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Elle
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
'The Agency' Star Saura Lightfoot-Leon Is Ready to Show Danny 'In a Very Different Light'
Justin French Jacket, skirt, Mugler. Earrings, Shay Jewelry. Saura Lightfoot-Leon is not a professional dancer—she has, in fact, made a conscious effort not to become a professional dancer—but she knows she moves like one. She is the daughter of Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, both dancers and choreographers in the Netherlands, where she spent the bulk of her childhood in the theater. 'They're very outward, bravely performative people, and they express deeply,' Lightfoot-Leon says of the artists who raised her. 'That's something I've been told by fellow castmates: There's an openness to me.' By the time a teenage Lightfoot-Leon started considering her own aspirations, dance didn't factor into the equation. 'I saw so much of it, you have to understand,' she explains. 'It felt like I'd already lived that life, in a way.' Like most teenagers, she wanted 'to grow up and make myself independent,' and to operate in a circle 'that didn't feel part of my parents' world.' When she was 14, an English teacher recognized Lightfoot-Leon's emotional intelligence within her creative writing, and recommended she try acting. That suggestion spurred her to start researching where she might train, and when multiple people pointed her toward London, her father took her to West End performances on her birthday each year, until she was old enough to leave home. Justin French Turtleneck, culottes, belt, boots, Saint Laurent. Earrings, Van Cleef & Arpels. Soon enough, London became her stomping ground. After graduating with an acting degree from the capital's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2020, Lightfoot-Leon made her television debut in the BBC One series Life After Life , then scored a lead actress role in the 2023 film Hoard , for which she won a Special Jury Mention at the Venice International Film Festival and was later nominated for two British Independent Film Awards. Her breakthrough secured, she spent 2024 appearing in the Apple TV+ drama Masters of the Air , the Netflix western American Primeval , and the Paramount+ spy saga The Agency , which is now filming its second season. Lightfoot-Leon, now 27, doesn't spend as much time in hallowed dance studios as she once did. But neither is she as inclined to ignore dance's impact in her life. She admits her instinct has been to 'hide away something precious that actually influences everything I do,' in an attempt to forge her own distinct path. But 'the moment I really started finding myself in the characters I was playing, the more I struggled to push away that side of me,' she says. 'My past is me, and I don't try to separate that from my work anymore. It lives within me. It gives me a richer body language.' 'My past is me, and I don't try to separate that from my work anymore. It lives within me.' On the set of Hoard , Lightfoot-Leon realized that though she might not want to spend her career in pointe shoes, she did want to spend it in the presence of a company. Acting alongside Joseph Quinn of Stranger Things and Hayley Squires of I, Daniel Blake , and being led by director Luna Carmoon, Lightfoot-Leon recognized a similar feeling: 'an element of the 'company' feel that I continue to look for in my work.' Acting in film and television doesn't always allow her the time to develop the same type of intimate relationships often found in the theater, but Lightfoot-Leon says that The Agency has not only drawn her into a community, with talents like Michael Fassbender and Jeffrey Wright—it's also blessed her with insight into her own mind. As the CIA field officer Danny Morata in the spy thriller series, Lightfoot-Leon plays 'a professional chameleon, who's learning how to access different parts of herself and choosing what she shows and when to show it.' The actress has no trouble drawing parallels to her own experience. 'Where that line is drawn is not only part of a covert agent's life, but also an actor's life. It's like, 'Where does the me who's acting in these scenes stop and the character begin?' So that's fascinating.' (She teases that season 2 will depict Danny 'in a very different light. Season 1 was sowing the seeds. This season is a whole other beast, and it gets scary. She gets real. That's all I'm going to say.') Justin French Turtleneck, culottes, belt, boots, Saint Laurent. Earrings, Van Cleef & Arpels. Like any good artist with a background in movement, Lightfoot-Leon says she judges her potential projects based on the reactions a script evokes in her body. Does it make her laugh? Tense up? Daydream? If she's 'sucked in,' she's sold. 'Art is a language in itself,' she says. 'It's this feeling that's not in my head; it's somewhere in my heart, somewhere in my gut. It involves different parts of your brain and your body and your intuition, and it's been carried across centuries and through different generations of people. 'What I feel it brings us is hope,' she concludes. 'It reminds people of something that, maybe, they've forgotten.' Hair by Sami Knight for Rehab; makeup by Alexandra French at Forward Artists; manicure by Jolene Brodeur at The Wall Group; produced by Anthony Federici at Petty Cash Production; photographed at Malibu Creek Ranch. A version of this story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of ELLE. Related Stories
Irish Examiner
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Cork Don Wycherley on playing Paddy Armstrong of the Guildford Four
Cork actor Don Wycherley can remember clearly where he was on the day that the Guildford Four were released from prison having been wrongfully convicted in 1975 at London's Old Bailey, of bombings carried out by the IRA. Wycherley, who is touring a one-man show on one of the four, Paddy Armstrong, was in a pub near St Patrick's Teacher Training College in Drumcondra celebrating his graduation from there with friends on October 19, 1989. 'On comes the telly with the news that the Guildford Four were getting out after fifteen years incarceration,' says Wycherley. Little did he know that he would take on the role of Armstrong rather than work full-time as a teacher. The play, Paddy: The Life & Times of Paddy Armstrong, was written by writer and documentary maker Mary-Elaine Tynan, Wycherley, and Fair City writer, Niamh Gleeson. (Tynan co-authored Armstrong's bestselling memoir, Life After Life.) It took a while to convince Wycherley to become involved in the one-man show. 'Mary-Elaine gave me the book to read. It was amazing, a roller coaster of a man's life. I used to see Paddy around Clontarf where he lives with his wife Caroline. [The couple have two children.] I live nearby. Paddy Armstrong of the Guildford Four. "I said that the book is amazing but the biggest problem I'd have doing a one-man show was the question as to why I'd be talking to an audience. I was kicking the can down the road. I thought the first draft of the play was good but it was too much like a summary of the book.' Wycherley was asked if he'd like to meet Armstrong. That sealed the deal regarding his involvement in the play. 'I first met Paddy in 2023. He's a very relaxed, funny, charismatic individual. I started calling to him on Saturday mornings. It wasn't difficult to get the stories out of Paddy. When he went a little dark, his default setting was to be humorous and to kind of evade the difficult questions. "It was his sense of humour that helped inform the play in many ways. "If we had just gone with the tough stuff that happened and the awful way his life went, people would get no relief. I don't think there would be as many people coming to the play. "What people have been saying is that it's an uplifting piece with huge highs and lows. Laughter is very much there. I'm glad we got to the essence of him. He is always looking for the gag. That's how I think he survived his time in prison. "There's only two of the four left, Paddy and Paul Hill. Paddy is certainly not bitter in terms of English people, and the way people reacted to what was being said by the police who concocted the evidence.' Wycherley (57), who is originally from Skibbereen, was first put on the stage by one of the teaching brothers at St Fachtna's De La Salle College. 'It was for a Chah and Miah skit. I remember fizzing up Coke to make it look like Guinness. I was supposed to be having a pint, talking about the topics of the day. I remember the clapping at the end of it and I thought that was interesting.' It was while teaching in another De La Salle school in Finglas that Wycherley was asked by the principal to put on a Christmas show. 'I really enjoyed that. It brought me back to the sense of joy I got from being on stage. I did a course in acting at weekends but I didn't like it because it was killing my social life.' However, when Wycherley saw that the Gaiety School of Acting was offering a full-time one year course in acting, he successfully auditioned for it. 'It was an itch I wanted to scratch. The principal said to me to go for it and that the job would be there if I wanted it after the year.' After starring in a play, Away Alone, at the Peacock Theatre, directed by Fionnuala Flanagan, the then artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, Garry Hynes, offered Wycherley and three other actors full time contracts. The die was cast and Wycherley has had a successful acting career, interspersed with subbing work as a teacher during lean times. "It worked out nicely for me. That said, other actors would be chasing Hollywood. At my age, I'm just chasing a good script,' says this actor, writer and sometime teacher. Paddy: The Life & Times of Paddy Armstrong is at the Everyman on May 30-31. See
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Xia Zhiyuan welcomes his first baby
7 May - Xia Zhiyuan recently announced that he has actually welcomed his first child. Sharing the news on Weibo with a compilation of photos and videos of his baby, he wrote, "You are the future of our little family, and also the future of our great nation." "I truly feel like an old man now," he added. The actor, known for dramas like "Life After Life", "Addicted to Love" and "The Shadow", tied the knot in October 2024 to his non-showbiz wife. He wrote, "We saw the future - it came to us. We offered him a piece of time, a small, solid fragment of time. Time that bore beautiful patterns, soft to the touch like shallow sea mud. He covered himself with this time, and then took our hands - lifting us into the bliss of the universe." (Photo Source: SINA)
The Independent
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Queen Camilla celebrates ‘magic of storytelling' in star-studded launch of new national reading medal
Austen and aliens might not be the most obvious literary line-up – but they were all present, in one way or another, as Queen Camilla launched a new national honour to celebrate the unsung heroes of reading. From Sense and Sensibility to Alien actor Sigourney Weaver, storytelling took centre stage at Clarence House on Tuesday evening, as the Queen's Reading Room marked its fourth anniversary with the unveiling of its most ambitious project yet: a medal to spotlight the community champions keeping the joy of books alive – one borrowed paperback, library visit or local book club at a time. Weaver, Dame Joanna Lumley, Helena Bonham Carter, Adjoa Andoh, Richard E Grant and Jonathan Dimbleby, were all in attendance at the star-studded event, to show their support for the initiative. Authors including The Secret History 's Donna Tartt, Alex Rider creator Anthony Horowitz, Life After Life author Kate Atkinson, crime writer Peter James, and Raven Black author Ann Cleeves, were also present. Welcoming guests at the reception, the Queen entered with her husband King Charles as she celebrated the 'magic of storytelling'. She said the act of reading is not a solitary affair but that its impact 'lies in its ability to make a community of anyone who loves to read and who is compelled to write.' She added: 'Through literature, we experience life through another's eyes, we are comforted, strengthened. We laugh, we cry, we travel to different lands, and we escape the real world. 'In short, books, and those who create them, make life better, much better – so thank you. We see firsthand the impact stories have on how we understand and articulate the world both as we find it, and as we dream it to be.' The Reading Room reaches 12 million people across 173 countries through its reading advocacy which includes a podcast, research initiatives, and an annual literary festival drawing tens of thousands of visitors. Honouring the UK's 'reading heroes', the Medal hopes to 'recognise those individuals championing books and storytelling in their communities'. Nominees will include people who have set up community reading groups, improved access to local libraries, donated books to those in need, or organised local literary festivals. Applications for the accolade will open on 1 April, with the first award winners to be announced in March 2026. 'We passionately believe that books are for everyone, and we want to try and get as many people engaged in reading whether its a beach read or the latest title, it really doesn't matter, it's about engaging in stories,' CEO Vicky Perrin told The Independent. Sharing her support for the Medal, Alien actor Weaver told The Independent: 'I can't imagine my life without books. What the Queen has done started so small, but it's taken off because people need books now more than ever.' Bridgerton actor Andoh, who also works closely with the King's Trust and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature said: 'We are losing access to libraries and the Queen has created a great community encouraging reading across the world.' Margolyes echoed the other stars saying that the source of hatred and division was a lack of empathy and reading books could be a much-needed salve. 'Reading allows us to inhabit another world, and see things through other people's eyes,' she said. There was also a display marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, featuring rare items from Austen's House and the Royal Collection Trust. The Queen said her current Reading Room recommendation was Sense And Sensibility, Austen's first, anonymously published novel.
