Jeremy Irons invites you to join Danny Boyle and thousands of people on 11 November to mark one hundred years since Armistice and the end of the First World War. Gather on beaches across the UK & Ireland to say a personal thank you & goodbye as part of Pages of the Sea. Who will you say goodbye to? www.pagesofthesea.org.uk
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Jeremy Irons reads Leonard Bernstein’s poem “Finalizing the Deal, I Believe You Call It”, a negotiation with a gender-changing God, penned six months before his death.
In May 1990, near the end of his storied life, Leonard Bernstein drafted “Finalizing the Deal, I Believe You Call It,” a poem bargaining with God, reminiscent of his Symphony No. 3, “Kaddish.”
Click on the player below to listen to Jeremy reading the poem:
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Leonard Bernstein, composer and conductor, rehearses at Carnegie Hall in 1959 in New York City. (Photo by David Attie/Getty Images)
I made a deal with God.
God, she was tough to deal with.
Dealt me a tempting clause —
Then a sharp zap to the kidney.
It wasn’t a real deal,
Really, just a sort of
Gentleperson’ s Agreement.
We almost shook on it;
The snag was Time, time
Not just to live it out
To the maximum, only to write
That one Important Piece.
“How do you know it will be
That important?” she asked.
“I’ll know, all right, but there’ll be
No way to prove it. Not in a court
Of law, especially our kind
Of court. No witnesses.”
“Bull****,” she murmured. “It’s the same
Old thing again: Afraid
To Die, afraid to try
The consequences of Not-to-Be.”
“Wrong,” I said. “Afraid
Died in my vocabulary
Long ago — except of hurting
Someone I love, and then
Of not writing my Piece
Before my Not-to-Be.”
Long discussion; not to bore you
With it: We swapped equations,
We weighed the torts and liens.
Then she became suddenly tender,
At the same time changing gender.
“I offer the Answer to the Unanswered Question
In trade for cancer, or lethal indigestion.”
I thought to myself: unfair bargaining.
Much more painful to know the Answer
Than any form of mortal cancer.
“But the Cosmos,” she wheedled,
“The ultimate macro-atom.”
”No deal, thank you, madam.”
Changing gender, she played her ace
In the hole. The biggest. “Beginninglessness.”
That did it. I signed on.
We shook on it.
I’m still shaking.
~LB
Revised Prague
May 29, 1990
How do we measure a musician’s merit? How do we make peace with not knowing our legacy?
In Finalizing the Deal, Bernstein craves a God-like understanding (“conception of the inconceivable”) he calls “beginninglessness” — a concept he coined two years earlier in “Beauty and Truth Revisited” (“For want of a clearer / Conception of the inconceivable, / Beginninglessness, the lineage of a star, / The key, the Ultimate Creative Mind, / He calls it God…”).
As he and God argue over the importance of his “one Important Piece” and how it will be judged (*warning: Bernstein’s God swears), Bernstein says he no longer fears death (“Afraid / died in my vocabulary / Long ago”) — only personal and professional regret (“hurting Someone I love” and “not writing my Piece / Before my Not-to-Be”).
Bernstein — who suffered from cancer and the side of effects of treatments, and often advocated against nuclear war — rejects two offers from God (the “answer to the Unanswered Question” and understanding “the ultimate macro-atom”).
This time, “beginninglessness,” is offered; Bernstein accepts, sealing his fate, if not calming his soul.
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Audio of Jeremy Irons recorded for The Bernstein Experience on Classical.org/WGBH Educational Foundation by Mark Travis, Associate Director of Media, Production, for the New York Philharmonic. Special thanks to Jeremy Irons, Mark Travis, Jamie Bernstein, author of Famous Father Girl; and Barbara Haws, archivist of the New York Philharmonic Archives.
Leonard Bernstein’s poem used by permission of The Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc. All rights reserved.
[Scroll Down for Photos]
Justice League and Die Hard star Jeremy Irons heads to Isle of Wight for school reunion
STAR of Die Hard with a Vengeance, Justice League and Batman vs Superman, actor and Island born Jeremy Irons met with old school friends at the first ever reunion for former pupils from Little Appley Prep School.
One of the Island’s three Oscar winners and originally from Cowes, Mr Irons attended the event with his dog, Smudge, at the old school site, now Appley Manor Hotel, where 54 ex-students spent the afternoon reminiscing over old photographs and memorabilia.
Among the gathering was also Anthony Mitcheson, whose father was joint headmaster at the school, Robert Eldridge, son of Jim Eldridge at Eldridge Solicitors, and Colin Boswell who owns The Garlic Farm.
Attendees said it was fitting the reunion it was held at the old school site and agreed to another gathering in a couple of years time.
Jeremy Irons with the staff at Appley Manor Hotel. Photo by Jessica Dobbs photography.
Jeremy Irons – photo by Jessica Dobbs Photography
The 1960 school photo from Little Appley School. Jeremy Irons is circled.
Jeremy Irons with Colin Boswell, owner of The Garlic Farm. Photo by Jessica Dobbs photography.
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) hosted a special event at the BAM Harvey Theater Thursday evening to honor the institution’s longtime Executive Producer, Joseph V. Melillo, who will be stepping down from his post at the end of the year.
Several of the artists whose careers Melillo fostered over the years paid tribute to him on Thursday night. Robert Wilson created For Joe A Man Who, a collection of vignettes performed by Lucinda Childs, Isabelle Huppert, Jeremy Irons, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nonhlanhla Kheswa, Isabella Rossellini, Carl Hancock Rux, John Turturro, and Wilson himself.
Photo by Richard Termine
Photo by Richard Termine
Photo via Carl Hancock Rux
Photo via Nonhlanhla Kheswa
Jeremy Irons reads the Prologue by David Herd to Refugee Tales: Volume I.
The UK is the only country in Europe that detains people indefinitely. To call for a change in the law, Refugee Tales shares the stories of those who have experienced detention. Each day for 28 days, leading up to the start of a parliament, a tale will be released online. The project calls for an immediate time limit to immigration detention (28 Days).
Refugee Tales on Instagram @refugeetales
Refugee Tales on Twitter @refugeetales
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Jeremy Irons is a participant in Refugee Tales’ 28 Tales for 28 Days. The campaign is a call to action to UK politicians to put an end to indefinite detention, by instituting a time limit of 28 days.
As a call for change, Refugee Tales and Comma Press are launching a series of videos, beginning on 11th September 2018 with a video featuring Jeremy Irons. The video will go live at 6:30am UK time.
Visit the 28 Tales for 28 Days YouTube Channel
Visit the 28 for 28 Website
Visit the Comma Press Website and follow them on Twitter and Instagram @CommaPress
Visit the Refugee Tales Website and follow them on Twitter and Instagram @RefugeeTales
Photo via Oliver Marshall – Jeremy and Smudge filming for #28for28
Photo via Oliver Marshall – Ricardo Vilela of Sagitta Media filming Jeremy for #28for28
Press Release via Comma Press
Press Release via Comma Press
Click on the player below to hear actor Jeremy Irons read “Life is Juicy,” by Leonard Bernstein:
Audio of Jeremy Irons recorded by Mark Travis, engineer, New York Philharmonic. Special thanks to Jamie Bernstein, author of Famous Father Girl, and Barbara Haws, the New York Philharmonic archivist.
Photo via Mark Travis
(Written in a cottage
on the mucky shore of
Lake Mah-kee-nak
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
2 July 1947)
Life begins in the waters—
Not the deep, but the borders of land:
The stagnants that nourish the sterile earth
Like a juicy gland.
Life is the seed of the marriage
Of liquid and solid events.
In the coves, in the swamps, in mysterious pools,
Our heartaches commence.
Life is the pulp and the slime,
The marshmallow bellies of frogs,
Their thyroided eyes, their eggjellies caught
On the rotting logs.
Life is the algae, the roe;
The army of maggoty breeds
Devouring the corpse of a very old perch
Adrift in the weeds.
Life is the plasm, the cells,
The fat symbiotics in pairs;
The ankledeep fungoids which darkly provide
The crawfish with lairs.
Life is the scaly and scummy,
The poisonous green without breath;
The marinal maze whose only solution
Is ultimate death.
For Death is the crisp and the clean,
The fine oxidation, the rust,
The spermless, the painless, the classic, the lean,
The dry, dry dust.
Leonard Bernstein photo by Paul de Hueck courtesy of the Leonard Bernstein Office
Classical.org will release several approximately 20 poems by the legendary musician including some never before seen Bernstein poems. A Bernstein poem read by actress Laila Robbins will be released next week.
WGBH launched The Bernstein Experience on Classical.org this year as part of a year-long celebration of the music, life and legacy of the conductor, composer, educator, and humanitarian who would celebrate his 100th birthday on August 25, 2018.
Bernstein’s poem celebrates bucolic summers at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Hear actor Jeremy Irons read “Life is Juicy,” by Leonard Bernstein on The Bernstein Experience on Classical.org: http://bit.ly/life-is-juicy_b100
To learn more about the life of Leonard Bernstein and the scope the Bernstein at 100 celebration, please visit: https://bernstein.classical.org/about/.
Jeremy Irons attended a screening of his film Trashed, followed by a Q&A, at a fundraiser in aid of Village Well in Lesotho, South Africa, on Thursday 23rd August 2018.
From The Southern Star newspaper:
Story by Kieran O’Mahony
SKIBBEREEN Town Hall was full to capacity recently for ‘An Evening with Jeremy Irons’ – which included the screening of the award-winning documentary Trashed which features the Oscar winner – as well as an extended Q&A afterwards with Mr Irons and microbiologist Dr Niall O’Leary from UCC.
As well as discussing the issue of waste, the event, with the aid of David and Patsy Puttnam, was also a fundraiser for a well-building project in Lesotho, South Africa and over €2,000 was raised through ticket sales.
Organiser Kay Quinn said: ‘It was a very successful evening and Jeremy Irons took time to show the community the documentary about how our waste is thrown out and forgotten, and how we must re-evaluate this attitude to valuable asset.
‘It was suggested on the night that every school in Ireland should be shown this documentary and the screening was a wake-up call for all of us to re-think plastic in particular,’ she said.
She also thanked David and Patsy Puttnam who brought Dr Niall O’Leary to answer any of the scientific questions which were asked by the audience in the Q&A session.
‘A special thanks to Jeremy Irons who gave up his time to show us his concern for our environment, while also helping to raise funds for the water wells in Lesotho at the same time,’ said Mrs Quinn.
‘We would also like to thank Anne Minihane and Stephen Bean for taking the photographs and Darragh Murphy for the sound.’
Following the screening of the documentary, which has won several international film awards, both Jeremy Irons and Dr O’Leary took part in the Q&A under the guidance of Declan McCarthy as MC.
This turned into a lengthy discussion which touched on the proposed plastics factory which has been planned for Skibbereen.
Speaking afterwards Dr O’Leary said the Q&A with the local audience ‘was very engaged, running twice as long as planned and revealed a well-informed local community who are very concerned with the issue of plastics use, waste and disposal.’
He added that since Trashed was filmed in 2012, global plastic production and waste generation and disposal figures have only increased in the intervening period.
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All photos by Stephen Bean –
Bath Spa Chancellor Jeremy Irons was on hand for the July 2018 graduation ceremonies at Bath Spa University. [Scroll down for the full Live Stream recording.]
Photo via Kayleigh Pearce
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While on campus, Jeremy filmed a couple of promotional videos for Bath Spa University:
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Watch the recording of the Live Stream from the 20th July Bath Spa University Graduation. Skip ahead to 34:00 to watch Jeremy shaking hands with and congratulating the graduates. Skip even further ahead to 1:11:00 for Jeremy’s speech to the Graduates and all present.
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[The series began filming in Macon, Georgia in early June 2018.]
From Deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen is adding more star power to its cast. Oscar winner Jeremy Irons has been tapped for a lead role in the HBO pilot, a take on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic limited comic series. He joins previously cast Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens and Andrew Howard.
As has been case with all Watchmen castings, no details about Irons’ character are provided, but I hear he will play an aging and imperious lord of a British manor.
Lindelof, who wrote the script, executive produces the pilot with Nicole Kassell, who is directing, and Tom Spezialy. Watchmen is produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros Television.
This would mark only the second major TV series role for Irons, following his starring turn on The Borgias. Irons, who won an Oscar in 1991 for Reversal of Fortune, also is a Golden Globe, Emmy, Tony, and SAG award winner as well as the winner of an Honorary César Award, and a Premio Europa Per il Teatro.
Irons recently co-starred in Red Sparrow and played Alfred in Justice League and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He is repped by CAA.
From Slashfilm.com by Chris Evangelista –
The Watchmen TV series just added a surprising new cast member: Jeremy Irons. Damon Lindelof‘s HBO series inspired by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic graphic novel is set 30 years after the events of the comic, and has been called more of a “remix” than a straight adaptation. In other words, don’t count on Irons playing a character straight from the comic.
Deadline has the scoop about Irons joining the Watchmen TV series cast. HBO has yet to announce specifics regarding Irons’ character, but Deadline says the acclaimed actor will likely be playing an “aging and imperious lord of a British manor.” If you’re scratching your head trying to figure out which character from the comic this might be, don’t bother. With each new piece of info that arrives, I grow more and more convinced none of the main characters on Lindelof’s show will be drawn from the original source material.
From Collider.com by Adam Chitwood
Production is already underway on Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen pilot for HBO, but the series has added another crucial actor: Jeremy Irons. Deadline reports that the esteemed performer will be filling a lead role in the potential series, and while character details are being kept under wraps, he’s said to be playing the aging imperial lord of a British manor.
The HBO adaptation of Alan Moore’s iconic graphic novel is likely to look quite different to fans of the source material, as Lindelof took to Instagram before filming began to caution fans not to expect a direct adaptation. Instead, Lindelof describes his take as more of a “remix” of the material, with new characters and settings. Regina King, with whom Lindelof worked on his previous HBO series The Leftovers, leads an impressive ensemble that also includes Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard.
Nicole Kassell (The Leftovers) is directing the pilot, which was written by Lindelof. HBO is still on the hunt for another tentpole series to fill the void that will be left after Game of Thrones concludes next year, and Watchmen could help. Westworld has been a solid addition to HBO’s lineup, but ratings for the confusing sci-fi series’ second season were down about 16%, signaling a potential issue for HBO’s longterm plans. It’s unlikely Westworld will be cancelled, but HBO needs to ensure there’s enough to make subscribers stick around after Game of Thrones is gone, and it’s clear Westworld isn’t exactly a monster-sized hit.
Then again nothing can really compare to the insane ratings of Thrones, which is why it’s wise for HBO to hedge their bets on multiple potential tentpole series. Watchmen is still just in the pilot stage for now and there’s no guarantee it’ll be ordered to series—HBO has scuttled high-profile pilots before (see: Noah Baumbach’s The Corrections). But so far, the casting and talent involved in this thing is mighty impressive.
Irons most recently appeared in the underrated spy drama Red Sparrow and reprised his role as Alfred in Warner Bros.’ fairly terrible Justice League. A lead on a massive HBO series is well deserved for Irons, so here’s hoping Watchmen turns out well.
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