Neil Norman in New York

10 April 2012

Our film and showbiz columnist has been living it up in New York this week, snouting out all the insider gossip from the movie industry. Here he spills the bears on the circuit and tells us what Rachel Weisz, Toby Stephens and Marisa Tomei have been up to.

I'm perfect to play toff spy Philby

Toby Stephens was saying a last goodbye to New York this week as he and his New Zealand-born actress wife Anna-Louise Plowman headed back to Britain - and the fanfare surrounding his controversial new series, Cambridge Spies.

The couple moved here in 1999 when, as Stephens freely admits, his career at home had hit a lull.

"It was the time of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," he recalls. "It brought a backlash against the Merchant/Ivory thing, and because I was seen as a toff, I wasn't getting anything. I was depressed at home and you can reinvent yourself here." Having raised his film profile with his role as the villain in the Bond movie, Die Another Day, Stephens is back on a roll, playing Kim Philby in Cambridge Spies.

"The reaction to it is slightly hysterical," he says.

He denies that the series portrays traitors Philby, Burgess, Blunt and Maclean as misunderstood heroes.

"I never saw Philby as an heroic figure," protests Stephens. "I saw him as an idealist, a naive idealist. These guys came from an intellectual point of view, but they had no idea of the reality of the proletariat."

Researching the role was difficult, says Stephens, because very little is known about Philby. Much of the information came from former members of MI6, who were naturally biased.

"The one thing I discovered was that they all drank an incredible amount," says Stephens. "But no matter how drunk Philby got he never gave anything away. The others were more of a liability."

As a former heavy drinker himself (he knocked it on the head when he got married), Stephens understands the lure of the bottle. The son of Maggie Smith and the late Robert Stephens - himself a notorious alcoholic - also discovered another connection with Philby, albeit an unlikely one.

"The great irony is that I was sent to Aldro, the same prep school as Philby," he laughs. "His name has been erased from the records. They are very embarrassed about it."

So good he named it twice

I was lucky enough to be the only journalist invited to the glitzy investors' dinner hosted by Soho House New York, the new offshoot of Nick Jones's empire which includes Soho House and Babington House in Somerset.

At a cost of $16.5 million Jones has transformed the former meatpacking warehouse on the edge of Greenwich Village and Chelsea into a cool private members' club, bringing what can only be described as a large slice of London bohemian chic to the Big Apple. The interiors include some quite extraordinary furnishings assembled by Ilsa Crawford, the one-time British Elle Deco editor.

Investors at the bash included Julianne Moore, her namesake Demi and Charlize Theron. Founder members are Lou Reed, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Bowie and Nicole Kidman. And don't worry, although the initial members' list closed at 700, I'm informed it is to be revised in a couple of months and plans are also afoot for a similar venture in LA.

Rachel spills the beans

The drop-dead gorgeous Rachel Weisz turned up at the Soho House dinner on the arm of boyfriend Darren Aronofsky, the New York film-maker. She was keen to let Aronofsky know that it was me who had broken the news about their relationship.
Having had a very amicable conversation with me about New Orleans whence he had just returned from a bachelor party during the Jazz Festival, he went a bit moody when Weisz let the cat out of the bag.

"So you’re the one," he growled. But he was not entirely humourless about it — and the doctor tells me the stitches can come out tomorrow.

Among the Brit guests at the Soho House New York party this week was Alan Cumming, trying to avoid the attentions of Marisa Tomei, star of In the Bedroom. After she left, the mischievous Cumming told me that during his run in Cabaret on Broadway she had come backstage after the show. "I had a cup of soup in my hand and she fell to her knees and grabbed me round the knees. She said, 'Where is the paper I've got to sign so I can f*** you?'" That wasn't the worst of it. "She made me spill my soup," he wailed.

Also at Soho House New York was New Dad on the Block, Stephen Daldry, who is besotted with his 14-day-old daughter. Having spent much of the evening exchanging new-baby stories with Frances McDormand he sat on the sofa next to me. When I asked him what his next project was, he grinned: "I don't want to do anything, actually. I'm thinking of giving up work altogether. I just want to stay home with the family." I'd like to think he was joking.

Conspicously absent from the bash was Sam Mendes, whose controversial production of Gypsy opens on Broadway tonight. With The New York Times scrutinising his every move on the show in an unsympathetic manner, Mendes is keeping a low profile, as is his inamorata, Kate Winslet. "I guarantee you will not get the Sam and Kate shot," his publicist told me sternly. Er, is there something we should know?

I cornered Ethan Coen, brother of Joel, at the party to ask why their new film, which stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, was not appearing at Cannes. "It has been delayed because we owe it to ourselves to shoot a couple of extra scenes," he said ruefully. "They both involve Catherine and we have to wait until she recovers from having her baby." Their next project is a remake of The Ladykillers. "You'll be mortified," he said. "It is updated, set in Mississippi and the old lady has been changed to a black Baptist.

"Every Brit wants to know why anyone should remake a classic movie. All I can say is, why not?"

MORE ABOUT

Actors And Actresses

Cambridge

Cambridgeshire

Espionage And Intelligence

New York State

New Zealand

Neil Norman in New York

Read More