Martine McCutcheon - all kinds of bankrupt

[Paul]

I wasn't sure where to post this as she's so multi talented.  Soap star, Hollywood starlet, best selling author, west end leading lady, talent show judge, yogurt drinker, platinum recording artist, bridesmaid to Liza Minnelli.

Getting killed off in EE doesn't seem like such a good idea now.

[Essexgirl]

I guess Activia commercials don't pay that well....

[El Capitan]

Poor old Martine. Who'd have thought Let's Get Gold wasn't the career making turn she needed?

[jamie]

It must be galling to her that Judi Shekoni got roles in Hollywood films from two weeks in Eastenders while she is now bankrupt.

I blame David Gest.

[Steven]

Having read her novel The Mistress, I think the word "creatively" needs to be inserted into the thread title.

[Bungle]

First Lorne Spicer, now this. And McCutcheon always seemed so likeable.

Ahem.

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-300854/Martines-Hollywood-shame.html#axzz2K2QACBup

[Carl]

And I really thought that starring role as 'woman killed with cheese' in Midsomer Murders was going to be her ticket back to the Claire Sweeney level of fame.

[quincyme]

Jonathan Pryces reaction to her Olivier award win is the best awards show moment EVER.

[jamie]

Feb 13, 2013 0:30:50 GMT quincyme said:

Jonathan Pryces reaction to her Olivier award win is the best awards show moment EVER.

I can't seem to find this online. Is there a video?

[Maureen]

Feb 13, 2013 0:30:50 GMT quincyme said:

Jonathan Pryces reaction to her Olivier award win is the best awards show moment EVER.

It really was quite something. Apparently it's shown to drama students as an example of how not to react at an awards show.

He was a total cunt to her when they worked together, though. He had a problem with a former soap star getting such a plum role. His eyes must pop out with rage every time he walks through the West End these days, then!

[Paul]

Feb 13, 2013 23:56:50 GMT Maureen said:

Feb 13, 2013 0:30:50 GMT quincyme said:

Jonathan Pryces reaction to her Olivier award win is the best awards show moment EVER.

It really was quite something. Apparently it's shown to drama students as an example of how not to react at an awards show.

He was a total cunt to her when they worked together, though. He had a problem with a former soap star getting such a plum role. His eyes must pop out with rage every time he walks through the West End these days, then!

I doubt he'd have a problem with soap stars, provided they were prepared to work har and are professional, which most of them will be, as trained and experienced actors.  Martine was unprofessional during the run.  Don't forget there was genuine incredulity that she was too ill to perform at Drury Lane, yet photographed out getting pissed in Soho.

Jonathan Pryce has done huge amounts of theatre and film and hasn't got a reputation for being difficult, whereas Martine has done small amounts of every type of media going and has a reputation for being lazy and thinking she's a much bigger star than she is.  Elaine Paige also has a reputation and is disliked by a lot of people in the industry but she has the talent and the genuine star name to carry it off.

I'd say he comes over very well in the interview below.

Much has been made of your reaction at the Oliviers in 2002. Were you aware that you were being filmed when your My Fair Lady co-star Martine McCutcheon received her award for Best Actress in a Musical?
It was an entirely honest reaction. I could have sat there fake-smiling and fake-clapping - there were people around me who were applauding while grimacing - but the whole thing was, for me, riddled with irony and I had a very ironic look on my face. It was quite interesting to see it played back afterwards, but it wasn’t done for any effect. Why did I think it was ironic? That Martine won an award for her brief appearances? Well, there you go, it’s ironic.

I already knew I hadn’t won. My category had already been decided and announced, it was awarded on stage the previous week. I wasn’t going to go to the ceremony and then friends said, no, go and be gracious. I didn’t know beforehand that Martine had won. So if you’re in that situation, you’re not exactly going to leap to your feet and shout, ‘great you’ve won, I haven’t!’ She’d left the show months and months and months ago without a word of goodbye or apology and the first I’d seen of her was when she was sitting in front of me at the Oliviers. So yes, that does colour my view in answer to the previous question ‘what do you think of awards’. Okay, the Olivier voters saw her perform and gave her the prize because they obviously thought that she deserved it, fair enough. And, if she carried on doing it, I’m sure she would have been wonderful.

[Maureen]

I'm no McCutcheon apologist – she has very mixed reviews from people I know who have met her – but whether Pryce has a reputation for being 'difficult' or not (difficult is usually an adjective unfairly attributed to female stars, anyway), he wasn't very nice to her at all during the run and he *was* pissed off she got the role. Pryce may turn up to work on time, remember all his lines and be the very opposite of 'difficult', but it doesn't mean he was great to be around. He got on with Madonna, though, so go figure.

[Paul]

From the theatre queens I knew at the time, Jonathan Pryce simply wasn't a good enough actor to hide how frustrated he was at just how unprepared she was for the role and lack of effort. He's primarily a theatre actor, limited fuss, no frills, and she didn't have the work ethic that was required to take on Eliza without any previous theatrical experience. There are a lot of male actors who have reputations for being cunts to their co-stars(ask Toni Collette about Mandy Patinkin) but Jonathan Pryce isn't one of them.

Some of the cast were understanding of her limitations and attitude but the technical people hated her and thought she was lazy, and her unwillingness to learn quickly made their jobs harder. There was a book running on whether she'd even make the previews, apparently.

In a few years maybe BBC4 will make a film about it. Lacey Turner would be great as Martine.

[pops]

Feb 16, 2013 10:41:29 GMT Paul said:

From the theatre queens I knew at the time, Jonathan Pryce simply wasn't a good enough actor to hide how frustrated he was at just how unprepared she was for the role and lack of effort. He's primarily a theatre actor, limited fuss, no frills, and she didn't have the work ethic that was required to take on Eliza without any previous theatrical experience. There are a lot of male actors who have reputations for being cunts to their co-stars(ask Toni Collette about Mandy Patinkin) but Jonathan Pryce isn't one of them.

I don't think I can ever ask Toni Collette about that - I want to cling to my image of Mandy Pantinkin being all honourable and fatherly on Homeland.

There was an interesting interview with Martine in The Guardian a few years ago (prob around the time of Love Actually), where her and Cameron Mackintosh gave conflicting accounts of what went on - she said there were days when she'd turn up desperate to go on, but was sent home because she was just too ill, and he basically said they would never have turned her away. www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2003/nov/15/theatre

On a slight different note, did anyone see the Sheffield Crucible My Fair Lady with Dominic West in December/Janaury? It was amazing.

[Paul]

That interview is desperately sad to read. Forget the Jonathan Pryce reaction clip, if drama students should be taught anything about that debacle, they should read that article, watch Love Actually and say whether they'd prefer Martine or Nina Sosanya's career.

Looking at the cast list of Love Actually, far from it being Martine's big break, her subsequent career has been overshadowed by everyone in it. Andrew Lincoln, January Jones, Rodrigo Santoro, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Keira Knightley, Joanna Page, Martin Freeman and little Thomas Sangster have a higher profile. Even Kris Marshall has worked consistently.

There's been some speculation as to whether she'll turn her hand to reality. Can you just imagine what Brendan Cole would make of her if they were paired up?

I missed Dominic West. I imagine he'd make a great Higgins. There was talk of Emma Thompson adapting a screenplay of My Fair Lady, with Colin Firth pencilled in, but that's all gone quiet.

[Rad]

I loved the Crucible My Fair Lady. It is weird how many of the Love Actually cast have gone on to do really well compared to her, isn't it? I would be surprised if she doesn't end up in at least one reality show this year.

[Steven]

Celebrity Big Brother would be ideal for her, surely? Little to no exertion required, and the likelihood of getting your own C5 show of some description afterwards.

[Maureen]

If she ever did reality, it would probably kill her career off for good, once the mask slipped – unless she went home ill halfway through before too much damage could be done.

I think if Martine's career trajectory shows anything, it's that you truly do get the success you deserve. Or, in her case, rather more.

[Paul]

Did anyone here post this on Datalounge, in the thread about Anne Hathaway possibly appearing in My Fair Lady on Broadway?

Dear Martine McCutcheon - she had an acting job this week, [R9] - the murder victim in UK crime series Midsomer Murders, she was the first murder victim, killed after 5 minutes, by being hit with a giant cheese! At least she got one bitchy scene and a moment on the slab at the morgue. And to think she th0ought she would be the next big thing ...

She has also filed for bankruptcy. So not all Elizas clean up ....

[nixxxon]

Feb 14, 2013 19:41:33 GMT Paul said:

Jonathan Pryce has done huge amounts of theatre and film and hasn't got a reputation for being difficult,

Although I agree about McCutcheon, I'm surprised at this - I've heard more stories about him being a dick to his co-stars than any other actor. The Eliza understudies had a particularly rough time of it apparently.

[quincyme]

This thread is killing the love I had for that production of MFL, it was fantastic Waterman was great and I dont have any problems with McCutcheons performance on the cast recording.

Mind you when I saw it Kerry Ellis was on as Eliza (second cover)

...and as for Pryce well he gave one of the more bizarre performances I've ever seen when i saw him in The Caretaker about 4 years ago, one of those Winona Ryder style acting performances where you can tell they are acting with every single tick and inflection.

[Paul]

Feb 24, 2013 19:18:52 GMT nixxxon said:

Feb 14, 2013 19:41:33 GMT Paul said:

Jonathan Pryce has done huge amounts of theatre and film and hasn't got a reputation for being difficult,

Although I agree about McCutcheon, I'm surprised at this - I've heard more stories about him being a dick to his co-stars than any other actor. The Eliza understudies had a particularly rough time of it apparently.

Which productions were they? 

By the time I got to see My Fair Lady Martine had been replaced with Joanna Riding and JP was still in it. 

I was speaking to one of my acting friends about reputations and was reminded of this account of unpleasant stage runs, from Richard E Grant.

This was my worst acting experience of all time, because I was tortured by (co-star) Maggie Smith the entire time. We’d worked together previously on film Suddenly Last Summer, a Tennessee Williams play, with Rob Lowe and Natasha Richardson, and we all got on well. But Maggie was unhappy with the production, and I became the scapegoat, her victim. I’m still amazed that anyone can be so inventive in the ways they can demolish you, but she did. She’s a brilliant actress, but she has a history of doing this. I was told by someone that every single job she’s ever done, she’s done it to someone. And I suffered six months of it. I couldn’t resign because then I’d regard it as a terrible failure, and that she had won, but I often wished that they’d fire me. After the first three months, I no longer gave a fuck, and finally started to enjoy myself. But before that, well, it was just horrible. Urgh!

insert quote here