Digital Spy

URL	digitalspy.co.uk
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Entertainment, media, news
Available language(s)	English
Owner	Nat Mags
Created by	Digital Spy Ltd
Alexa rank	2,376 (June 2012[update])[1]
Current status	Online

Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2012, Digital Spy is the 104th most popular website in the United Kingdom,^[2] with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,173.^[1]

On 9 April 2008 it was announced that the website was purchased earlier in the month by magazine publisher Hachette Filipacchi UK, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group^[3] for a "significant" sum.^[4] On 1 August 2011, ownership of Hachette UK was sold to Hearst Magazines UK.^[5] The site also features forums which went live in March 2000. Representatives of several major companies including Top Up TV, Joost, Sky, Goodmans and Amstrad CEO Sir Alan Sugar^[4][6] are registered members that have posted on the forum.

The first annual Digital Spy Soap Awards, honoring soap opera performers and creators, were launched at the end of 2007.^[7][8][9] The 2007 Awards were announced on 21 March 2008.^[10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Digital Spy UK
• Digital Spy USA
• Digital Spy Forums

Tom Hiddleston
Hiddleston at the Avengers Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in NY, April 2012
Born	Thomas William Hiddleston (1981-02-09) 9 February 1981 (age 31) Westminster, London, England
Alma mater	Eton College The Dragon School University of Cambridge RADA
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2001–present
Relatives	Emma Hiddleston (sister)

Thomas William "Tom" Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981)^[1] is an English film, television, radio, and stage actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and he rose to prominence through a number of TV roles and more recently major film roles. He played Loki in the 2011 Marvel Studios film Thor, Captain Nicholls in Steven Spielberg's World War I film War Horse (2011), and also Freddie Page in the British drama The Deep Blue Sea, alongside Rachel Weisz. He played author F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris (2011). He returned to his role as Loki in The Avengers (2012) and is set to reprise the character again for Thor 2 (2013).

Early life and education[link]

Hiddleston was born in Westminster, London,^[1] to parents Diana Patricia (née Servaes), a former stage manager and arts administrator, and James Norman Hiddleston, a scientist in physical chemistry who was the managing director of a pharmaceutical company.^[2] His father is from Greenock, Scotland and his mother from Suffolk, England.^[3] He is the middle child with two sisters, Sarah (oldest), a journalist in India,^[4] and Emma (youngest), is also an actor. He was raised in Wimbledon, in his early years, and later in Oxford.^[3] When Hiddleston was 13, he boarded at Eton College, at the same time that his parents were going through a divorce. "I think I started acting because I found being away at school while my parents were divorcing really distressing." He went on to act at The Dragon School^[5] in Oxford, then continued on to the University of Cambridge, where he earned a double first.^[6] He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2005.

Career[link]

During Hiddleston's second term at Cambridge, he was seen in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire by talent agent Lorraine Hamilton, of Hamilton Hodell. While still doing student plays, he began doing British television, landing parts in Stephen Whittaker’s adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby for ITV^[7] the BBC/HBO co-production Conspiracy, and as Randolph Churchill, the son of Winston Churchill, inthe BBC/HBO drama The Gathering Storm.

On graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Hiddleston won his first film role, playing Oakley in Joanna Hogg’s first feature, Unrelated. He also appeared in the leading role of Edward in Joanna Hogg's second feature, Archipelago, and had leading roles in Declan Donnellan's company Cheek by Jowl's productions The Changeling, and Cymbeline. His Donmar Warehouse credits include Cassio in Michael Grandage's production of Shakespeare's Othello alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ewan McGregor to critical acclaim^[8][9][10] and later Lvov in their West End revival of Chekhov's Ivanov.

His TV credits include Magnus Martinsson in the BBC detective drama Wallander, Bill Hazledine in Suburban Shootout, John Plumptre in the BBC costume drama TV film Miss Austen Regrets and William Buxton in the BBC drama series Return to Cranford.

He is best known for his portrayal of Loki in the 2011 Marvel Studios film, Thor. He was invited to audition by Kenneth Branagh, the film's director, after having previously worked with Branagh on Ivanov and Wallander. "Ken has had a life-changing effect. He was able to say to the executives, 'Trust me on this, you can cast Tom and he will deliver'. It was massive and it's completely changed the course of what is available to me to do. Ken gave me my break."^[11] In the beginning, he originally auditioned for the part of Thor. "I initially auditioned to play Thor. That was what I was being considered for, because I’m tall and blonde and classically trained, and that seemed to be the mold for what Thor was, he was to be a classical character. And it was in my auditions. I owe this entirely to Marvel and their open-mindedness, they saw something that they thought was interesting. They saw some temperament that they liked."^[12] The casting director gave Hiddleston six weeks to bulk up, so he went on a strict diet and gained twenty pounds of muscle. In the end, Branagh decided he was more suitable as the antagonist and cast him as Loki. To prepare for his role as Loki, Hiddleston trained in the Brazilian martial art of capoeira.^[13]

In 2011, he portrayed novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald in writer-director Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. The noble Captain Nicholls in War Horse, a film based on the 1982 novel by Michael Morpurgo, directed by Steven Spielberg. And Freddie Page, a RAF pilot in the British drama The Deep Blue Sea, alongside Rachel Weisz.

He reprised his role as the supervillain Loki in the 2012 movie The Avengers. While filming a scene with Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, the film's director, Joss Whedon told the fighting duo that the scene didn't look real enough, so Hiddleston told Hemsworth to really hit him for the fight scene. "I said to Chris, 'Dude, just hit me. Just hit me because I'm protected here and it's fine.' He's like, 'Are you sure?' I was like, 'Yeah, it will look great. Just go for it.'"^[14] Hiddleston is scheduled to reprise his Loki role again in Thor 2, which is set to start filming in August 2012.^[15]

In 2012, he will portray Prince Hal in the TV-movie adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1 & 2 and Henry V in Henry V. Other scheduled projects include Jim Jarmusch's film Only Lovers Left Alive, set to shoot in 2012,^[16] and the film adaptation of Elliott Chaze's 1953 crime novel Black Wings Has My Angel, co-starring Anna Paquin and Elijah Wood.^[17]

Hiddleston narrated the audio book The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner,^[18] poetry for iF Poems on iTunes,^[19] for the British Museum on the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, and was the voiceover for BBC's documentary on the Galapagos Island.^[20]

Awards and nominations[link]

Awards:

• 2012 Glamour Awards, Man of the Year ^[21]
• 2012 Jameson Empire Awards, Best Male Newcomer, for, Thor ^[22]
• 2012 Richard Attenborough UK Regional Film Critics' Awards, Rising Star Award, for, War Horse, Thor, The Deep Blue Sea, Midnight in Paris and Archipelago ^[23]
• 2009 Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Play, for, Othello and Ivanov ^[24]
• 2008 Laurence Olivier Award, Best Newcomer in a Play, for Cymbeline ^[25]
• 2007 Ian Charleson Awards Third Prize, for, Othello ^[26]

Nominations:

• 2012 Saturn Awards, Best Supporting Actor ^[27]
• 2012 London Evening Standard British Film Awards, Best Actor Award ^[28]
• 2012 BAFTA Awards, the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award ^[29]
• 2012 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, Best Ensemble Acting ^[30]
• 2012 SAG Awards, Best Ensemble Acting ^[31]
• 2011 My Cinema Awards, Best Supporting Actor in a Drama, Action or Horror Award ^[32]
• 2010 ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards, Best Supporting Actor ^[33]

Filmography[link]

Hiddleston at a press conference for Thor in April 2011

Film[link]

Theatre[link]

Radio[link]

Video game[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Hiddleston

• Tom Hiddleston at the Internet Movie Database

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

Laura Vandervoort
Vandervoort at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010.
Born	Laura Diane Vandervoort (1984-09-22) September 22, 1984 (age 27) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Website
www.lauravandervoort.net

Laura Diane Vandervoort^[1] (born September 22, 1984)^[1] is a Canadian actress known for her roles as Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) in the American television series Smallville, Sadie Harrison in the Canadian television series Instant Star and Lisa in the American television series V.

Early life[link]

Born on September 22, 1984 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Vandervoort was involved in several sports such as football, karate, basketball, tennis, gymnastics, and baseball.^[1]

After taking several classes and doing background work on Canadian shows such as Road to Avonlea and Harriet the Spy, she got her first speaking role in Canadian children's series Goosebumps (three episodes) and Are You Afraid of the Dark?.

Career[link]

After commercials and guest-starring roles on Mutant X, Prom Queen, Twice in a Lifetime, Doc, Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, Troubled Waters, The Dresden Files, and a few Disney TV movies (Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire, and Alley Cats Strike), at age 19 Vandervoort landed a lead role as Sadie Harrison on the CTV television series Instant Star, which ran for four seasons.

In 2006, Vandervoort shot her first feature titled The Lookout with Jeff Daniels, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Matthew Goode, and Isla Fisher. Several other TV appearances such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation led Vandervoort to the role of Clark Kent's Kryptonian cousin "Kara Kent" (the woman destined to become Supergirl) on the CW series Smallville. She was a regular in season seven, and appeared in the "Bloodline" episode for season eight.^[2] She then returned for another two episodes in the 10th and final season of Smallville.^[3]

Following the CW and Smallville, Vandervoort then shot the sequel to the feature film Into the Blue titled Into the Blue 2: The Reef. She next filmed an independent production titled The Jazzman, which also starred Canadian stars Michael Ironside (who appeared in the second V mini-series as well as the 1984 V regular series) and Corey Sevier.

Vandervoort portrayed "Lisa," an extraterrestrial Visitor, in the 2009 ABC series V, a reboot of the 1980s science fiction franchise of the same name.

In 2010, Vandervoort appeared in the two-part miniseries Riverworld in which she plays Jessie Machalan, the fiancée of war correspondent Matt Ellman who wakes up after death on a planet populated by everyone who has ever lived on Earth.^[4] It as also been announced on her official website that Vandervoort has been attached in a feature film called Entitled, which also stars Ray Liotta and Kevin Zegers.

In October 2011, she posed for PETA as part of the "Exotic Skins" campaign.^[5]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Laura Vandervoort

• Official website
• Laura Vandervoort at the Internet Movie Database
• 2010 Interview on Toro Magazine

Tom Hopper
Born	Thomas Edward Hopper (1985-01-28) 28 January 1985 (age 27) Leicestershire, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2006–present
Website
http://www.tomhopper.co.uk

Tom Hopper is an English actor who has appeared in several television programmmes and films including Merlin, Doctor Who, Casualty and Tormented. He is best known for playing Sir Percival in the BBC series Merlin.

His next screen role will be in the Rhys Hayward WWII film Grace and Danger. The film is due for release in 2013. ^[1]

Training[link]

Hopper studied acting at Rose Bruford College graduating with an honours degree in 2006. His theatre roles while at Rose Bruford included, The Tempest, The Way of the World, Colliers Friday Night and Festen.

Since graduating, he gained roles in which he was nominated for The Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature and Initiation (Max Q Film) in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Hopper was cast in As You Like It at the Watford Palace Theatre^[2][3] and has appeared in various television programmmes and films such as Saxon, Casualty, Kingdom and Doctors.

Hopper portrayed Marcus in Tormented, a comedy-horror film about a bullied teenager who comes back from the dead to take revenge on his classmates. The film was made by BBC Films, Slingshot & Forward Films. It was released internationally by Pathe, on May 22, 2009 in the UK.

Hopper currently plays Sir Percival in the BBC series Merlin.^[4]

Recognitions[link]

Hopper was voted Expert Choice by the The Stage at the Rose Bruford Acting Showcase June 2006.^{[citation needed]}

List of credits[link]

Television[link]

Film[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Tom Hopper at the Internet Movie Database

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since July 2009. It may have been edited by a contributor who has a close connection with its subject. Tagged since July 2009. It may contain improper references to self-published sources. Tagged since July 2009.

Eoin Christopher Macken (born 21 February 1983) is an Irish actor and film maker.

Macken has modelled for Abercrombie and Fitch,^[1] Ralph Lauren,^[2] and GQ.

He has appeared in films such as The Callback Queen, Studs,^[3][4] 3Crosses and Centurion, and as Gavin Cluxton on RTE television show Fair City,also as Sir Gwaine on BBC series "Merlin".

Macken has directed two feature films; Christian Blake in 2008, which screened in the 2008 Galway Film Fleadh before being released on May 19, 2009 in the USA with distributor Celebrity Distribution and Dreaming For You,^[5] shot in New York, and selected for the 2009 Galway Film Fleadh.

Macken directed the documentary The Fashion of Modelling which screened on RTE^[6] on May 24, 2009.

Career[link]

Macken began his modelling and acting career in the University College Dublin Fashion Show in 2002 and 2003,^[7] when he subsequently joined the model agency Morgan the Agency ^[8] and was selected as the face of the Abercrombie and Fitch 2003 campaign.

Macken studied acting and began theatre in the UCD drama society, and with Graham Cantwell and Rachel Rath in the Attic Studio. In 2005 Macken got his first major film role in 2006's Studs directed by Paul Mercier, also starring Brendan Gleeson and Emmett J. Scanlan.^[4] Subsequently Macken played leading roles in indie films Triple Bill and Rise of the Bricks, before moving to Los Angeles to train with acting coach Vincent Chase after completing his honors degree in Psychology. There he directed his first film, the 22 minute short film Dreaming For You, selected for the 2007 Los Angeles Short Film Festival.^[9]

In 2007 Macken's father, esteemed Barrister at Law James Macken died, leading his son to take a break from acting. In late 2007 Macken played Gavin Cluxton in the RTE show Fair City, portraying the drug dealer for over four months and then appearing live on the show Fair City Sings, performing Hallelujah. Macken dated singer Una Healy of the girl band The Saturdays until late 2008. He co-wrote and directed the song and video for her song "Don't Leave Me Alone" which was the title track for his debut feature film Christian Blake, for which Healy wrote much of the sound track.^[10] Macken also wrote and edited the no budget indie film, which premiered at the Mid Ulster Film Festival 2008, before playing in the 2008 Galway Film Fleadh, and being released on May 19, 2009 with Celebrity Distribution and the sales company Around The Scenes Inc.^[11]

In 2008, Macken was the face of the Braun campaign, and directed, wrote and edited his second feature film, Dreaming For You, which he also acted in. The film featured a soundtrack composed by Dublin band, The Evora. The film was selected for the 2009 Galway Film Fleadh having just completed post production late spring 2009.^[5]

Macken has had roles in 2009 in BBC drama Small Island directed by John Alexander, playing an American soldier Calhoon, Neil Marshall's new film Centurion opposite Michael Fassbender and Liam Cunningham, RTE series RAW season Two, and RTE Storyland series, as well as Lee Cronin's film Through The Night opposite Nora Jane Noone.

Macken directed an hour length documentary on the Irish fashion industry The Fashion of Modelling which screened on RTE 2 on May 24, 2009.^[12]

Macken filmed Andrew Hull's feature Siren opposite Anna Skellern mid summer 2009.

Since 2010, Macken has been playing the recurring character of Gwaine (loosely based on the image of Gawain) in the BBC One TV series Merlin. He has reprised the role in four episodes of the third series and all thirteen episodes of the fourth series.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18]} Gwaine is described as a man who "deep down respects honour, valour and camaraderie above everything else."^[13]

References[link]

External links[link]

• http://www.eoinmackenfrance.net
• Eoin Macken at the Internet Movie Database