Hot stuff: Meet the young cast of new primetime BBC drama White Heat
When the cast of White Heat come together for our shoot, it feels, for a moment, like seeing the 1980s Brat Pack - Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald and co - posing for a poster for their latest cult comedy. In other words, this is a cast that's going places. Sam Claflin has been on a roll since Pirates of the Caribbean and United; Claire Foy's screen-burning intensity in Channel 4's The Promise was one of the performances of 2011, building on her breakthrough role as Little Dorrit; Reece Ritchie shone in Prince of Persia; while Swedish-born MyAnna Buring has a legion of obsessive fans after joining The Twilight Saga.
Claflin plays prime mover Jack, the rebel with a cause who just happens to be rich enough to own a large house in Tufnell Park, which he lets out to new students he finds interesting. He interviews hundreds, saying he's planning an ambitious social experiment forged in 1960s' idealism to create a perfectly formed commune where everything, even sexual partners, is shared. 'You have to feel sorry for him,' Claflin grins.
'He starts off like a freedom fighter and ends up as everything he hates. He recruits like he's got a list of stereotypes: the Asian gay guy, the black guy, the techie, the feminist… One from each group to see what happens. You'd expect it to go wrong, of course, but actually the flat share is the best bit for him.'
Claflin has done the flat share - at drama school with a bunch of buddies who 'lived in each other's pockets, all slept with the same person; we had burglars wander in while we were out at the pub, who were chased off through the kitchen window by our drunk mate who'd crashed out on the sofa… the usual stuff'.
The experience proved so bonding that they are all his best friends, despite his career rocketing ahead after sharing a screen with Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush in last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Snow White & the Huntsman opposite Kristen Stewart comes out later this year and Disney has optioned him for three more movies. 'That could be Pirates or a script developed with me involved, but at the same time it could be High School Musical 7,' he deadpans.
Back in the Kilburn house where ES is photographing the cast - clothes strewn everywhere, MyAnna asking to borrow a jumper/skirt combo for a launch party later - these four actors at the start of their journey seem unfazed, giggling and narrowly avoiding a food fight with plates of jelly. Ritchie pauses for thought. 'I reckon Sam will be our Johnny Depp, Claire will be the next Dame Judi and MyAnna - whatever she does it'll be mayhem,' he says. 'Every day on set there was something astonishing. You watch them. The show may have the history but I reckon you're watching acting history right now.' ES White Heat will be on BBC Two next month
Via Gossip_Dance, Kstewangel
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