RICHARD MADDEN
MAY 2023
|
What’s new this month? |
|
Xxx - date |
|
Thursday 11 May
2023 |
|
|
A Killer Heat cast member has posted a sheet
showing members of said cast … so we have a blurry photo of Leonides/Elias Vardakis, twins
played by Richard. I did suggest that names might be changed, from
the original story … it’s a Greek production, so the twins named Julian and
Franz Schmid (who were American) now have Greek
names! He’s looking remarkably ‘retro’ too! In fact very ‘medallion man’! English actress Clare Holman is also a cast
member … playing a character named Audrey Vardakis,
who I can’t recall being in the original story!
Episode 4
of Citadel becomes available overnight … at 01:00 in the morning in the UK … so
it’s a late night/early morning for me … again! |
|
|
Monday 08 May
2023 |
|
|
Apologies
for not posting for a while … I had been hoping to post news of another close
encounter with Richard … but it was not to be, as my friends and I didn’t even
see him when he visited London for the Global premiere of Citadel and press
junket. It was a
massive disappointment … and not for want of trying … We’d
booked time off work, booked hotel accommodation, only to discover that no provision
had been made for the general public to participate in the Global premiere …
as there were no crowd pens at the ‘secret’
location where the premiere was being held. I’d been
following Citadel since it was announced in January 2020. It was supposed to begin production in
April 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. The read-through began in
February 2021 and filming had definitely begun by March 2021, in the UK,
based out of Bray Studios near Windsor. The production moved to Valencia in
September that year, Richard took a couple of weeks off to participate in the
Eternals press junket, before returning to film in the UK (including in
Birmingham) before the final scenes were filmed in London (Kensington
Gardens/Royal Albert Hall … and maybe Finsbury Square) in mid-December. There was
a long reshoot schedule, which took place in Atlanta last Spring; these ended
on Richard’s birthday, 18 June. Episode 1’s opening train scene was one of
those filmed in Atlanta. I, personally, can’t help wondering just how much of
the initial 2021 filming has ended up on the cutting room floor, considering
the huge overspend which has been reported. The London
press junket began on Thursday 13 April, at the ‘usual’ hotel in London; co-star Priyanka
Chopra Jonas appeared on The One Show that evening. Priyanka
is married to one of the Jonas Brothers, Nick. She attended a Jonas Brothers
concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 14 April and was also spotted out and
about in London that weekend. Anyway, we
had arrived in London during the weekend of 15/16 April still believing that
there would be crowd pens for fans like us. I’d kept regular watch on the
schedules for the cinemas where premieres are usually held, and regularly
checked the sites where details of confirmed premieres are published - we
knew by Easter, that the premiere would be held on 18 April, as the date was
revealed on one of the facebook fan accounts. So,
basically, we spent two and a half days checking social media and trekking
around central London hoping to find clues to the venue … but to no avail.
This included checking the accounts of social media ‘influencers’, hoping for a clue as, along with family and
friends, people involved in the production, plus the media, they appeared to
be the only ones invited to the Premiere. It wasn’t
very nice seeing the influencers enjoying themselves in London and getting
ready to set off for the premiere … when we were feeling very downhearted and
exhausted from our efforts. There were
no clues, until it was too late … because the venue was ‘top secret’ and fans were never intended to be part of it. Our final
resort was to go to the hotel (which we hate doing) … but also to no avail …
we did see Anthony Russo, the show-runner David Weil, and Priyanka
and Nick … but, of course, no Richard. And we
know why … because he’s experienced a lot of issues outside the hotel with
professional autograph hunters and paps – including
one guy who has made fun of Richard on social media for avoiding his fans (he
was making a private visit to the UK at the time), and including the fact
that Richard tripped up the hotel steps, when hurrying to get inside,
following the Eternals premiere. This obnoxious pap was outside the hotel on
18 April, along with professional autograph hunters … in fact, my friends and
I were the only true fans who were there.
The pap and his friend had also bribed security to obtain a place in
the crowd pen at the Eternals Gala Screening … I think we know too much
information about what goes on!!! I know
crowd pens in London are not good places for true fans, having been
infiltrated by these scum on a regular basis, but for fans to be totally
ignored when we had such high hopes of seeing Richard again, is
heart-breaking. We don’t have infinite
resources, to buy tickets for premieres; these can cost between £1,500 and
£5,000 per event. We therefore have no option but to hope for crowd pen
participation. Having
finally identified from photos being posted, that the venue was the Theatre
Royal Drury Lane, we headed there just to take a look … the vehicles which
had collected the attendees from the hotel, were parked along nearby roads.
Having walked up Drury Lane from Aldwich, we headed
along Russell Street and into Covent Garden. We noticed the Citadel logo
above the door of the theatre … if only we’d thought to go further north and
east in our searches, but it was too late.
My friend Ruth and I
pictured in Russell Street, the Theatre Royal is in
the background, left. Our only consolation
is that no-one has reported seeing Richard outside of the hotel or the
premiere venue … apart from three pap photos taken outside a restaurant when
he went to lunch with his parents. I was
going to stay in London until 20 April, but decided to return on the evening
of 19 April, despite having paid for a 4-night stay. I also caught a cold whilst away, my first
since October 2019 – but at least it wasn’t covid! Then, to
add insult to injury, the press junket moved to Rome … where fans were permitted
to line the blue carpet at a special screening and Richard signed autographs
and took selfies with them. I was in tears … why
were British fans treated with contempt by the British organisers, Prime UK?
We didn’t even have any fan screenings, without the stars. Richard
and the stars then headed to LA where, again, they attended a special
screening and Richard signed autographs and took selfies
with the fans. I was distraught. The final leg of the tour was New York,
with Richard appearing on Good Morning America. Citadel
series 2 is already in the pipeline, but it has also been reported that
production is moving to California. There is
so much information to catch up on, from the press junket … that I’ll
endeavour to collate over the coming weeks … In the
meantime, these two Instagram clips are worth checking out: Stanley Tucci (@stanleytucci) | Instagram Someone
needs to write a comedy for Stanley and Richard … they get on great! |
|
|
|
|
|
Tiny
microphone: Richard Madden USA Fans😊 (@richardmaddenfans_us)
| Instagram |
|
|
|
|
|
And
Richard appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel show, 24 April 2023: |
|
|
|
|
|
Richard on the
roof-top of the central London hotel, 13 April |
Richard attending the
Global Premiere of Citadel, in London, 18 April |
|
Richard attending the special
screening, in Rome, 21 April |
Richard attending the
special screening, in LA, 25 April |
|
Priyanka Chopra Jonas and
Richard for a New York Times article Filming
has already begun on Richard’s new project – Killer Heat – in Crete. I’ve read
the short story upon which Killer Heat is based, and in which Richard plays
twins Julian and Franz Schmid (unless, of course,
they change the names). I’m now
paying off, in instalments, the cost of my fruitless excursion to London …
and continuing to count the days until I’m lucky enough to see Richard in
real life once more. And
watching Citadel … three episodes are currently available, with the next
three available on 12 May, 19 May and 26 May respectively. SPOILERS ALERT: My friend
and I had already figured out there was more to Abby Conroy (Kyle’s wife)
than first appeared, because she met Kyle (Mason) shortly after the train
accident, in hospital. But we didn’t see the connection coming between Abby
and Anders. We don’t
think Nadia lost her memory (was backstopped) for long following the train
accident … ie. it wasn’t restored by the vial which
Kyle gave her – we didn’t see her use it. Why hasn’t
Citadel spy Carter Spence lost his memory? We think
Hendrix Conroy (Abby and Kyle’s daughter) will stab someone in self-defence. We believe
the ‘package’ referred to by Nadia
in episode 3 is her and Mason’s daughter, named Asha … and that Mason is the
traitor, because he’s the only one you don’t want it to be. But that’s okay
really, because he’s now Kyle Conroy …
And
remember … EVERYTHING is a lie! |
|
RETURN TO RICHARD MADDEN BLOG INDEX
RETURN TO RICHARD MADDEN SUB-INDEX PAGE