In a new interview with Harpers Bazaar, Freddie Stroma talks about his television show UnReal, upcoming film Time After Time and what it was like guest starring in Game of Thrones. Freddie is best known to Potter fans for playing Gryffindor Cormac McLaggen in the later films. Some highlights from the interview can be read below:
What can you tell me about your return to UnReal this season? Umm—oh, I don’t know! What can I say that Lifetime won’t get annoyed at me for saying? Well, Adam’s there to mix things up with Rachel and to make her second guess what she’s got going on with Coleman.
How would you say your career has changed since being on UnReal?Since UnReal I did the guest star on Game of Thrones and then I did 13 Hours, which were both very fun jobs, and now I’m doing Time After Time. A lot of people seemed to enjoy UnReal a lot. In a lot of conversations afterwards, whether it would be producers or casting directors, people were big fans of that show. That’s been pretty cool. It’s definitely been a positive influence.
Tell me about Time After Time. Were you a fan of H.G. Wells before you learned you’d be playing him? I wasn’t very familiar with H.G. Wells’s work. I’ve now read The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau and I’m currently reading The Invisible Man. Because the show is based off the book Time After Time and the film, it’s kind of our take on H.G Wells, so whether it’s an accurate depiction of him, I’m not sure, but we’re definitely running with the theme from the book and film of his wide-eyed view on the world and his hope for humanity and that we will eventually live in some form of utopia.
What else are you working on right now?I’m going to be going off to San Diego for Comic-Con for Time After Time and we’re doing a panel there which is gonna be very fun. I’ve never done Comic-Con so that’s going to be thrilling, I’m sure. I can’t wait to check it out and see all the mayhem. After that, I’ll be going straight into pre-production and getting ready to shoot the rest of Time After Time. I’ve now moved to New York because that’s where we’ll be filming and Johanna’s going to be filming Season 2 of Quantico as well so we’re now New York-based for a while.
When asked about Game of Thrones he teased a possible return as Dickon Tarley, Samwell Tarley’s younger brother:
Switching gears from UnReal to Game of Thrones, tell me about guest-starring this season. You played Dickon Tarly, Sam’s younger brother. It was really fun! We were in Girona, which is just outside of Barcelona. It was a very experienced crew who were very efficient. The cast was really lovely and I got to spend a week in Spain. I’m a big fan of the show and I’d watched all the episodes that had already aired. Just getting to be a part of it was very cool. It’s still kind of strange to sit there and be a part of it.
Do you know if you’ll be returning? We don’t know yet! Could be or could not be [laughs].
At the least the opportunity is still there, unlike so many who have met their demise on the show. Yeah, I haven’t yet! They didn’t introduce me and kill me off in the same season, so I’ve got that going for me.
To celebrate the publishing of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Rehearsal Edition Script, Books-A-Million and 2nd & Charles are hosting a Harry Potter Midnight Release Party on Saturday, July 30 at all store locations! Festivities begin at 2 p.m. and include Harry Potter trivia contests, Marauder’s Map scavenger hunts, wand crafts and more before the official countdown event starts at 9 p.m. with Sorting Hat ceremonies, costume contests and other Potter-themed activities.
The Harry Potter Midnight Release Party at Books-A-Million and 2nd & Charles is free to attend and open to the public. Only customers who have secured a pre-order voucher for “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will have first access to their copy at midnight. Vouchers will be available during the countdown event in Books-A-Million and 2nd & Charles stores. More from the press release:
“With an extensive community of multi-generation followers since the series’ start in 1998, the ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ release is undoubtedly the biggest book launch of the year,” said Sandra Wilson, Senior Book Buyer and Vice President of Merchandising at Books-A-Million. “We’re looking forward to celebrating the monumental debut with devoted fans of all ages, and to once again revel in the literary magic of Harry Potter!”
Fans who are eager to get their hands on the anticipated eighth installment can reserve a copy by purchasing a pre-order voucher at any Books-A-Million or 2nd & Charles store location now through July 30 or online at www.booksamillion.com for home delivery. 2nd & Charles customers who purchase a voucher before July 31 will also receive a $10 reward card for 2nd & Charles.
Starting at 2 p.m. on July 30, shoppers can take part in magical festivities throughout the day in honor of the epic book release, including Harry Potter-themed story time activities, coloring stations, trivia contests, Marauder’s Map scavenger hunts and wand crafts. The official countdown party will begin at 9 p.m., with various interactive activity stations to enjoy leading up to the midnight release of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” The event will feature Sorting Hat ceremonies and costume contests, so fans are encouraged to don their best Hogwarts robes with brooms and wands in tow. Attendees will even receive an exclusive swag bag filled with spellbinding goodies.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which is currently in previews, will premiere in London’s West End at the Palace Theatre on July 30th. If you want to buy tickets visit the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child website. You can also see detailed interactive seat plan for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child here at SeatPlan.
As a part of an ongoing summer promotion, Bloomsbury is launching a nationwide competition supported with in-store promotion from WHSmith and advertorials in First News. The competition opens on Friday 1st July and closes on Saturday 3rd September 2016. Details of how to enter can be found at: harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/WizardingWorldCompetition
One overall winner will receive a family ticket to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort, plus the winner will also receive a hardback box set of the Harry Potter books, a copy of the Deluxe Illustrated Slipcase Edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, a Harry Potter tote bag and Harry Potter bunting. Full prize details are as follows:
5-night trip
Round trip air transportation to Orlando, Florida
Admission to both Universal Studios Florida™ and Universal’s Islands of Adventure™ theme parks
Accommodation on-site at Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, opening this summer
Ground transportation between airport and hotel in Orlando
Tickets to Blue Man Group
Seven Runners-up will each receive a paperback box set of the Harry Potter books, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Illustrated Edition, a Harry Potter tote bag and Harry Potter bunting.
The competition opens on Friday 1 July and closes on Saturday 3 September 2016. To enter, simply fill out the form and answer the question below.
Please note this competition is only open to UK residents
Lumos and the producers of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have released more tickets to the gala performance of the play, which will be held on Sunday September 18th, in an online auction to benefit Lumos. J.K. Rowling will attend and introduce the play at the gala which will show Part One and Two consecutively. The tickets are available through the online auction website Givergy with opening bids starting at £100 for two tickets for both Part One and Part Two of the play.
Tickets are combined with special prizes and collectable items, including signed copies of the script book and VIP tickets to Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.
Thanks to the generosity of the play’s producers and Lumos’ 100% Pledge, every penny donated and raised in the auction will go directly to Lumos’ Families Not Orphanages Fund that will help children in the countries where Lumos works to leave orphanages and return to a family life. Donations do not go towards administration, fundraising or overhead costs.
The gala performance of the play is one of a series of exciting events for Lumos this Autumn in the We Are Lumos Worldwide campaign aimed at enhancing awareness of the harm caused to children placed in orphanages and raising funds for Lumos’ Families Not Orphanages Fund. Other events include an advance screening of the new film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in New York City on 12 November, with a chance to see J.K. Rowling in conversation with the film’s main star and Academy Award-winner Eddie Redmayne.
An estimated eight million children around the world live in orphanages and institutions, despite 80% having at least one living parent that could care for them with some support.
A new, two minute film, showing how Lumos helps individual families and children, has also been released today. It tells the story of Lumos’ work to reunite one mother with her baby, who had been sent to an institution as soon he was born, due to a disability diagnosis at birth – just one of the 2,376 children supported by the organisation in the last year to leave orphanages.
Over the past decade, Lumos has helped thousands of other children – from infants to older children – return to family life in Central and Eastern Europe and more recently in Haiti. Now, in its second decade, Lumos is expanding its work in Latin America and the Caribbean, and other regions around the world with the aim to end institutionalisation of children globally by 2050.
While promoting his new film The Legend of Tarzan, director David Yates discussed the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them trilogy. He confirmed that J.K. Rowling has already written the second screenplay and has ideas for the third!
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits theaters on November 18th 2016. Fans in the New York City area can also buy tickets to watch the film on November 12th at Carnegie Hall with an intro by Jo, Eddie Redmayne and more of the cast.
Emma Watson’s political thriller Colonia – set against the backdrop of the Pinochet coup – will be available to rent starting today, Friday 1st July. A streaming copy of the film, special interviews with the cast and behind-the-scenes extras will be available on We Are Colony.
Inspired by true events, Colonia tells the story of Lena and Daniel, a young couple, who become entangled in the Chilean military coup of 1973. Daniel is abducted by Pinochet’s secret police and Lena tracks him to a sealed off area in the South of the country, called Colonia Dignidad.
The Colonia presents itself as a charitable mission run by lay preacher Paul Scha?fer but, in fact, is a place nobody ever escaped from. Lena decides to join the cult in order to find Daniel.
Colonia is a marriage of an unforgettable love story and political thriller set during one of the Cold War’s darkest chapters.
A trailer for the film may be watched below and visit We Are Colony to rent the film bundle.