Colin Morgan won’t forget the shoot of award-winning Irish film Parked in a hurry: “We had 21 days, which was initially the main challenge for everyone. We were filming in January 2010, which, as people will remember, was one of the coldest winters we’ve ever experienced.”

Cold weather aside, it was a wonderful experience for the Armagh-born actor: “We had a great group of people. Darragh O’Byrne the director is a very passionate guy, he had worked on this project for several years with his friend Ciaran Creagh. As I read it, I fell in love with it too, I felt passionate about the characters and getting the chance to work on it was fantastic. When you love something so much and you get given the chance to do it justice, hopefully, you have got to grab it with both hands.”

Morgan plays Cathal, a drug addict, who along with Colm Meaney’s character, Fred, is living out of his car. He explained how he prepared for the role: “Prior to filming, we had done a lot of research; Darragh and myself went to a drugs rehabilitation centre and got a lot of the technicalities about drug users and drug use. So when we got started up, we felt that we were pretty much on the ball.”

“Getting to work with Colm was for me a huge delight. He’s an acting legend and working with him in such close proximity was fantastic and we worked really well together. It flew by, it was such a quick shoot – tough and challenging but in the end I think it was very successful.”

READ MORE @ RTE.

The legendary Bryan Ferry and Grammy award-winning soul singer Joss Stone are among the line-up for a special programme to mark the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic.

Titanic: A Commemoration in Music and Film will be broadcast live on BBC Two on 14 April, 100 years after the ill-fated liner hit an iceberg.

The 90-minute event is being stage at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall, just across the river from the Harland & Wolff ship yard, where the liner was built.

Archive and specially commissioned documentary material, accompanied by stunning visual effects, will re-tell the story of the ship, those who built her and those who perished or survived.

Others confirmed for the event include Charlie Siem, one of the UK’s brightest new classical stars and acclaimed English tenor Alfie Boe.

Armagh-born actor Colin Morgan, who stars in the BBC One series, Merlin, and Belfast actor Ian McElhinney will also take part.

Source: BBC.

“Packing two terrific performances and a quirky independent spirit, Byrne’s bittersweet coming-of-middle-age comedy is an unexpected treat. 4 stars” Total Film

Directed by Darragh Byrne, Starring Colm Meaney (The Van) and Colin Morgan (Merlin)

Fred (Colm Meaney, The Snapper), has fallen on hard times and finds himself living in his car with little hope of improving his situation. That all changes when he forms an unlikely friendship with Cathal (Colin Morgan, Merlin), a dope-smoking 21-year-old with a positive attitude, and his new ‘neighbour’ in the Dublin car park they call home.

Cathal is determined to help Fred sort his life out. He modifies his car, helps him sign on the dole and make a friend in Jules, an attractive music teacher. But as Fred struggles with his pride to tell Jules about his ‘home’, and Cathal’s drug habit spirals out of control, their friendships are tested as their lives change forever.

To enter:

1) Like us on Facebook, and add a comment saying “I want to win a PARKED DVD” and then click SHARE to share it with your friends

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2) Follow us on Twitter, then tweet “I want to win a PARKED DVD! @musicnewsweb”

It’s that simple! Winners will be notified by phone/email.

Best of luck!

Source: Film News.

Firstly, Colin is really tall. Then comes the pleasant discovery that he is in fact far better looking than Merlin! Somehow, he just looks more chaotically boyish and masculine; like a young Gregory Peck in the film How the West Was One. He is wearing a casual, blue and white check shirt, which just reinforces this idea, and hints at his love of being outside in nature, admiring sloths and bears. He would make a terrific cowboy. Then there are the eyes, which are very blue, lively, intelligent and inquisitive – but the hair is a revelation! Forget the glassy, smooth mop of the young wizard – Colin’s hair is thick, curly and plain unruly. In fact, he looks like he has just got out of bed! Which he probably has, as he has been up for hours, graciously conducting interviews on Skype for the world’s press, and answering such riveting questions as ‘what is his favourite pizza topping’, and ‘how would he like to spend a first date’.

Morgan is an appealing mix of raw, natural talent, and a rare maturity and thoughtfulness, perhaps fuelled by the self-knowledge that he is only too aware of the extraordinary journey it has taken him to arrive here at all.

“When I first started playing Merlin, I relied on instinct and my own experiences,” he says. “ I thought about what it must be like not to be able to show who you are and what your greatest gift is in a world that persecutes magic. I guess you can relate that to a lot of things. For me it’s about wanting to be an actor, growing up in Northern Ireland; and not being able to express that desire, because the opportunities just aren’t there.”

READ MORE @ Ethical Hedonist.

Featuring exclusive bonus features – including a ‘making of’ documentary, commentaries, hilarious out-takes and deleted scenes – The Complete Fourth Series of BBC One’s Merlin is released on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday 23rd January.

> Read our review.

To celebrate, we’ve got DVD and Blu-ray boxsets to give away to five of our Twitter followers!

For a chance to win, just follow CultBox on Twitter and tweet the following text:

_{Win #MerlinSeries4Boxsets @cultboxtv http://bit.ly/w8GXyG}

Starring Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Angel Coulby, Katie McGrath, Anthony Head and Richard Wilson with John Hurt as the voice of the dragon, Series 4 sees the most dramatic change yet in the fortunes of our heroes and is the most exciting series so far.

> Buy the Series 4 boxset on Amazon.

With a thrilling mix of action, adventure, pure magic and the arrival of the fearless Knights of Camelot, Series 4 includes guest appearances by Gemma Jones (Spooks), Phil Davis (Doctor Who) and Nathaniel Parker (Narnia).

Winners will be selected at midday on Thursday 9th February 2012.

Terms & Conditions:
You must be resident in the UK to enter. Employees and contributors of CultBox.co.uk and their families are not eligible to enter. Only one entry per person is permitted. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The prize may not be transferred to any other person. No cash alternative or alternative prize is available on entrant’s request, but in the event of the advertised competition prize being unavailable we reserve the right to offer an alternative prize of equal or greater value. Entry in the competition implies acceptance of these rules. Prizes are 3 x DVD boxsets and 2 x Blu-ray boxsets.

Source: Cultbox.

Merlin has come a long way since its first season. This lighthearted, fun, and fantastical BBC show about the legend of King Arthur and Merlin before they became legends has earned a loyal following over the years. As SyFy gets ready to air the fourth season, which promises to take the show in a whole new direction, I took part in a conference call with actor Colin Morgan (Merlin) to find out what’s in store for the young warlock and his friends.

At the end of season three, Morgana (Katie McGrath) and her half-sister Morgause (Emilia Fox) failed to take control of Camelot. Morgana continues to play a central role in the series, now as the head villain, and is intent on destroying the newly crowned King Arthur (Bradley James) with the help of the double-agent Agravaine (Nathanial Parker), Arthur’s uncle and closest adviser. It’s up to Merlin to continue protecting Arthur while still keeping his magical abilities a secret.

The relationship between Arthur and Merlin has always been the heart of the show. So it’s sad to hear that with Arthur as king, their relationship becomes strained in some ways.

“We see them grow apart a little bit, actually,” said Morgan. “There’s a new character called Agravaine, Arthur’s uncle who comes on the scene. He’s exactly where Merlin should be. It’s about Merlin trying to regain that position to try to get by Arthur’s side, to be there for him and to get him to make the right decisions.”

Merlin’s attempts, apparently, are not in vain. Morgan explains that his great power this season isn’t entirely magical. It’s in the power of words and Merlin’s growing wisdom, which Arthur does pay attention to.

“Arthur listen to him a lot more. You’re seeing Arthur in fact change the way he’s thinking sometimes because of what Merlin says,” said Morgan. “But they’re also growing a little bit further apart. So Merlin has to work awful hard to try and be heard.”

READ MORE @ Popitimal.

One of the big draws for our readers, and I guess for a lot of Merlin viewers, is Merlin and Arthur’s relationship. Can you tell us how we’re going to see that grow and change over the course of Series 4?
Yeah, I mean it’s  one of the most iconic relationships in legend, and it’s very much about Merlin bringing Arthur to the point where he can rule the kingdom, where it’s fit for him, and he’s fit for himself. And in the fourth season we see them growing apart a bit, actually. There’s a new character called Agravaine, who’s Arthur’s uncle, who [Merlin] realizes very, very quickly is not all it appears he is. Yet he’s Arthur’s right-hand man, he’s exactly where Merlin should be… and it’s about Merlin trying to re-gain that position, to be by Arthur’s side, to get him to make the right decisions. Because things very quickly change and Arthur gets more responsibility. And it’s where Merlin should be, and he’s not there, and it’s about him sort of grappling with the whole concept.

What is your favorite Merlin to play? Is it the sort of clumsy, funny Merlin, or the dramatic Merlin, or the Great Dragoon Merlin?
I would say it’s the variety, that I like, it’s the facets of the character, that’s what fascinates me. I think variety’s the spice of life, and being able to push yourself in all directions – that’s what it is, the complexity that I enjoy the most.

What attracted me to the series was the fact that growing up I read all the different variations on Camelot and the Arthurian legends, and what I liked about it was that this one’s focusing on Merlin’s backstory. I mean Merlin, to me, was always a mysterious character, and I liked that. But also, in seasons four and five will he be taking more of that puppetmaster role that I was used to seeing in the previous stories and the previous tellings of that legend?
Yeah, that’s a big theme, actually, coming up in this season, because that’s  absolutely what Merlin’s driving towards. He’s gaining wisdom and a certain kind of power in that wisdom. Certainly in parts you’re seeing Arthur listen to him a lot more, you’re seeing Arthur in fact change the way he’s thinking, sometimes, because of what Merlin says. And you see the beginnings of that, and that’s pretty exciting. But they’re also growing a little bit further apart, so I’d say Merlin has to work ultra-hard to try and be heard. And hopefully by the end of the season you’ll see that the relationship has come to the point where maybe they’re ready to set rules and set grounds and become a good team to rule the kingdom.

READ MORE @ Clique Clack.

Merlin is famously awkward around fair maidens, and he is no stranger to embarrassing himself around Camelot’s royalty as well. In Season 4, do we start to see a more capable Merlin and perhaps even someone we should begin to recognize as Camelot’s great wizard warrior?

Our characters always had this kind of growing-up feel, particularly for Merlin. In a way, he’s got the slowest-burning journey. He has to put himself last, after everyone else. He’s been thrown into this world, with his destiny of ensuring that the kingdom reaches its full height, that magic is restored to the kingdom and that Arthur becomes the greatest king the land has ever known. Only then can Merlin be who he is going to be. He really has to put himself last, which is maybe why he hasn’t developed as much as the others but he certainly is becoming a lot more mature. He is becoming a lot less naïve, he’s wiser and he’s more grounded. He is also developing a better understanding of who he is supposed to be and what he’s supposed to do.

As we enter into the fourth series, we really see him grappling to keep hold of his relationship with Arthur too because in a way, things happen and things come to head where they are slowly growing apart and that’s a big, big challenge for Merlin this series – to really hold onto what he has.

Some of the best parts of Merlin are the banter between Merlin and Arthur. Despite all these big-budget, epic battles coming this season, is there still the same level of playfulness between the characters?

There’s definitely still that banter-filled relationship between Merlin and Arthur. As dark as the show goes, it always balances itself with some great humor. It really makes it interesting when the writers try to balance it out that way. Fans of the relationship and the banter between Merlin and Arthur really should have no worries at all – it’s all still there.

READ MORE @ Comic Book Resources.

>> Did you ever think the show would be this successful?

I don’t think anyone thought it would end up where it has. That’s not to say we didn’t believe in the stories. Five years is a hard thing to imagine for any commitment. The fan base is growing bigger right across the world.

>> How has the Merlin character changed?

It was always going to be a tale of growing up for Merlin. How does he become the great wizard that we know from the legends? Merlin is the one who is most lost amongst everyone. That is because the one thing he loves (magic) is the one thing he cannot do (because it is outlawed) in Camelot.

We have seen him go from a naive boy who trusted in people a little bit too much to now having gained wisdom, power and strength. We’re seeing him grow into a young man. The same thing has happened with Arthur, who has just become king.

This is the biggest step but it has happened in the wrong way. Arthur’s father died by magic, which is not what Merlin wanted at all. Now there are higher stakes. Everything could be lost.

>> The show centres on the relationship between Merlin and Arthur. How do you get on with your co-star Bradley James?

We were all new when we started this show so we were all embarking on this adventure together. Bradley and I were always going to have a lot of scenes together. We have a great rapport.

>> The tone of the show has changed, especially in series three when Morgana (Katie McGrath) became a villain.

I think the series is at its strongest when it goes a little bit darker. It will always have elements of humour but we’re entering into serious territory now. You see our characters going through these huge emotional things that are going to change their lives forever. They are stories that shouldn’t be taken lightly. We’re not afraid to go in that direction.

>> Morgana seems to hate Camelot even more in the current series.

One of Merlin’s big things is using your powers for the right reasons. Morgana is the perfect example of how things can go so badly wrong. It is a great shift for Katie’s character and she does it perfectly.

Source: Adelaide Now.

Parked tackles serious issues but in a unique way – is that what attracted you?
Absolutely… You watch this film and it does have a very bleak undertone to it, because it does deal with homelessness, it does touch on a bit of the economic state of Ireland, and drug abuse, all very serious issues. But it very much focuses on the human story, and the hope and how Irish people tend to cope in these situations – which is very resiliently, I think, and in a way in which they don’t let themselves get down and they battle through. By the end of the film, Colm Meaney’s character Fred is changed forever by it. For a tough subject matter, it has a very strong message of hope.

Parked is almost a two-hander between you and Meaney – was that intense?

It was great. It definitely focuses on our friendship throughout the movie, and then of course the third character is Jules ??, . These three characters are all in a very lonely place. Darragh the director was always saying that these characters were essentially ‘parked’ in life, you know? They weren’t going anywhere. That was another theme of the film. Of course, a big part of what my character does for Fred is to not have him so static, to move him on in life. We do have some very intense scenes but lots of fun ones; there’s a lot of humour in there. As the film goes on, it does become a lot more intense. Working with Colm Meaney, being such an incredible Irish actor, is an absolute honour.

READ MORE @ The Irish World.