**************************************************************

From: chakravorty

Date: 6/4/97 5:04PM

Subject: test and Sandra and Tony

 

 

I've been having some trouble posting so this is a test. If my previous

reply to "fave character" post came through I'll be happy and no one will

have to respond to this post (thus far it hasn't). If it didn't come

through I'll have to repeat my whole shpiel on Sandra and Tony plus my

invitation to people to discuss the Sandra/Tony relationship with me.

 

Love to all - I've enjoyed reading your posts, hope you'll be reading

mine soon!

 

Bonnie

 

**************************************************************

From: Dave

Date: 6/4/97 6:32PM

Subject: Re: Attitude article

 

Gavin  wrote:

>

> I've got the article typed out. Rather than blast your mailboxes with it,

> please mail me if you want a copy. No pics. That will have to come from

> Leonard, who has volunteered?

>

> Gav.

>

 

 

Gav,

 

Would love to have the article from Attitude magazine, please

e-mail it to me if you can find the time with all the requests you are

bound to get.

 

Thanks,

Dave

**************************************************************

From: Gavin

Date: 6/4/97 6:39PM

Subject: Attitude Article

 

Just the text, as promised. I've sent Davie a copy and he's chasing up the

copyright to this. I wouldn't pass it around too freely, though. Copyright

clearance NOT given yet! Hopefully, someone with the colour pics that go

with the article will scan them in so Davie can put them on the site as well.

 

I typed it up on Word7 so unfortunately for some of you, the smart quotes

may look like foreign letters and the em dashes like blocks.

 

 

Gav.

 

---------

 

All Things Bright and Beautiful

 

text David Jays

photographs Richard Ansett

 

SCOTT AND GLENN ARE LAUGHING. They do a lot of that: laughing and chirping.

They*re mates, they*re actors, and hell, they*re 17-year-old stars about to

happen. In Beautiful Thing, the film adaptation of Jonathan Harvey*s smash

hit stage play, Ste and Jamie edge towards each other*s arms. Although

every soap writer knows that teenage romance will probably end in misery,

abortion or violence, Harvey rolls out the love-hearts and lets two young

things find happiness.

 

Scott Neal and Glen Berry have reason to laugh. They*ve known each other

for ages, usually cast as thugs in the same TV dramas. Now they*re in a

successful film. They joke, they finish each other*s sentences, they cap

each other*s stories. They even order the same burgers for lunch. They*re

sunny side up: you look hard and can*t spot a shadow.

 

Confident teenage guys chatting, bantering, ribbing. I remember this. The

things you can say, the things you don*t dare. Scott is the more talkative,

leaping in to answer, his dark eyes sharp. He*s the one who tells me about

the filming, who kick-starts the anecdotes, while Glen keeps up a chortling

accompaniment. They both know how each story ends, they laugh together,

loud and happy. Their characters in the film have less to smile about.

Jamie is picked on at school, Ste is slapped about by his drunk, punch-drunk

father and bully brother. Their own midnight joys have to be kept down:

the walls are paper-thin on their south London estate.

 

Glen and Scott are terrifi in Beautiful Thing. Glen-as-Jamie is a little

podgy, a lot uncertain. As the other lads play footie or splash about in

the lake, he watches on the sidelines. In raucous male company, he*s like

an ungainly water animal, a grounded seal out of his element. He only swims

when he*s at home, watching old movies, cheeking his mum, falling in love.

Of course, I know that actors are, well, acting. I know that they are

pretending to be someone else. Oh, there are no flies on me. But I assumed

that Glen-as-Jamie was so convincing because Glen was really like that. In

the flesh, though, he*s more solid than soft, awkwardness replaced by a roll

and strut. I ask what qualities he and Jamie share. "Nothing," Glen says.

"I think Jamie is totally opposite to what I am, in everything." Glen was

never the class scapegoat: "Not that I bullied people at school, but it

weren*t like that for me. He*s more of an outsider."

 

How about Scott-as-Ste, everybody*s friend, but a punchbag for his family?

Scott thinks. "The only thing I can relate to is being quite outgoing.

That*s what Ste is, he*s well-liked. But I*m not saying I*m well-liked,

you*ll have to ask other people about that one." And Glen sniggers; you

can imagine them joshing each other for years to come, until they end up as

buddy-buddy cops or sitcom flatmates.

 

It*s a jokey sort of day. London*s sunny, the lads are doing their first

photo-shoot, their first interview-over-lunch. They look to the nice

publicity man who*s chaperoning them ("They*re already calling me Mother")

to see what they can order. Glen kids he*s choosing the priciest dish on

the menu, and then he apologises. It*s all new, they*re finding out the

form. Banter slides down with the ketchup, and emotional outpourings aren*t

on the cards. Even Oprah has trouble easing open the shells where

adolescent boys lock their hearts, and she has Californians to work with.

So it*s no surprise when Scott says the hardest thing about the film was

"Trying to be sincere and sensitive all the time. I*ve never done that

sensitive part all the time. Normally I*m the top character, the thug or

the drug dealer."

 

"In Prime Suspect I was knocking you down the hill," Glen butts in.

 

"And now everyone*s doing their crying bit and all that."

 

And all that. *All that* is looking, touching, kissing. *All that* is

parting your lips to say the forbidden, to taste the taboo. Did they have

rehearsals for *all that*? "No," says Scott, "Hettie [Macdonald, the

director] wanted the spontaneity, so the minute we were ready to do it,

that*d be it." How did they know they were ready to do it? Better not

ask*you*ll embarrass the lads. You*ll embarrass yourself.

 

Scott had been up for a part in one of the earlier stage productions, so he

know the form, but the kissing came out of the blue to Glen, expecting to

audition for another young tearaway. "While I was waiting," he remembers,

"the lady at the reception goes, *Do you know what this film*s about? Well,

it*s about two young lads who build up a relationship,* she goes. *Kissing

and that.* No-one had told me this, I was quite shocked."

 

Once over the shock, Glen settled down to seven auditions before he and

Scott were cast. At the final hurdle, they were scrutinised by Linda Henry,

who plays Jamie*s sharp-tongued, big-hearted mother. "She had to say what

she thought of me after I*d gone," winces Glen, as if exposed to public

reckoning by his own mum. "We thought we hadn*t got it," adds Scott, "but

Linda comes out after us and she said, *You were fine.* And that night I

got a call from my agent, and I was stunned." Both are glad that the other

was cast. "It would have been easier if we both didn*t get it," says Scott,

and Glen agrees: "If I didn*t get the part and I saw you in magazines*"*he

puffs in mock jealousy*"it would be frustrating."

 

The boys used to meet up at auditions, and with he wonderfully

self-possessed Temka Empson, who plays Jamie*s rude-girl neighbour, Leah,

with gold in her hair and sass on her lips. They spend their spare hours at

the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington. You see Anna Scher kids all the time

on telly. They start off pushing and shoving in Grange Hill, ties trailing

over their shoulders, crisps and pop in their hands. Then they grow up and

embark on careers of petty thieving on The Bill. If they*re lucky they

become persistent offenders on Prime Suspect, or even EastEnders. Producers

know London is a jostling, dangerous place, and Anna Scher fills their bag

with rumbustious, noisy kids: quick learners with a tube maps behind their

eyes.

 

The Anna Scher Theatre is a happy feeding ground for casting directors

grubbing for authenticisty, but it isn*t a proper stage school fill of

little Bonnie Langfords. "A lot of the people go to socialise." Says Glen,

who joined a five-year waiting list to accompany one of his mates, and had

forgotten all about it when the place came up. The lads chant Anna*s dicta

in unison: "Star is not a word. Failure is not a word."

 

Glen trod the Anna Scher career path. "In Grange Hill I was a bully, and in

EastEnders I was a druggie. I found it easy: where I live, it*s a tough

area, so you know what to do." While Glen dodges the Romford rumble, Scott

lives near King*s Cross, London*s own little corner of hell. "You see some

strange things going on," he says, "so many different things every day that

I think it helps you."

 

If they*ve seen anything that helped with the Thamesmead boys crammed

top-to-toe in Jamie*s small bedroom, they*re not saying. Glen describes

Jamie*s angry, bleary confrontation with his mother as if his body had taken

him by surprise. He rubs his eye with his fist to demonstrate. "You know

you go like this when you*re crying? Well I did that, and I started crying.

I*ve never done that before in anything I*ve done. And I watched Linda. It

makes my eyes water when I see someone else cry, and straight away I said,

*I got the tears, let*s do that shoot.* " Scott couldn*t squeeze out real

tears for fist-battered Ste and was tapped by the tear-stick every five

minutes. But who knows where tears, and love, come from? Glen only says,

"At first we spoke to Jonathan, the writer, and he explained his experiences."

 

"He gave us a little insight into it," adds Scott. "When an important scene

came up, we*d all sit down and talk about it*it was a very mutual thing. We

had these little diaries in rehearsal, and we had to writie everything we

thought about the character, and make up everything that wasn*t in the

script, about where they used to live, what happened here, what happened

there." Hettie Macdonald led them into The Method with rigour. "One day we

didn*t come out of character," Scott continues. "Even at lunchtime, Linda

actually cooked lunch for me and Tameka as Ste and Leah, like we*d just gone

round to their house."

 

I ask if it was difficult to keep in character, and Glen looks guilty.

While Jamie*s passions are old movies and femme icons, the actor is an

inveterate card player. Glen hunches his shoulders, shuffles and imaginary

pack, looking like a poker-school good from Guys and Dolls. He*d be good as

Harry the Horse, say, in a checkered suit and a raft of heavy rings. Now

Glen is dealing an imaginary hand. "There*s me pulling out the cards all

the time," is how he remembers the shoot.

 

Beautiful Thing was filmed in three flats on the real housing estate, and

like the fictional love story, it unfolded under the eyes of all the

neighbours. The film*s content only became clear during the shooting of the

last, very public scene, when Ste and Jamie share a smoochy dance. "At

first I thought, we*re gonna have such a bad day," Scott recalls. "Everyone

was looking, and you got a few teenagers who, er* but a lot o the others

were standing around and they were fine. Once they got used to it they were

absolutely great. We had all the locals dancing together."

 

Soon the kids were coming up to chat to the cast and nick the crew*s

biscuits, while Glen dealt cards in every break. They didn*t have much

problem shedding their characters when the cameras stopped rolling. "It*s

not hard leaving them behind, getting into them is hardest," says Scott.

"Especially these characters, anyway."

 

The afternoon is drifting away in Soho, London*s media-land, the lunch

account patch lapped by frothy tides of cappuccino. Soho was named after a

hunting cry: appropriate enough for an area fill of feeders on human flesh,

hungry for the next big thing. And who know, maybe I*m sitting across the

table for it. Beautiful Thing will guarantee the actors far more xposure

than they*ve had before. "It*s nervous excitement really, because you don*t

know what*s coming. You*re excited because it*s something new. It*s gonna

be weird feeling, doing interviews all the time."

 

Glen has had a tiny taste of public recognition, after his EastEnders stint.

"When I did EastEnders, I wore my new jacket. It was a Schott jacket, and I

was one of the first people in my area to have one*I bet I was the only one.

And I was walking back with a few friends after a club one night, a couple

of weeks after it had been shown, and all of a sudden I got four blokes

walking towards me, As they*re going past, one says [his voice thickens]

*EastEnders boy, innit." I asked, *How do you know?* and he went, *It*s the

coat, innit.* "

 

"It*s what you get if you wear your own clothes on set," says Scott sagely.

 

"But I didn*t mind it," Glen protests.

 

Clothes are, after all, important, and being noted for a classy clobbler is

as good as winning approval for your performance. The lads have been kitted

out in Diesel goodies for the day, and are clearly reluctant to give them

back. Glen bought his Schott coat with his first cheque from acting:

"You*re used to working part-time, getting a little bit of money, and that

just goes like the wind. But this was a lot more than I had been told."

 

With his first dollop of dosh, Scott took the money and ran like the

clappers through the clothes rack. "I was going out on a complete mad

spending spree," he says, eyes gleaming, "just walking round and buying

everything. There are a few things I really wish I*d never bought."

 

What was the most shameful fashion blunder?

 

"I think my worst one*but somehow I still like it*was this crushed silver

jacket, with a Chinese collar. It really stands out. I*ve only worn it

once*it was reflecting the light." Glen is more sensible: "The clothes I

buy are casual more than outstanding," he explains. "I like to look cool,

but I wouldn*t wear something just to be different."

 

In Beautiful Thing different can be dangerous, but the film also shows us

the different can be fun. And so Scott rhapsodises about his new flowered

shirt. "I really like it," he beams. "It just makes me feel happy." Happy

is good*a long, hot summer, with school a fading memory and all the time in

the world to let sunshine into your heart; Beautiful Thing ends in a golden

sunburst as the boyrs soft-shuffle to the glorious amplitude of the Mamas

and the Papas* Dream a Little Dream of Me, winding arms around each other,

burying a cropped head in a plaid shoulder.

 

Gay rites-of-passage stories tend to end in true love or suicide: get laid

or knot your own noose. Jonathan Harvey*s ending could be horribly

sentimental as his heroes smooch, oblivious to a gawping crowd, but it

isn*t, quite. Jamie*s mum is dancing with Leah to show support for her boy,

but even as she shakes her tush, her eyes are wary. She knows that the

world looks less friendly when the music stops, that demons are waiting.

People can be cruel, friendships fade, the fiercest romance can dwindle to

ashes (Harvey himself gives the relationship a year, no more). This ending

is a moment, a shining moment, that stops the clocks and keeps out the world.

 

Still this is just a beginning for Glen and Scott*whose mobile phone rings

as we get ready to leave. Out there in the sunny streets are other

interviews, meetings, publicity junkets. Glen had a girlfriend, but maybe

there*s a gorgeous girl for Scott ("I*m waiting by the phone for an audition

or a woman, you don*t know what*s best"). They*ve got a whole sunny

afternoon before they have to give their new clothes back.

 

**************************************************************

From: <HeadDr

Date: 6/4/97 10:23PM

Subject: Idea of the day....

 

As most of you know, Im a Ste fan but this could apply to Jamie as well.

Wouldn't it be great to see a television interview with him. I think it

would be great. Where better to do it than the most popular Rosie O'Donnell

Show!!! And you say, well, how could we accomplish that. She is a rapid

AOL fan so, post to her site there or her internet sight and suggest it. I

get enough mail from this list, just think if we all send a little message to

her.... I think that she would respond. If not... well we tried...

 

Jim

**************************************************************

From: <Thom

Date: 6/4/97 10:24PM

Subject: Re: Glen vs. Scott

 

In a message dated 97-06-04 15:51:55 EDT, you write:

 

<< I was just wondering. I didn't mean to cause a debate. It just seemed I

was alone in my fasination with Jamie. Don't get me wrong, Ste is

adorable too, but something about Jamie just tugs at my heart. Hell, the

whole movie does for that matter.

 

Todd

 

 

You're not alone, Todd.... I felt the same tug, although I still can't

account for it. One of my favorite scenes (as if I could narrow it down so

easily) is when Jamie tries on the hat Ste gives him --- the camera angle

captures Jamie's expression in a way that melts me away <sigh>.

 

Thom

**************************************************************

From: <HeadDr

Date: 6/4/97 10:44PM

Subject: Idea of the day!!! (Scott does US interview??)

 

I think that it would be great to see Scott (Ste) do a US television

interview. (Especially with a new movie on the horizon) Where better to do

this than the Rosie O'Donnell Show!! I say this because she is the most

open of all the talk hosts (and my favorite) and would not stray away from

discussing BT as well as his new movie. Now, the next question is how do we

get this messsage to Rosie. It is easy, every Rosie fan knows she is a

AOL-aholic. We can spend some of our posting time, letting her know on her

site there or those not on AOL, on her web site. Is this a great idea or

what???? I can hear it now Scott (Ste) YOU ROCK!!!!! :))

**************************************************************

From: <HeadDr

Date: 6/4/97 10:49PM

Subject: Rosie's site

 

www.rosieo.com

**************************************************************

From: Clem

Date: 6/4/97 11:32PM

Subject: Re: goofs!

 

Well, about those goofs....

 

yeah, we've talked a bit already about those initial ones

but it's interesting to hear about the others...like the sunglasses

and I think I noticed another actually: Sandra turns off the television

right before her knock-down fight with Jamie but after he storms out and

she is on the floor crying the tele is back on. I'm not sure about this

one, I "have" to rent it again to be sure. She may have just turned down

the sound.

 

clem

 

 

**************************************************************

From: Michael

Date: 6/4/97 11:57PM

Subject: Re: rented at last Reply to Gavin Koh

 

At 10:48 AM 06/04/97 +0100, you wrote:

>

>I think it's excellent if people can advertise a film by NOT mentioning the

>word 'gay' even once. I think it helps people get used to the idea that two

>people of the same sex falling in love with each other is a perfectly

>natural, innocent, wonderful, beautiful thing. Love is love: why label it

>as anything else?

 

 

>Gav.

>

>That is precisely what I mean't when I said that the distributors acted

brilliantly by NOT using the word 'gay.' Although some people use 'gay' as

an identity, to me it is a label. And labels tend to separate people.

Like you said, the emotion of love is love is love is love...

 

By the way, as for the debate of Jaime -vs- Ste... I don't think I can

choose between them. On the one hand, Jaime displays a lot of courage by

being himself and not allowing his sensitivity to be masked by his

masculinity. But, wasn't Ste just beautiful when he let his guard down and

gave into what was natural? I think one of the most beautiful and wet eye

moments of the film was when he acknowledged to himself who he really

was... Of course you might have to read between the lines of the script to

find that moment!

 

P.S., I'm a newbie as well and I second whoever said that you are the most

beautiful group of people to ever gather together to discuss what is

obviously very dear to all of us! Cheers to you all!

 

Michael

**************************************************************

From: David

Date: 6/5/97 5:44AM

Subject: Calling USA movie industry ppl

 

Scott would very much like to further his career in the USA. I have just discussed

the Rosie O'Donnell idea and it's in line with his current plans.

 

Don't bombard Rosie with suggestions that Scott is a suitable guest,

else she is likely to think it's a concerted and artificial campaign. Instead,

spread visits and suggestions so as to make her realise the quality of his work.

 

Secondly, I need your help. Scott would like to find a good agent in the USA

to help further his career. Right now he can't afford the top-end agencies,

but at the same time he doesn't want some ityy bitty wannabe agent.

 

If you know how we might locate an agent who has the skills and contacts

required to further a 19 year old London actor's career in Hollywood, let me

know .

 

Regards, Davie

**************************************************************

From: David

Date: 6/5/97 5:47AM

Subject: Your support is working...

 

I've just had a Feedback from Tracey Colona at Columbia Tristar in the USA,

who has just visited the web site.

 

She is making contact so that I have a direct email link to her. I'll let you know

what she says about the sudden influx of BT suggestions.

 

Regards, Davie

**************************************************************

From: David

Date: 6/5/97 6:47AM

Subject: Translators required for German, French, and Spanish

 

What do you think to the idea of translating the web site into

these languages? Anyone up to actually doing the translation?

 

Regards, Davie

**************************************************************

From: <jmcs

Date: 6/5/97 8:22AM

Subject: Re: Translators required for German, French and Spanish

 

Hi everybody,

 

As far as I know (feel free to correct me if Iÿm wrong) Iÿm the only Spanish

member of the list, therefore Iÿm the only choice possible to make the

translations. Besides, this is my last year at the University and I have to

prove if these 5 years have been worthwhile!

 

So, when/where do I start?

 

 

Take care.

 

 

Sandra.

 

**************************************************************

From: Todd

Date: 6/5/97 8:28AM

Subject: Re: Your support is working...

 

Way to go Davie! You are the man! 'The one from whom all energy flows'!

 

Todd

 

On Thu, 5 Jun 1997, David  wrote:

 

> I've just had a Feedback from Tracey Colona at Columbia Tristar in the USA,

who has just visited the web site.

>

> She is making contact so that I have a direct email link to her. I'll let you

know what she says about the sudden influx of BT suggestions.

>

> Regards, Davie

**************************************************************

From: J M

Date: 6/5/97 9:22AM

Subject: Re: Calling USA movie industry ppl

 

David  wrote:

>

> Scott would very much like to further his career in the USA. I have

>just discussed the Rosie O'Donnell idea and it's in line with his >current plans.

 

>I've just had a Feedback from Tracey Colona at Columbia Tristar in the

>USA, who has just visited the web site.

 

>She is making contact so that I have a direct email link to her. I'll

>let you know what she says about the sudden influx of BT suggestions.

 

 

You GO Davie! Your definately a man that makes things happen! Thanks a

lot!

Jason

 

 

--

jmr

**************************************************************

From: Jeff

Date: 6/5/97 10:14AM

Subject: Louise the Original Leah.

 

Wow, I didn't make the connection that Sophie Stanton, who plays Sandra's

friend Louise, was the Leah in the 1993 stage production. Learned that from

Davie's feedback. She's listed in the play script as such. Nice payback

for her groundbreaking work. The part just seems so Tameka, it would be

interesting to see someone else do it. (And not as Afro-British, which I

just assumed Leah was meant to be.)

 

Jeff

**************************************************************

From: Meinolf

Date: 6/5/97 12:36PM

Subject: Re: Translators required for German, French, and Spanish

 

Hallo Friends,

hallo Davie,

 

> What do you think to the idea of translating the web site into these

> languages? Anyone up to actually doing the translation?

I think this is a very good idear.

And I like to be part oft those who work at the translation into german.

 

Regards, Meinolf

 

--

**************************************************************

From: Charles

Date: 6/5/97 1:09PM

Subject: Question.

 

Hi all, I've been watching this list now for about a week or so and it's

amazing how in that time I've gone through over 200 messages. I love it!

 

Anyway, I have a question concerning a line in the movie. After Jamie

gave Ste the gay magazine he reads a bit from it about not being able to

contract the HIV virus from a "frotage." Okay, two things: first, what

was Jamie's response to Ste (I still can't understand it to well);

second, what is a "frotage?" I have an idea but want to make sure.

 

On the Ste vs. Jamie, count me as a Jamie fan only because I'm very much

like Ste is, even now, and just find Jamie's openness and freedom so

exciting.

 

Thanks Davie for providing us with THE most beautiful thing, contact.

 

Charles

**************************************************************

From: chakravorty

Date: 6/5/97 2:44PM

Subject: a project proposal

 

 

Hello all, I'm writing to you in my incarnation as academic and popular

culture afficiando (or afficianda as the case may be). It is obvious to me

that Beautiful Thing will shortly become a cult film classic in the US (as

soon as more people see it). Therefore I believe that it important to

begin documenting the experiences of the film's early fans. I actually

have two sorts of projects in mind. One would be on the level of "the

whole Beautiful Thing catalogue", this would probably be more difficult to

create (although not impossible) and would entail gaining access to

stills, copywrite hassles, etc. The other project, more modest, and

probably having less mass appeal, would be a book or academic paper about

the fans of Beautiful Thing, ( e.g., individual interpretations,

identification with characters, etc.) with some analyses of inter- and

intra group differences (Hell, if my friend could publish a book on

peoples dreams about Woody Allen, [ see, "I Dream of Woody" by Dee Burton]

which included comparisons of East Coast vs. West Coast dreamers, why not

a book on fans impressions of Beautiful Thing?). Too often media scholars

and film critics speculate on what viewers "thought of" or "got out of" a

film or television program, without ever collecting data from real viewers

(except perhaps their close personal friends or SOs, [ I base this

impression on my experiences at national conferences on popular culture

where I have listened to too many papers of this ilk).

 

So fellow BT enthusiasts, would anyone else be interested in collaborating

on either or both of these projects (as much or as little as desired) ? I

have a publisher in mind for the latter (if in book form), and know where

I would submit a paper for presentation. Please let me know.

 

OK everybody - back to your own lives.

Love,

Bonnie

 

 

**************************************************************

From: David

Date: 6/5/97 4:25PM

Subject: Re: a project proposal

 

Bonnie,

 

> So fellow BT enthusiasts, would anyone else be interested in collaborating

> on either or both of these projects (as much or as little as desired) ? I

> have a publisher in mind for the latter (if in book form), and know where

> I would submit a paper for presentation. Please let me know.

 

You're a late-comer so you won't know that both these ideas have been in the

works since Andi and I had them October 1996.

 

Nothing firm is yet underway, but the publisher of Jonathan's plays

(Methuen) have already agreed to take them on.

 

Three publications are planned; "Beautiful Thing: the birth",

"Beautiful Thing: making of a movie", and "Beautiful Thing: boys own stories"

 

Work will begin later this year on all three, with publication due in 1998.

 

Regards, Davie

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