Random Places

First Impression: Caught the trailer somehow, probably while I was researching news on Matthew Macfadyen, for some forgotten reason. I liked the two movies I’ve watched with MM (P&P and In My Father’s Den, and British comedy are usually funn(ier).

Afterthoughts: Well, the beginning was fairly mediocre. I found there were too many character subplot going on and most jokes were just cheap laughs or already seen in the trailer. It wasn’t until *SPOILER* someone actually “died” that it started getting interesting. Keeley Hawes, who played MM’s onscreen wife, is his actual wife in real life, and they do look cute together. The midget secret lover thing got kinda tiring after awhile, along with Simon high on drugs.

Full Name: Matthew Macfadyen
Birth date: October 17th, 1974 (32yo)
Height: 6′ 3″ (191cm)
Eye Color: Azure
Requested by: Me

Why is he featured?
Why? Because I WANT to, that’s why. It’s time I chose my second man of the moment.

Um…ok…so why is he so special?
As I like to quote Keira Knightley from time to time (because she’s hawt), “in today’s cinema, it’s fantastic, but we go for very pretty guys. And Matthew is a big bloke and really manly and just desperately romantic. Yes, he is completely irresistible.” Well thank you Keira, for putting it so nicely.

How do you pronounce his last name? Is it “MacFadyen” or Macfadyen”?
Listen to this audio clip of Matthew pronouncing his own name and judge for yourself. The “f” should be lower case. (If I remember correctly, I believe an upper case would indicate a lower-class Scot, and, vice versa, lower case for upper-class Scot.)

What’s his story?
In the US, Matthew is virtually an unknown, but he is quite famous in British theatre. After graduating from RADA, he joined the stage company Cheek by Jowl. His work with the company includes Duchess of Malfi, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, School of Scandal, and Much Ado About Nothing. In 1998, he finally made his TV debut in Wuthering Heights as Heathcliffe’s nephew. After doing two more TV series and a theatre production, he had his film debut in Maybe Baby with Hugh Laurie (House); two films and a tv role followed in year 2001.

In 2002, Macfadyen finally had his major breakthrough with the BBC award-winning drama Spooks (or MI:5 in US A&E network), playing leading role Tom Quinn, a Senior Case Officer in UK’s anti-terrorism squad, MI:5 (very much like CTU in 24). In 2003, Matthew had his first leading male role in the New Zealand film In My Father’s Den as a disillusioned war journalist who was being blamed for the disappearance of a girl he’d recently befriended.

Then came Pride & Prejudice. As most should know, P&P is adapted from a famous Jane Austen classic novel that deals with issues surrounding marriage in the late 18th, early 19th century. One of the main characters in the book is Fitzwilliam Darcy, who was recently voted as 2005 UK’s top fictional character with whom women would most like to go on a date. With the success of BBC’s mini series and Colin Firth’s acclaimed portrayal of Mr. Darcy, this role is surely a difficult one to take. But thankfully, Matthew did it, not to be an icon but as an ordinary role. He managed to film the whole movie without first reading the book and approached and interpreted the role as the screenplay described.

What’s his current project?
Matthew has a new comedy coming in June 2007 called Death at a Funeral.

— Random Quotes —

On himself:
“Not classically good-looking….. ‘I see my big face and my funny hair and I think, “Pudding head!’”

On playing Mr. Darcy:
“Well, you turn up, learn your lines, grow some sideburns, play the scene and go home. I got on with it. It really is as simple as that. You have to think about it and everything, but you can’t describe your own workings out or thinkings or wonderings.”

On marriage:
“It’s lovely. It’s very sexy being married. I never thought it would be like that, but it is.”

Matthew Macfadyen Online
Internet Movie Database
Wikipedia