What has UK actor/director/writer Gary Oldman got to do with the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe, t-shirts and finally – me?
Well, apart from Gary and Mr Marlowe being two of the UK’s greatest theatrical industry exports and Gary appearing in “Massacre of Paris” (one of Marlowe’s plays) with the Glasgow Citizens Theatre in 1980, the full connection isn’t really that obvious. But, as of last week, it now exists. Which I’m very, VERY chuffed about.
And the above photo says it all. Yes, that is Gary Oldman (Harry Potter, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, etc, etc, etc) holding up a t-shirt that features the words “Marlowe: its an Elizabethan thing …™” – which refers to Christopher (Kit) Marlowe, the Elizabethan playwright and was designed by … me.
Yep, Gary Oldman, who I will happily admit is one of my top five favourite actors, is now the owner of a t-shirt that little ol’ me was responsible for designing. It is currently featured in one of my online stores – The Shakespeare Shoppe – which you’ll find here. And, while I’m in the vein of shameless self-promotion and heavy-handed name dropping, I may as well also tell you that there are over 90 products featuring the design, and you can see all of them here.
In all seriousness, I’d just like to say thank you to Gary for not only liking the design enough to want to own a t-shirt featuring it, and agreeing to have the photo taken as evidence that he really does now own the t-shirt, but also letting me use said photo so blatantly! Thanks too, must go to Tor, who, apart from being the best friend a designer can have, took the photo and made sure I got a copy.
I am particularly pleased that Gary chose one of my Marlowe shirts, as the Elizabethan theatre is a bit of an obsession for me – as anyone who knows me can attest. You can blame my time at drama school in London for that one. Probably also explains my penchant for British actors as well.
Gary has been busy doing a lot of things – acting being what he’s best known for, for good reason – but he has been making strides into the world behind the camera as well. To illustrate, I’d like to share the trailer for the new documentary “Take Flight” by Juliet Landau about Gary’s creative process as director for “Red Rover” the new music video for Hip Hop group “Chutzpah” (the video clip was shot entirely on Nokia cell phones):
Vodpod videos no longer available.For full information about the doco, visit http://julietlandaustakeflight.com/
And on the acting front, for those who have been living under a rock over the past two months, and may have missed the publicity for Gary’s latest film, here’s an interview with Gary about the current Batman flick “The Dark Knight” in which he plays Jim Gordon:
And an interview with CBS, again for “The Dark Knight”:
Thank you again Gary, you’ve made one Australian designer/actor/writer a very happy gal!
FINE PRINT:
GARY OLDMAN WITH MARLOWE T-SHIRT
Photo copyright © Tor Hyams & Gary Oldman. Used with permission.
T-shirt design copyright © Sally McLean. All Rights Reserved.
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