November 1st, 2016.
In amongst the 400-odd premieres in The Archive Of Premieres, TV Series don't feature very often. I can think of one very small and low-key (the one for the Doctor Who Season 8 launch), and one very large and distant (the one for Season 5 of Game of Thrones last year). And now, a third - the world premiere for the Netflix Series 'The Crown'.
Here's how it went down:
TV Series don't get premieres often, and this one has a carpet, a Leicester Square location, Corgis (refer below) and although not pictured in this journal, it even had bestowed upon it the dulcet rhyming tones of Hakeem Mr Impact and tame DJ Order of Succession.
"Your hat looks ridiculous...."
"....."
"And the jaunty angle it sits at is entirely unbecoming"
".............."
"Anyway, good day, Ma'am"
-- and there go all three of my favourite pickup lines.
"I left my compact back in the limo but I'm too embarrassed to get my armed guard to turn around. I'm guessing The Queen wouldn't think twice..." - our host and interviewer for the night arrives.
"You look cute, but leave a mess on this carpet and nobody will be pleased..." - awww... somebody brought a corgi!
Somebody has put a GoPro onto a corgi, and depending on the quality of its online journal it might not be A.I. or cheap South Koreans who finally drive me out of the 'free online / non-ad-revenue supported' entertainment website business....
"The Corgi seemed optimistic it could handle this, but I had opposable thumbs and managed to hold onto it...."
Cat design iphone cover. I probably should put more cat pictures into my journals - capture that all important "I don't care about premieres but I love cat pictures" demographic I'm probably 2-4yrs behind the rest of the internet in exploiting.
Claire Foy plays the young 25yr old Queen Elizabeth II in 'The Crown', but as at right now (two days before the show's release) she's still best known for being in the Nic Cage movie 'Season of the Witch'
Jared Harris was spectacular as Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes : Game of Shadows, and there's a decent chance no matter how adaptible he is to a his role in this series, I'll still think of King George VI as a criminal mastermind somehow.
"If I touch him, it'll change everything.... but can I take the risk?" the man approximately one and a half centimetres from possibly having his life changed is director Stephen Daldry who has three Oscar nominations for best to his name, for Billy Elliot (2000), The Hours (2002) and The Reader (2008).
"This man. Don't trust him. Was a villain in a movie once and it's just not worth the risk..." - Matt Smith is a former Doctor Who and he plays Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Phillip in the series. I last photographed him earlier this year at the premiere of 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'
"It's true. I might possibly be James Hillier. Wait for wireimage or getty to update. In the meantime... enjoy the premiere like I'm enjoying the view from up here". Hurry up and update already, internet resources...
Peter Morgan has been nominated for two Oscars for writing - both for best adapated and best original screenplays for 'Frost/Nixon' and 'The Queen', and he also wrote 'Rush' and 'The Damned United' - both excellent films - as well as this series.
"A follow up series covering other Royalty? You want me to direct some sort of Kardashian biopic, don't you?"
Eileen Atkins' imdb.com credits date back to the late 1950s - and she now gets to add one episode of playing Queen Mary in this series to that list.
"Truth be told every actor secretly wants to play either a Marvel supervillain or a Sith Lord, and so do I... but your chances drop if you ever mention it out loud..."
"That's where I want the statue of myself built. No, you don't have to demolish the Burger King, just build around it..."
"Oh, I agree. There are better burger places. But none closer"
"That hypothetical statue of Jared Harris they're not building over near the Burger King looks hideous, just so you know...." - Victoria Hamilton played Queen Victoria in the 2001 Telemovie 'Victoria and Albert' and in 'The Crown' she plays the role of the Queen Mother.
"Me? Nervous? Of course not! I play a character who commands an Empire in this show!"
"Yeah, but the Empire isn't up here with you, and the character you play lives in a palace just a short drive from here"
"Oh dear. And the character I play lives in that same palace. I might need to keep my answers short..."
"Zis French Akzent Vill Confuze and Delight...?"
"Matt wants us to kiss in order to cause a distraction, and also because we're costars who play sisters in the film. But mostly as a distraction, I think..." - Vanessa Kirby plays the Queen's sister Princess Margaret in the series.
"I'm not sure it worked as a distraction... perhaps if you tried it again?"
"I get the feeling there might have been a further ulterior motive behind all that" - Vanessa Kirby was also in (but not at the premiere of) this year's 'Me Before You'
"What was it like playing The Queen? Well, I did have some notes and coins printed with my face on the back until the police came around and explained how forgery is a crime. I'm gathering The Queen hasn't had that happen to her...."
Posed shot. I don't do a lot.
"An ongoing Queen Elizabeth Cinematic Universe? Well.... I suppose I could be part of that. Does she get superpowers at any point?"
So... that was that, and it was rather good. It also represents a rare situation where I photographed both the actors playing certain roles AND their real world counterparts (The Queen, Prince Philip and Princess Margaret at Trooping The Colour) in the same year.... and that's something.
And of course it's another entry into The Archive of Movie Premieres.
Until next time!
PS. If you ever want to know when I post one of these journals, please feel free to follow me on facebook at premieresdotco, and/or on twitter @berndt2_photo, or just hang around the homepage of this website from time to time and see if anything changes there, I guess?