Thanks REReader for the heads up on this.  Sounds like it will be a real quality event for sure.  I'll be watching it on the livestreaming too!  I am sure it will be available to view later - they usually are.  A lot of times they are on Youtube.

When I went to the link and saw the B/W picture of Keira and him on the site I just was gobsmacked at how little I see of Sherlock (or even Benedict) in this photo of "Alan Turing".  He looks nothing like Ben or Sherlock to me in that photo.  Not just the obvious (clothes and hair style) but also his posture, the way he is holding his mouth and even the way he is positioning his hands on the table!  It's just fascinating to see how much he becomes the person he is portraying. 

BTW: The event is already sold out.

-Val

Ah-chie wrote:

I am sure it will be available to view later - they usually are.  A lot of times they are on Youtube.

[LIKE] 

Thanks for the heads-up!    It's on now!    Exciting! 

jet lagged?  check.   wedding ring?   check. 

At least whenI checked back you can see it again on the link I has from the NYT site.  I couldn't get the other one to work but I will try again in the morning.

I thought the whole thing was very informative.  Not just hearing Ben but also hearing KK talk about so many topics.  I will watch it again in the morning and comment further (it's past my bedtime now!).  

A couple of things I will say - I noticed Ben was twiddling a bit with his ring (my hubby is a twiddler too - and it's one of the reasons he never wears his wedding ring).  Adorable.

I loved how he would stop talking sometimes and draw KK into the conversation (and if she was reluctant he would compliment her to encourage her).  Or he would pointedly make sure that the question asked was directed to Keira  And Keira's story about how the photogs used to harrass her when she was just 19 was frightening and truly made me angry for her!   

In the end the poor man really did have to go to the bathroom!  You could tell Ben was desperate to get off the stage and was trying so hard not to appear rude and just get up leave but he had to beg the moderator to let him go to relieve himself.  I felt so sorry for him - when nature calls!  A very human moment.

-Val

Oh yes, the socks are back! And a bit of The Thing, as well...



 

Last edited by SolarSystem (February 17, 2015 7:01 am)

The Thing... have a look...

SolarSystem wrote:

The Thing... have a look...

 
Ah, now I see it 

He's looking good for a man with jet lag and after a no doubt busy weekend.

REReader wrote:

It sounds wonderful, but I came home late from my class and now I can't find it anywhere to watch. Does anyone know where it can be watched now that it's over, or am I just out of luck...

I haven't been able to find anywhere to re-watch it online yet, but surely someone will put it on youtube! *fingers crossed*

Well, I think on the Times Tallks site they will be posting an upload in the near future (maybe three days or so - perhaps a month?).  It also appears it is available if you go to their youtube videos about that time too.

I was lucky enough to be able to see the whole thing from start to finish and really enjoyed it.  I taped the Jimmy Kimmel show (Dan watched part of that live) but I made the choice to go with the Times Talk/TIFF and watch that knowing it would be longer and not as "fluffy". 

And it was the right choice for me.  After I was done with the Times Talk livestreaming I watched the taped version of Kimmel and when I went back to the Times site it was still there so I thought they were going to put it up for a while - apparently it didn't last the night though.  

I wish I could have been able to see it again (I was kind of banking on it so it could refresh my memory) but I will try to give you folks here a rundown of what I remember.

After a rather lengthy (at least it seemed to me to be interminably looooong) introduction by reps from the TIFF and Times Talk people Ben and Keira were brought out with the moderator (I think she was a reporter from the NYT) and the talk began.  I don''t remember for sure but I think only Ben brought a bottle of water (which later fatefully proved to be the catalyst for the abrupt ending of the event), I don't think Keira had any water. 

There was the usual intro about the movie and they showed a clip.  The mod seemed like she had done some research and did listen to what they were saying but sometimes she seemed doggedly determined to stay on a certain course even if Ben (mainly it was Ben but sometimes Keira) corrected her about certain things concerning the movie.  But still she wasn't too bad (except one time which I will get to a bit later). 

Ben did a LOT of talking in the beginning and Keira did a bit (like I said before, at least a couple of times Ben consciously deferred to Keira in order not to monopolise things I think).  And credit to the mod, she often asked questions about Joan Clarke directly to Keira (which she answered very thoroughly I thought). 

A couple of times Ben would answer a question (at great length) and then he would turn to Keira and say something like "What do you think?" or nod to her to say her bit and she would say "I think you said it so much better than what I could say." and smile and then he would say "Not true!  You are articulate!" 

The mod asked them about growing up in an acting household and when they decided that acting was for them.  Keira said that she has been told that she actually asked for an agent at the age of 3 (she also added that she doesn't remember saying that but that is what others tell her she said).  Ben thought that was really funny.  And then Keira went on to say that she actually did get an agent at the age of 6 and that her parents used her interest in acting to encourage her to overcome her dylexia and stay in school.  Even today she cannot read cold scripts at readthroughs and needs to practise them in order to participate in a readthrough.  She left school somewhere in what NA would call I think and when she said something about not being smart enough to get her A Levels (something she promised her mum she would still do) and someone laughed a bit I think. Ben jumped in and seemed really defensive and said something about "What are you laughing about?" to the audience and then said emphatically "Not true!  You would definitely be able to get A levels!  and more!"  He is so protective of his friends and from what I have seen Keira is a highly intelligent lady. 

There was a lot of discussion about playing the roles and Ben described how he almost lost it in the ending scene with Keira because Turing affected him so much that he was "grieving as Ben for Alan".  Keira described her research into Joan in quite a bit of detail.  And Ben decribed in great detail all the reading he did for Alan and how he had to do some just to understand the things that the art department set out for props (like the diagrams and gizmos that they had Turing fiddling with in some scenes when he was building "Christopher"). 

The only really tense part (other than when it ended) was when the mod during the discussion about getting the accents right for the period (which included a lot of fascinating detail from Keira and Ben about nailing the accents) started on about Ben being good at mimicking others' voices and then prompted him about doing his favourite impersonation.  Ben demured politely at first and then she insisted a bit more and you could just see him get his back up and he said something to the effect of "actor = trained monkey" and that it wasn't really dignified stuff for the NYT/TIFF talks. 

There was, what I thought, a bit of an awkward pause and then Ben joked a bit about the NYTimes/TIFF Talks being a bit of a tongue twister and the awkward moment passed.  Later on in the interview (about 20 minutes or so I think) he did do a rather harsh American accent when talking about something and then (ever sharp as he is) he said something like "There, that's kind of an impersonation - as close as you will get tonight."  LOL! 

Gosh, there was sooooo much in this interview!  The remembrances are just flooding in like a jumble. 

I hope this doesn't sound too rambly.  Apologies if it does. 

The mod congrats him on his recent wedding and Ben was so playful about it.  He did a slight feign of surprise and held his ring hand up flat on his chest and then looked down and said "Oh - what's here!?!" or something like that and then said "Thank you" for the congrats to the mod. Everyone clapped I think and he acknowledged their good wishes.

There was also a lengthy discussion about the affect of fame on their personal lives.  The mod asked that since Keira had experienced fame a lot younger than Ben had she given him any advice on how to handle it?  Ben said "She does it in the way she carries herself in everyday life.  She is never (and I am sorry but I can't remember the exact wording here - but it meant that she isn't didactic) about that sort of thing." 

And then Keira went into a long story about how the paps would hang around her house when she was 18-19 in droves and when she went out they would call her a whore to her face and try to take pictures up her dress to get her to cry on film for the "money shots" that they would get big bucks for. 

Ben had such a grim, intense look of horror on his face when he was listening to her relate this.  He said very little but it was plain to see he was really upset.  His only real remark was something like "how vile and disgusting it was" and a bit more about hard it would be.  But he didn't say anything about his own situation.  Keira went on to say that it was much, much better now and she got through it. 

She said now there are laws in place to prevent such a severe form of abuse like that by the paps and that now she is older she isn't in such demand as a "money shot" person. 

They did open up the forum to questions from the audience.  They weren't as good as the questions from the Fandango video session but they were OK.  But this is where Ben started getting antsy about drinking his full bottle of water during the session.  He mentioned that he had to "go" soon to the mod.  She didn't clue in. 

More questions came and he answered them.  Then he said again he had to go to the bathroom  - really! and that he had drank a full bottle of water (he picked up the empty bottle and shook it, just to prove it, I think).  Keira said something like "You do have to go."  And he said "Yes". 

The mod said OK just one more question.  He agreed and it was asked.  And then the mod allowed one more question.  Ben jumped up and said in such a hurred, strained voice something like "I hate to be rude but I REALLY have to go right now." and he started fumbling around (with the lavalier mic on his shirt and his glasses, which had been hanging out of his jacket pocket the whole interview) as he was leaving.

Finally the mod clued in that this man was in misery and had to get out of there and I swear she said "Oh!  I guess this is over." and got up too.  Ben nodded quickly to the audience and exited quickly and then the mod and Keira left. 

I really felt for Ben!  Like I said, it was a really human moment and he handled it the best he could but the mod was as thick as a brick to his pleas.  Honestly, I just wanted to shake her.  But I know it was difficult since it was a live event.  But I think it could have been handled better by her.  Not Ben's fault at all - when the loo calls you have to answer that knock!

I hope I have helped fill in a bit for everyone who didn't get a chance to see it.  Like I said - it's just from memory so please (if you get a chance ever to see it) don't take every sentence as gospel - I probably jumbled up somethings for sure.  I am dealing with 60+ year old memory cells in my noggin! 

I have full faith that the NYT will eventually put this up on their site.  Then we can all have a good laugh at all the mix-ups made by me!

-Val

 

Last edited by Ah-chie (February 17, 2015 5:30 pm)