged me – straight through my legs! And the whole stand erupted in spontaneous laughter. Still, I suppose he’s nutmegged much better players than me!

Produced by Artists Studio and written by Allan Cubitt (The Runaway, Murphy’s Law, Prime Suspect), the five episodes will follow the police investigation uncovering the intricate story of the lives entangled by a series of murders – both the killer’s and the victims’ families.

Gillian Anderson stars as DSI Gibson, who arrives to conduct a 28 day review at a Belfast station where the police are getting nowhere on a high profile murder case.

Further casting will be announced soon, with filming starting in Belfast next month.

Allan Cubitt says: “When I think of the really great television drama from my formative years I think first and foremost of their writers. I applaud wholeheartedly Artists Studio’s attempt – with the support of the BBC – to put the writer back at the heart – and head – of British TV drama.”

Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, says: “The Fall is a unique, forensic and characterful take on a classic genre that continues BBC Two’s commitment to original British drama in 2012. Cubitt’s rich and complex psychological thriller combined with another compelling performance from Gillian Anderson will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.”

Artists Studio, set up by former BOX TV alumni; Justin Thomson-Glover, Gub Neal and Patrick Irwin. Gub Neal and Julian Stevens will produce with Allan Cubitt, Justin Thomson-Glover and Patrick Irwin acting as executive producers. Neal and Cubitt both won Primetime Emmy’s for their work on Prime Suspect 2 and 5.

Gub Neal says: “We are delighted to be working with Allan, he is a fantastic writer and handles the subject matter with extraordinary sensitivity and intelligence.”

Julian Stevens says: “The development of this project has been a joy ever since the first meeting with the BBC in Belfast and I am excited to be cutting my producing teeth on such an ambitious project.”

The series was commissioned by Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two and Ben Stephenson, Controller of Drama Commissioning, and will be executive produced by Stephen Wright through BBC Northern Ireland. With funding from Northern Ireland Screen supported by Invest NI and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

This commission continues to demonstrate BBC Two’s commitment to original British drama in 2012. It will join a raft of new dramas on the channel this year including Paula Milne’s White Heat, Jed Mercurio’s Line Of Duty, Sir Tom Stoppard’s Parade’s End, a second series of The Hour and a major new cycle of Shakespeare’s four most acclaimed historical works as part of a season based on the Bard’s life and works.

An undisclosed portion from the sale of each Walther P-22 “Hope Edition” will be donated to the Seattle Branch of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The gun retails for $429.99.

The Hope Edition has “an exclusive DuraCoat Pink slide in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month,” according to the promotion. “Utilizing the same reliable controls and firing mechanism that has made the Walther P-22 America’s top selling handgun, the Hope Edition will be a limited production pistol offered exclusively through Discount Gun Sales.”

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood supporters are rallying in the face of Komen’s move to defund the group, whose health centers have performed more than 4 million breast exams over the past five years, including nearly 170,000 as a result of Komen grants.

Besides $400,000 in smaller donations from 6,000 people, Planned Parenthood is receiving $250,000 from a family foundation in Dallas and a $250,000 pledge announced Feb. 2 by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to match future donations.

In Washington, 26 U.S. senators – all Democrats except for independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont – signed a letter calling on Komen to reconsider its decision.

“It would be tragic if any woman – let alone thousands of women – lost access to these potentially lifesaving screenings because of a politically motivated attack,” the senators wrote.

From: www.wisconsingazette.com

Daniel Radcliffe in "Woman in Black"
Photo: CBS Films

Daniel Radcliffe makes his post-Potter debut in the new adaptation of Susan Hill's ghost story, "The Woman in Black." It's an old-fashioned horror movie that has earned mild praise from the critics, but a warmer welcome for its star and his prospects of an adult acting character.

We've rounded up a sampling of what the critics are saying about Daniel Radcliffe and "The Woman in Black," which opened Friday (February 3). Check out it below.

The Story
"Anchoring the drama is Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), a sad-faced solicitor still grieving for his wife who died in childbirth four years earlier. Their son Joseph (Misha Handley) is wise beyond his few years and draws pictures of his dad looking mournful. The gloominess deepens when Kipps' boss threatens to fire him if he doesn't excel at an assignment. The job is to sort out the papers of a recently deceased old lady." — Claudia Puig, USA Today

The Star
"Radcliffe, for his part, carries off the role of Arthur with reasonable aplomb. If the 22-year-old actor seems a little young to be playing a solicitor and single father whose wife died in childbirth four years earlier, his performance is sturdy and self-sufficient enough, at least, to banish thoughts of Hermione and Hogwarts. He's all grown-up." — Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post

The Kids?
" 'No Country for Young Kids' would be just as suitable a title for 'The Woman in Black,' a hoot of an old-fashioned British horror film in which being under 10 years old is not a good thing." — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

The Scares
"Schooled in the art of the quiet boo, [Director James] Watkins fills the film with squeaking doors and floorboards, pools of black, long silences and an assortment of moldering toys. Less gore is more here, and what a relief. 'The Woman in Black' isn't especially scary, but it keeps you on edge, and without the usual vivisectionist imagery." — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

The House
"The house is a masterpiece of production design, crumbling, forlorn, filled with the faded and jumbled Victorian possessions of doomed lifetimes. It has a unique feature audiences will not fail to remark upon: its own sound-effects crew. At every frightening moment, and there are many, the soundtrack paralyzes us with blasts of cacophonous noise. You wouldn't want to be in the theater next to this movie in a multiplex." — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The Final Word
"The work Radcliffe does here is primarily reactive. It's also quite good. I'd say he's on his way as a post-Potter entity, and 'The Woman in Black' deserves a stateside audience. I only wish Watkins had done without the 'WHUUNNNGGGG!!!!' sound effects whenever somebody or something suddenly appears in frame, further racking the nerves of our ectoplasmically beset hero." — Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune

Are you planning on seeing "The Woman in Black" this weekend? Let us know in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "The Woman in Black."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• MTV Rough Cut: Daniel Radcliffe

He is probably best known for his two singles, “Two Wrongs (Don’t Make it Right) – and – “Can I?”.

Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson
Photo: WireImage

For the chill-seekers and Daniel Radcliffe fans out there, "The Woman in Black" is likely the must-see movie this weekend. The story revolves around young lawyer Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who stumbles upon a dark and mysterious phenomenon gripping a small town in England.

In celebration of the release of "Black," Radcliffe's first big post-"Harry Potter" movie (in which there isn't a wand or wizard in sight), we thought it would be a good time to check in with the rest of the Hogwarts alumni and look at their upcoming projects.

Daniel Radcliffe

 Radcliffe's next film role is poet Allen Ginsberg in the independent film "Kill Your Darlings," which is about how Ginsberg and fellow Beat Generation icons Jack Kerouac and Lucien Carr first met. The likable superstar told MTV News recently that he hopes his 2012 is all "about film, film, film," with a possible return to the stage in a couple years.

Emma Watson

 Watson has been a busy bee since wrapping "Deathly Hallows, Part 2." She can currently be seen in awards-season darling "My Week With Marilyn." Next up is her first turn as an American in the anticipated big-screen adaptation of Stephen Chbosky's coming-of-age novel "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." Earlier this week it was reported that Watson is in talks to team up with "Potter" director David Yates for a new drama called "Your Voice in My Head." 



Rupert Grint

 Grint has managed to appear in a few films throughout his years with "Potter," but his first role since the series ended is in the anti-war film "Into the White," formerly known as "Comrade." After that you can listen for his voice in the animated "Postman Pat: The Movie - You Know You're the One." Then he's hoping to star in the biopic "Eddie the Eagle," based on Eddie Edwards, the first British native to represent the country in Olympic ski jumping.

Tom Felton

 Following his role in the 2011 blockbuster "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," two-time Best Villain winner Tom Felton will appear in the ghostly thriller "Apparition," opposite Ashley Greene and "Captain America" star Sebastian Stan.

Felton just wrapped shooting on upcoming TV series "Labryinth," and he also has golf drama "From the Rough" with Taraji P. Henson in the can awaiting a release date.

Bonnie Wright

 The lovely titian-tressed actress recently wrapped production on "The Philosophers," a fantasy thriller set at an international school in Jakarta that features fellow "Potter" castmate Freddie Stroma. Wright will follow up "Philosophers" with a role in the "Sweat - London" segment of the ensemble piece "Geography of the Hapless Heart."



Matthew Lewis

 When he's not posing for smoldery photos, the suddenly grown-up and stylish Lewis is busy making careful choices for his post-"Potter" career. He just wrapped filming on a major BBC TV project called "The Syndicate" and will start work on a new film, "Wasteland," from writer-director Rowan Athale, at the end of February. 



Freddie Stroma

 Although he didn't have tons of screen time as wannabe Lothario Cormac McLaggen, Stroma has a lot cooking career-wise. In case you missed him in the made-for-TV movie "A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song" opposite Lucy Hale, don't fret: The onetime aspiring neurosurgeon will be on the big screen in "Pitch Perfect," the Elizabeth Banks-produced comedy about college a cappella competitions, and he'll follow that with "The Philosophers."

Check out everything we've got on "The Woman in Black."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

• MTV Rough Cut: Daniel Radcliffe