Sheridan Smith

Sheridan Smith Reveals She Nearly Quit Acting After Father's Death

By Ed Biggs in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 26 April 2018

The death of her father, Colin, from cancer in 2016 hit her hard.

Sheridan Smith has revealed that she strongly considered quitting acting following the death of her father.

The 36 year old actor, famed for her roles in ‘Cilla’ and ‘Mrs Biggs’, was left devastated in late 2016 following the death of her beloved father, Colin Smith, and pulled out of an appearance at the Royal Variety Performance a few weeks afterwards.

Fast forward nearly two years, and Smith is celebrating the release of her debut music album, titled simply Sheridan, at the end of 2017. This marked a bond between father and daughter, as Colin and mum Marilyn formed the country and western duo The Daltons, and Smith and her brother Damian often performed with them on the stage when they were younger.

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Sheridan Smith seen arriving at the 2016 Evening Standard Theatre Awards held at the Old Vic - London, United Kingdom - Sunday 13th November 2016

Sheridan Smith seen leaving The Savoy Theatre in the West End, London, United Kingdom - Wednesday 17th August 2016

Sheridan Smith is full of smiles as she poses for pictures with fans outside The Savoy Theatre after performing in 'Funny Girl' - London, United Kingdom - Saturday 9th July 2016

The Huntsman: Winter's War Review

Weak

Aside from success at the box office, there was nothing about 2012's rather uneven fantasy Snow White and the Huntsman that screamed out for a sequel. And indeed, this prequel/sequel hybrid doesn't quite make sense, muddling its premise by straining to keep Snow White herself out of the story (she's always just off screen) while spinning a tale that feels so derivative that we feel like we've seen it all before. The powerhouse cast does what it can, aided by some fabulous costumes, but it's impossible to escape the feeling that there's nothing to it.

Decades before her encounter with Snow White, Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) was just beginning her violent march toward power when her sister Freya (Emily Blunt) suffered a terrible tragedy. Believing that love itself betrayed her, Freya moves to another kingdom and inflicts a frozen winter on her subjects, raiding the surrounding lands for children she will raise to fight, with love between them forbidden. When her two top fighters, Eric and Sara (Chris Hemsworth and Jessica Chastain), can't help but fall for each other, they are severely punished. Years later, after Eric's adventure with Ravenna and Snow White, he sets out to get rid of Ravenna's pesky magic mirror, accompanied by four frisky dwarfs (Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith and Alexandra Roach). And this puts them all on a collision course with the icy Freya.

The script feels like it was written by a committee desperate to get something, anything on-screen. The first half of the film is essentially the backstory, and the second half is a Hobbit-style quest with moments of random Game of Thrones-style action thrown in simply to give the special effects team a workout. This isn't too surprising considering that the movie is the directing debut of effects expert Cedric Nicolas-Troyan. So if it makes little logical sense, at least it looks achingly cool, especially when the duelling divas are clad in spectacular frocks by Colleen Atwood.

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The Huntsman: Winter's War Trailer

Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?' is a line from a fairy-tale echoed down the ages but not many know the story behind the famous fairy-tale and how one mothers love for her child unleashed a wrath which drastically changed the land.

Freya, the Ice Queen flees her homeland and takes to a cold winter land where she raises a group of hardened soldiers, the huntsmen remain by her side for many years and they are her protectors; the only command issued to the fighters is that they must not love.

As Freya learns of her demise, she decides that she will resurrect her sister with the help of the magic mirror, usually found at the side of her sister, evil Queen Ravenna. As Freya dispatches her army to capture the mirror two of her former huntsman decide that they must destroy the mirror as its power is too great for any person to harness. The fate of the Kingdom relies on the true huntsman.

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The Huntsman Winters War Trailer

Long before the evil Queen Ravenna was thought to have been killed by Snow White, she sat idly by as her sister Freya fled their kingdom after suffering devastating heartbreak and betrayal.

Armed with her power to freeze any enemy, Freya the ice queen spent decades in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen, including Eric and warrior Sara. But Freya soon discovered that he two most prized fighters had defied her by breaking her most important rule of all: Forever harden your hearts to love.

After learning of her sister's demise, Freya then summons her remaining soldiers to bring the Magic Mirror home to the only sorceress left who can harness its power. But when she discovers Ravenna can be resurrected from its golden depths, the two sisters threaten their enchanted land with twice the darkest force it's ever seen.

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BAFTA TV Nominations Announced! The Missing Gets The Most Nods For 2015

By Holly Williams in Movies / TV / Theatre on 08 April 2015

BAFTA Benedict Cumberbatch Toby Jones James Nesbitt Jason Watkins Keeley Hawes Sarah Lancashire Sheridan Smith Ant and Dec

Benedict Cumberbatch and James Nesbitt head 'Leading Actors'.

The BAFTA Television Award nominations for 2015 have finally been announced, including the usual entertainment favourites, some easily predictable names and a few surprises along the way that represent the very best of British television.

James Nesbitt at BBC Broadcasting House
James Nesbitt's 'The Missing' leads the nominations

We're never tired of hearing his name at awards ceremonies; 'Sherlock' star Benedict Cumberbatch is once again nominated for his exceptional performance as the modern-day sleuth on a show that the public has also put up to receive the Radio Times Audience Award. More Leading Actor nominations feature Toby Jones in 'Marvellous', which is also in the Single Drama category and Best Supporting Actress with Gemma Jones.

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10 Things You Didn't Know About James Corden

By Charlotte Court in Movies / TV / Theatre on 11 August 2014

James Corden Ruth Jones Alison Steadman Sheridan Smith Sir Paul McCartney

As James Corden looks set for stateside presenting glory, we look at some of the lesser known facts about this comedy Brit.

Rumours are rife of James Corden’s appointment as the new host of the CBS chat programme, The Late Late Show. Reports have suggested that Corden is taking over the slot from current host, Craig Ferguson, although representatives for the British comedy actor and CBS have yet to confirm the situation.

Reports suggested that James Corden will be the next host of CBS' The Late Late Show

Already a big hit in the UK from Gavin and Stacey, Americans seem as yet unsure about the potential new face on their screens as they know little about him. So, to help our stateside counterparts and to give us Brits a little bit more information about this comedy favourite, here are 10 things that you didn’t know about James Corden.

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Mixed Reviews For ITV's 'The Widower', But Reece Shearsmith Impresses Critics

By Jack de Aguilar in Movies / TV / Theatre on 18 March 2014

Reece Shearsmith Sheridan Smith

See what the press have been saying about ITV's latest serialised dramatisation.

The new three-part ITV drama, ‘The Widower’ aired last night (March 18, 2014). The show aims to tell the story of Mark Webster, who was convicted for the murder of his first wife, and the attempted murder of his second. But what have the critics made of this, the latest attempt by ITV to dramatise horrific, real-life events.

Reece Shearsmith Is Excellent as Mark Webster

The show sees Reece Shearsmith in the lead role, who, as Mark Monahan of The Telegraph notes, looks nothing like Webster. But it “Shearsmith’s quietly depraved, just about plausible central performance that made last night’s first episode really rather watchable,” he added in his three-star review.

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Sheridan Smith To Star As Cilla Black In ITV Three-Part Series

By Nick Hill in Movies / TV / Theatre on 18 February 2014

Sheridan Smith

Sheridan Smith is "really honoured" and "thrilled to be playing Cilla, as she is a British icon," in the upcoming Jeff Pope-written three part series for ITV, which will follow the early years of the Liverpool native's career.

Sheridan Smith has signed on to play Cilla Black in an upcoming three-part drama for ITV.

The 32 year-old actress will portray the Liverpool native's "rocky rise to fame and will capture the essence of 1960s Liverpool."

The upcoming series, which was penned by BAFTA winner and 'Philomena' writer Jeff Pope, will focus on her younger years, emerging on the famed Merseyside music scene when she went by her real name, Priscilla Black.

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Sheridan Smith - The World Premiere of 'Harry Hill The Movie' - Arrivals - London, United Kingdom - Thursday 19th December 2013

Powder Room Review

By Rich Cline

Weak

While women in the audience may find resonance in the comical prickliness, this film remains more of a stage play than an actual movie. Indeed, playwright Hirons has adapted the script from her play When Women Wee, but it's such a broad farce that we never quite believe any of it on-screen. Although two of the actresses nicely underplay their characters for the cameras.

The story takes place almost entirely in the ladies' room at a British nightclub, where the disorganised Sam (Smith) is having a night out with her friends: shameless maneater Chanel (Winstone), trashy Saskia (Hoare) and the too-nice Paige (Steele). Then Sam runs into the posh Michelle (Nash) and her gorgeous French friend Jess (Chaplin), and decides to ditch her pals. But the club isn't big enough to avoid them for long, and things get increasingly messy for everyone as the night progresses. Meanwhile, the restroom attendant (Fiori) just laughs at their melodrama.

With Sam at the centre, every other woman is essentially a stereotype carefully written to convey some aspect of femininity. By contrast, the men are barely defined at all, so only two register, both of them unusually nice: Sam's ex (Warren) and a guy (Balfour) she chats to in the smoking area. But in this large ensemble, only Sheridan and Winstone manage to give their characters three dimensions, mainly because they create properly cinematic performances that rely on understated details rather than histrionics.

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Jude Law As 'Henry V' Is (Probably) The Best Acting Performance Of 2013

By Joe Wilde in Movies / TV / Theatre on 05 December 2013

Jude Law Judi Dench Daniel Radcliffe Ben Whishaw Sheridan Smith David Walliams Michael Grandage

The latest take on Shakespeare's historic play is a hit with critics and audiences at the Noel Coward Theatre in London

The latest stage version of William Shakespeare's historic epic Henry V is currently playing to packed-out audiences at the Noel Coward Theatre on London's West End, with critics being particularly taken by lead man Jude Law, who portrays the embattled monarch in Michael Grandage's take on the show.

Jude Law is being roundly praised for his depiction of Henry V

The last instalment of the Michael Grandage Company’s season on the West End, it may also be the best too, thanks largely to the star performance from its lead performer. After a successful 15-month season, consisting of five plays each performed at the Noel Coward Theatre, Henry V marks the end of Grandage's triumphant run, but he couldn't have ended things on higher note. Whilst praise has been distributed to the direction and stage design for the show, it is Law's lead performance that has captured critics and audiences alike, as the Dom Hemingway actor continues his good run of form as a critically acclaimed acting talent.

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Kate Nash, Jaime Winstone and Sheridan Smith - 'Powder Room' film premiere held at the Cineworld Haymarket - Arrivals. - London, United Kingdom - Wednesday 27th November 2013