cultureSee all
A picture

Celebrities pay tribute to Pope Francis: ‘Thank you for being an ally’

Numerous celebrities, many among the nearly 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide, expressed condolences for the late Pope Francis, who died early on Monday – the morning after Easter Sunday – at the age of 88.Martin Scorsese, who has grappled with Catholic faith in several of his films, called Pope Francis, “in every way, a remarkable human being” in a statement to Variety. “He acknowledged his own failings. He radiated wisdom

A picture

Post your questions for Nigel Havers

Nigel Havers has forged a career playing quintessential, charming, good-looking, well-educated Englishmen. The younger son of one-time Lord Chancellor Sir Michael Havers, Havers Jr opted against Eton, moving into theatre, radio and briefly training as a wine merchant, before finding fame as the lead of the 1977 BBC adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, and opposite Bob Hoskins in 1978 Dennis Potter BBC musical drama, Pennies from Heaven.By the time he was cast in 1981’s Chariots of Fire, Havers was a familiar face on British television. Here, he got to play his first lord – Cambridge student Lord Andrew Lindsay – and run, barefooted and in slow motion, across West Sands beach in St Andrews, earning him a Bafta nomination in the process. Roles soon followed as the public school-educated but class-conscious Ronnie Heaslop in 1984 epic period drama A Passage to India, and as father figure Dr Rawlins in Steven Spielberg’s 1987 war film Empire of the Sun

A picture

Arts Council England a victim of ‘London-centric’ media coverage, CEO says

The chief executive of Arts Council England has launched an impassioned defence of the organisation, claiming it has suffered because of “London-centric” media coverage.Darren Henley, who saw in his 10th anniversary as Arts Council England CEO last week, told the Guardian there was an imbalance in media coverage.He said London-based figures were able to get newspaper coverage while regional arts leaders to whom ACE has redistributed funds were not getting the same access. ACE is charged with distributing public and lottery funds to arts organisations in England.Henley said: “I observe the London-centricity in our media

A picture

‘When medieval times return, I’ll be ready’: Bella Ramsey on friendship, fashion and The Last of Us

The young actor’s life has been transformed since they landed the lead role in what turned out to be a TV phenomenon. As the much-anticipated second season begins, they discuss growing up in the glare of fameBella Ramsey self-recorded their audition tape for The Last of Us at their parents’ home in Leicestershire and sent it off more in hope than expectation. Ramsey, who was 17 at the time, had never played the post-apocalyptic zombie video game on which the new TV series was based, but knew it was a big deal: released in 2013, it had sold more than 20m copies. It would later emerge that Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the show’s creators, looked seriously at more than 100 actors for the role of Ellie, the sassy and quirky but also complicated and vicious American protagonist of The Last of Us. “Yeah, I’ve been told,” says Ramsey with a wry smile

A picture

Sunday with Paul Chowdhry: ‘I’ll have a big brunch, then lie around watching YouTube’

Sunday highlights? The farmers’ market in north London, now that I’ve worked my way into being middle-class. I’ll buy smoked trout, organic chickens, pheasant, vegetables and a very good Chinese chilli oil.How do you get there? On one of those electric bikes, like Uber cyclists. I’m usually stealthed up with a mask, else people go: ‘There’s Paul Chowdhry on a bike. What you doing on a bike, bruv?’Do you cook? I live on my own, so I have no choice

A picture

Jameela Jamil: ‘I used to be a massive troll and bitch on the internet’

What’s been your most cringeworthy run-in with a celebrity?I knocked over Al Pacino at a party. It was at the head of UTA’s house back in maybe 2015. I’d stolen a bunch of food – they had really good wagyu steaks, so I took 10 wrapped in a cloth napkin, they were kind of bleeding. I bundled them in between my legs, underneath my miniskirt, and was shuffling as fast as I could out of the party when I knocked over Al Pacino. And then I left him on the ground, because the steaks flew out from under my skirt, leaving this bloody streak across the white floor