With almost half a thousand of votes from some charming trolls lurking around, the second part of our
BEST BRITISH ACTRESS poll is over :) Refined beauty
Thandie Newton has won with 56% of votes,
Kate Winslet took second place with 20%,
leaving
Polly Walker (8%) and
Helen Mirren in third and fourth place with Polly scoring just two votes more than Helen. Now methinks you will agree with a strange notion I have that this poll has been hijacked by
Thandie Newton's fans, because she probably wouldn't be able to beat experienced and acclaimed actresses such as
Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet or
Polly Walker in reality, but I won't complain too much :) I do love the beautiful and sensual Thandie.
She basically got world wide fame with her supersexy role in
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 alongside
Tom Cruise and
Dougray Scott. After that she was equally brilliant and mesmerizing as dangerous Dame Vaako alongside
Karl Urban and
Vin Diesel in
THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. She showed her
dramatic talent in one of the best films of the last decade
THE CRASH by Paul Haggis. After that she didn't have a lot of noticeable roles, but I must admit I remember and love her most for her touching portrayal of African doctor in famous TV show
E.R. where she had a tragic love with
Noah Whyle. In
2012 she got the chance to play a presidential daughter. In the future we shall watch her in futuristic mystery
THE VANISHING ON 7TH STREET alongside
Hayden Christensen and then in spooky thriller
RETREAT alongside
Cillian Murphy and
Jamie Bell.
It's interesting that she has a Cambridge degree in anthropology, proving she's not just beautiful but smart as well. She was supposed to be a CHARLIE'S ANGEL instead of Lucy Liu. Would you believe that she is almost 40?
Now, off to our next poll which will be the closing chapter of our
BEST BRITISH GENT voting. Eight new distinguished British actors for whom you can vote during next two weeks as much as you like are:
Jude Law (SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, ALFIE, SHERLOCK HOLMES),
Dougray Scott
(MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, ENIGMA, ARABIAN NIGHTS),
Kenneth Branagh (HAMLET, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING),
Johnny Lee Miller (THE FLYING SCOTSMAN, AEON FLUX, MINDHUNTERS, EMMA),
Paul Bettany (LEGION, WIMBLEDON, THE YOUNG VICTORIA, PRIEST),
Anthony Hopkins (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THOR, ALEXANDER),
Jeremy Northam (THE TUDORS, GOSFORD PARK, ENIGMA) and
Clive Owen (ELISABETH THE GOLDEN AGE, KING ARTHUR). Vote on and let the best men win!
AND A SMALL INFO - you know that I work as a book translator, so if you are interested in seeing how my books actually look like, head over to my dear
Vics over at
HAIRNETS AND HOPES who has organized a charming game with the covers of my books. So go over to Vics and join the fun :)
She is extremely beautiful. And talented.
ReplyDeleteCD
Wow! I can't believe she beat Kate! But she is beautiful and talented, too!
ReplyDeleteTough choices on the men today... I had to go for true talent over looks on this one.
@Clarissa
ReplyDeletea true princess!
@Kelly
yep, I gave you some tough choices, all of the ladies in the poll were stunning and amazingly talented.
Ah, so I see you voted for Mr. Hopkins :)
I love that Thandie Newton....
ReplyDeleteAnd I love those pics you've got there.
And hey -- no Keira Knightley on the poll?
@Andrew
ReplyDeleteI kinda knew you would like the pics :)
And, no, we do not do Keira here at HOLLYWOOD SPY!
oh yay! thandie won! (even though helen mirren should have scored way higher!) i think she is an excellent actress!
ReplyDeleteand paul bettany!!! how can you not vote for paul bettany!?!? talk about talent! :) (not to mention the looks...:)
She's done more than I realised.
ReplyDeleteThandie's pretty, but she's no Kate!
ReplyDelete@Vics
ReplyDeletewe love Paul as well :)
@Lynda
she did :)
@Alex
oh, I've never would've guessed :)))))
i love thandie.
ReplyDeleteAnd man the poll this time is going to be a pain to decide who to vote for.
Probably Paul since i've loved him the longest out of all of them
Ahaha but your polls tend to get hijacked every single time Dezmond ;) Hey, glad to see someone new though! Thandie Newton is certainly a talented actress.
ReplyDelete@Falen
ReplyDeletewe love Paul as well
@Castor
that's not really the truth, but sometimes we do get fans of just one star voting like crazy. Kinda like now, somebody is voting like crazy for Northam.
Oooh... more British gents! :)
ReplyDeleteThis time I'll have to go with Paul Bettany. He's such a talented actor and I love many of his movies. I've heard Northam has a strong following... I wonder if they'll go nuts on this poll like those cRAzy people did before? :)
oh, Nat, sister, I must admit I didn't know Northam had fans, but it's obvious he does judging from our latest poll.
ReplyDeleteAnd you know I have nothing against crazy fans but I prefer the cRAzy ones :)
YAY! I love Thandie, sooo luminous and talented. Beauty with brains, too, pretty rare in Hollywood ;) And what a lucky lady to have co-starred with the hottest male actors... Dougray Scott, Mark Wahlberg, Gerry Butler, etc. and now Cillian Murphy!
ReplyDeleteshe really often has some really great partners!
ReplyDeleteLove your remark about the cRAzy fans. I must admit that I have a soft spot for Jeremy Northam. I started watching some of his fan videos on YouTube and I was an instant fan.
ReplyDeleteNobody (other actor)does bedroom scenes like he does. At least not to my taste. He is the BEST!
Dez. I have a question: Why did you include him in your poll if you didn't think that we (fans) existed?
hey, Debs. Maybe I didn't say it right above - I know he has fans, but I didn't know he has crazy ones like Nat said for Richard Armitage's fans :)
ReplyDeleteI put him in the poll for the same reason I put other gents in it - because I like him and respect his acting talent.
Thanks Dez. I don't think that JN fans are as cRAZY as the Armitage fans, but they do admire that fellow A LOT. I have a few friends over on the Armitage forums too. They may be cRAzy, but they are the nicest, most considerate people that you will ever meet. (I have actually met some of them.) The Jeremy fans are equally as nice. I met a few in London on my last visit.
ReplyDeleteBTW - Thanks for the poll and your blog. You always have the most interesting topics.
yes, I agree about RA fans being a bunch of super charming and sweet ladies. I've actually thrown a huge party for them earlier this year here at HOLLYWOOD SPY which lasted almost two weeks and we had a great time together :) And I love dropping by over to their blog and entertaining them with a joke or two :)
ReplyDeleteDon't let Deb fool ya. I know her and she IS crazy about her faves- Richard Armitage, Jeremy Northam and Toby Stephens. (Oh my... there's another group of fans that would go nuts if you included him in a poll- Toby Stephens has tons of fiercely loyal ladies.)
ReplyDeleteNever heard of him, Nat, who is he? I've just Googled him, can't remember where I've watched him but he looks like Aaron Johnson's father :)
ReplyDeleteOh Nat, you found me. (hahaha) You missed one - Simon Baker (love him too).
ReplyDeleteToby Stephens is the youngest son of (Harry Potter actress) Maggie Smith. He is best known here in the U. S. as the youngest BOND BADDIE Gustav Graves opposite Pierce Brosnan in the film Die Another Day.
He gained a rather large fan following after he played a very sexy Edward Rochester in the PBS version of JANE EYRE (2006).
Now, Debra, please don't introduce Maggie Smith through HARRY PLOPPER movies :) She is to big of a legend to be presented through such an insignificant movie. Toby really is a smashing and dashing gentleman, and it's interesting that he's Maggie's son, I didn't know that. I don't think I've seen him in many movies, but I saw a pic of him at GOOGLE with a beard and reddish hair, and that one looked intriguing and lovely.
ReplyDeleteI love Maggie, and I remember her from her older work in films...I just wasn't sure that your readers would? So I was trying to help them along. (hahahaha)
ReplyDeleteToby is spending much of his time these days doing live LONDON theater. Also BBC and ITV series in the U.K.
He and his wife, actress Anna-Louise Plowman (from Stargate) are expecting their third child (like)yesterday...I met them both while Toby was performing at the OLD VIC in London last June. They are both very gracious celebs. Very friendly. And both (equally) gorgeous.
BTW - I am spreading the word about your poll as fast as I can...(hahahaha)
So it's Deb's fault if the Northam fans decend by the thousands on your latest poll, Dezz. :)
ReplyDeleteToby Stephens first caught my eye in "Jane Eyre"... he was SO amazing as Rochester. Definitely thud-worthy! I also liked him in "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" AND we can't forget he played an over-the-top Prince John in BBC's Robin Hood, opposite Richard Armitage as Gisborne. :)
Next to Richard-dear, Toby is on my list of British loves, along with Colin Firth, Paul Bettany, Simon Baker (love him too, Deb!) and can I count Prince William? :)
@Debra
ReplyDeletehe sounds like a true charmer, no wonder British men are symbol of true gentlemen.
@Nat
oh, bummer, I guess I will have to alert Jude's and Bettany's fans to strike back :))) PS have you noticed how Willie is rapidly starting to look like his father? Diana's genes were working only in the early youth I guess :(
I know... with his thinning hair, Prince William is starting to look like his pops. Maybe Harry should take over as my royal crush.
ReplyDeleteWhew! I have sent emails and Facebook messages out to everyone that I can think of.
ReplyDeleteBTW - I checked your last POLL and those GERARD BUTLER forum members are WILD!
I know that JUDE LAW has many threads on many different fan forums, so I'm happy to see that he is doing so well.
But, I'm sticking with Jeremy on this one.
It's been fun, Dez, but (to be honest)I'm glad that it's nearly over.