Post by althea on Jun 16, 2010 2:04:05 GMT -5
This was on the front page of the Calcutta Telegraph on 21st February 2006. It's worth reading for the last but one paragraph 
Marc of a man
James Purefoy plays Marc Anthony; (below) Indira Verma who plays Niobe
It?s a Monday night date (at 11 pm, every week) that takes the viewer back to 52 B.C. Rome at the time when Julius Caesar completes his conquest of Gaul after eight years of war, and prepares to return home. The curtains have gone up on HBO?s $100 million serialised epic drama of love and betrayal, masters and slaves, husbands and wives.
One of the biggest productions in television history, Rome chronicles the turbulent developments that led to the fall of a Republic and the creation of an empire. The 12-episode first season has notched up two Golden Globe nominations. James Purefoy, as the redoubtable Marc Anthony, plays a key role in the unfolding drama with Indira Verma (Kama Sutra, Bride & Prejudice) playing the role of Niobe.
Beginning with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Purefoy eventually starred in King Lear and Macbeth. The actor, whose film credits include Vanity Fair, Resident Evil, A Knight?s Tale and Feast of July, speaks on Rome.
lOn his role: One of the difficulties of playing big historical figures is to try and chip away the layers of history that have attached themselves over the years to these people. You start with an idea and all these words rush into your head. Marc Anthony-? loyal, honest, brave, romantic, great friend of Caesar, that speech of his ? ?friends, countrymen, Romans?, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton... Then you chuck it all away, go back to the sources, do some reading? Then you start finding a kind of a man that you never believed could exist. You cannot make this stuff up.
lOn Marc Anthony: He is a great soldier, general, tactician. People always thought that he was a bit stupid. But then suddenly he would win the battle. He was the big battle winner at Fasilus. A great lover. That is another thing he was famous for. You know he had five-six wives here, dozens of children, hundreds of affairs. He was a great party animal. He liked getting drunk and vomited in the senate on a number of occasions on somebody else?s toga next to him. He would drive around Rome, dressed as Dionysus, in a chariot, pulled by six lions.
Caesar, on the other hand, was a great diplomat and believed in that kind of big-time politics. Even though Fascilus, Brutus and Cisero fought against him, he forgave them and brought them back. Marc Anthony was furious about it. He kept saying, they will do you in one day.
We have a scene in Episode 8 where Marc Anthony meets Cisero in the senate, forces him to his knees and says: ?If I ever catch you plotting against Caesar again, I will cut off these f****** pink hands and nail them to the senate door?, which is exactly what he did after they assassinated Caesar. He was a man whom you do not want to mess around with.
lOn the experience: As you can see I am really enjoying playing him (Marc Anthony). He is a grade A misogynistic bastard. He is arrogant and funny. I think he has got good lines and gags.
I get very passionate about things that I am involved with. So I did do a lot of research. There is something in it for everyone. Yes, there is a lot of sex. A lot of violence. It is quite soapy at times. The academics are just going to be shouting at each other in pubs in Oxford. I think that is the juicy thing about this series and why it is such a big hit in the States.
There is no similarity with me. I am shy and retiring and I never go out.
lOn his eight-year-old son: There is a whole bunch of stuff that he is not allowed to watch. In England we have a watershed. After 9 pm, you can show whatever you like. There is a lot of kick and fuss in the press. Oh, there is breasts on 10 minutes after the watershed. That is what the watershed is there for. But yes, there are lots of things that my son has seen ? Knights Tale, George and the Dragon. There are lots of films that I have done specifically for him. Loves all that stuff. Knights, armour, dragons, swords?.
.......................................................................................................
Marc of a man
James Purefoy plays Marc Anthony; (below) Indira Verma who plays Niobe
It?s a Monday night date (at 11 pm, every week) that takes the viewer back to 52 B.C. Rome at the time when Julius Caesar completes his conquest of Gaul after eight years of war, and prepares to return home. The curtains have gone up on HBO?s $100 million serialised epic drama of love and betrayal, masters and slaves, husbands and wives.
One of the biggest productions in television history, Rome chronicles the turbulent developments that led to the fall of a Republic and the creation of an empire. The 12-episode first season has notched up two Golden Globe nominations. James Purefoy, as the redoubtable Marc Anthony, plays a key role in the unfolding drama with Indira Verma (Kama Sutra, Bride & Prejudice) playing the role of Niobe.
Beginning with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Purefoy eventually starred in King Lear and Macbeth. The actor, whose film credits include Vanity Fair, Resident Evil, A Knight?s Tale and Feast of July, speaks on Rome.
lOn his role: One of the difficulties of playing big historical figures is to try and chip away the layers of history that have attached themselves over the years to these people. You start with an idea and all these words rush into your head. Marc Anthony-? loyal, honest, brave, romantic, great friend of Caesar, that speech of his ? ?friends, countrymen, Romans?, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton... Then you chuck it all away, go back to the sources, do some reading? Then you start finding a kind of a man that you never believed could exist. You cannot make this stuff up.
lOn Marc Anthony: He is a great soldier, general, tactician. People always thought that he was a bit stupid. But then suddenly he would win the battle. He was the big battle winner at Fasilus. A great lover. That is another thing he was famous for. You know he had five-six wives here, dozens of children, hundreds of affairs. He was a great party animal. He liked getting drunk and vomited in the senate on a number of occasions on somebody else?s toga next to him. He would drive around Rome, dressed as Dionysus, in a chariot, pulled by six lions.
Caesar, on the other hand, was a great diplomat and believed in that kind of big-time politics. Even though Fascilus, Brutus and Cisero fought against him, he forgave them and brought them back. Marc Anthony was furious about it. He kept saying, they will do you in one day.
We have a scene in Episode 8 where Marc Anthony meets Cisero in the senate, forces him to his knees and says: ?If I ever catch you plotting against Caesar again, I will cut off these f****** pink hands and nail them to the senate door?, which is exactly what he did after they assassinated Caesar. He was a man whom you do not want to mess around with.
lOn the experience: As you can see I am really enjoying playing him (Marc Anthony). He is a grade A misogynistic bastard. He is arrogant and funny. I think he has got good lines and gags.
I get very passionate about things that I am involved with. So I did do a lot of research. There is something in it for everyone. Yes, there is a lot of sex. A lot of violence. It is quite soapy at times. The academics are just going to be shouting at each other in pubs in Oxford. I think that is the juicy thing about this series and why it is such a big hit in the States.
There is no similarity with me. I am shy and retiring and I never go out.
lOn his eight-year-old son: There is a whole bunch of stuff that he is not allowed to watch. In England we have a watershed. After 9 pm, you can show whatever you like. There is a lot of kick and fuss in the press. Oh, there is breasts on 10 minutes after the watershed. That is what the watershed is there for. But yes, there are lots of things that my son has seen ? Knights Tale, George and the Dragon. There are lots of films that I have done specifically for him. Loves all that stuff. Knights, armour, dragons, swords?.
.......................................................................................................
don't believe it, you had a chastity moment 
