{"id":354855,"date":"2011-03-31T21:29:14","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T21:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/31\/ben-barnes-on-the-pitfalls-of-playing-a-rock-n-roll-failure-in-killing-bono\/"},"modified":"2011-03-31T21:29:14","modified_gmt":"2011-03-31T21:29:14","slug":"ben-barnes-on-the-pitfalls-of-playing-a-rock-n-roll-failure-in-killing-bono","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/31\/ben-barnes-on-the-pitfalls-of-playing-a-rock-n-roll-failure-in-killing-bono\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Barnes on the pitfalls of playing a rock ‘n’ roll failure in Killing Bono"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

\nBy
\nLouise Gannon<\/a>
Last updated at 10:29 PM on 31st March 2011<\/p>\n

\n\"You<\/p>\n

You two: Robert Sheehan and Ben Barnes (right) play brothers Ivan and Neil in new film Killing Bono<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

From the outside, it may seem like Ben Barnes is getting too big for his breeches. <\/p>\n

After becoming a heartthrob playing Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia, he\u2019s now swapped lions, witches and wardrobes for the world of a wannabe rock star in his new film, Killing Bono. <\/p>\n

But Barnes, who plays Neil McCormick \u2014 a real life schoolmate of the U2 frontman \u2014 has remained refreshingly down to earth. Perhaps it helps that his character\u2019s rival band, Shook Up, proved to be as disastrous as U2 were successful. <\/p>\n

The 30-year-old star laughs as he recalls one wardrobe malfunction during filming, which involved a pair of circulation-stopping trousers. <\/p>\n

\u2018I was belting out a song, doing my rock star bit, and suddenly felt them splitting. But I had to go with it, so I finished the scene with my flies open, screaming and shouting like the least cool man ever. <\/p>\n

\u2018That was the joy of the movie. My character is ridiculous and over the top but I\u2019m not so English and buttoned-up. I loved playing the fool and taking the p*** out of myself. It was liberating.\u2019<\/p>\n

He also got the chance to work with one of his heroes, the late Pete Postlethwaite, who played a flamboyant landlord.<\/p>\n

Barnes tells how, in their final scene together, director Nick Hamm changed the script to let the ailing actor deliver his lines sitting down. <\/p>\n

But Postlethwaite flatly refused, despite battling pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n

\u2018He stood with his arms around me and delivered this one line, in that voice of his: \u201cThe measure of a man is what is left when fame falls away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I was looking right into his eyes as he spoke and, for me, that wasn\u2019t him playing his character. It was Pete Postlethwaite, a man who was very ill, giving me, a younger actor, advice. I thought: \u201cThis is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.\u201d\u2019 Postlethwaite died six months later.\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Barnes is refreshingly frank for an actor who has been named in the U.S. as one of the hottest new Brit stars. But then, he\u2019s full of surprises. <\/p>\n

For instance, Barnes is a whizz at accents, as his Dublin lilt in Killing Bono demonstrates. <\/p>\n

\u2018I loved being Irish,\u2019 he says. \u2018I shared a flat with Robbie Sheehan, of TV\u2019s Misfits, who plays Barnes\u2019s brother in the film and by the end of the film, I told him I was going to keep my accent. Rob pointed out that people knew I was English, so I\u2019d seem strange. But I feel it\u2019s dull, being a middle-class kid from Wimbledon. I wanted to be a salty Irishman, a Colin Farrell bad boy.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\n\"Final<\/p>\n

Final role: Pete Postlethwaite stars as the McCormicks’ landlord, one of his last performances before dying from cancer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So, is he a good boy or a bad boy? Clearly, even he can\u2019t decide.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d rather be shot than be seen falling out of some trendy club,\u2019 he says. \u2018Actually what I\u2019d like is to have a reputation as someone who\u2019s been wild and gone straight, but without having to go through the trouble of being bad. <\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d like to be a hell-raiser \u2014 but skip hell-raising itself.\u2019 <\/p>\n

The eldest son of a relationship therapist, Tricia, and professor of psychiatry, Thomas, Ben was educated at the academic King\u2019s College School in Wimbledon.
\u2018I never fitted in. It was only when I found acting that I felt I knew where I was going in life,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

There was a slight detour when, after leaving school, he was taken on
\nby Simon Fuller and pursued an abortive career as a jazz singer. <\/p>\n

Afterwards,
\nhe focused on acting and his career has been a steady success story
\nsince, moving from theatre (The History Boys, Birdsong) to leading roles
\non screen (Stardust and Prince Caspian in the Narnia films). <\/p>\n

\n\"Also<\/p>\n

Also rans: Sheehan and Barnes play members of U2 rivals Shook Up in Killing Bono<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Along
\nthe way, Oscar-winner Colin Firth became a close friend. \u2018Doing two
\nfilms together (Easy Virtue and Dorian Gray) we spent 12 months in each
\nother\u2019s face,\u2019 he says. \u2018Colin did everything so gracefully. He was
\nDarcy in Pride And Prejudice with the world at his feet and then for 15
\nyears all he ever got was romantic leads. <\/p>\n

\u2018But he kept working, got The King\u2019s Speech and now he is the man who can play any person.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Like
\nFirth, Barnes comes across as a low-maintenance star. He lives with his
\nyounger brother in a flat in Wimbledon, South-West London, and still
\nregularly uses the Tube.<\/p>\n

Despite his attempts at leading a
\nnormal life, sometimes the celebrity bubble gets to him and on a recent
\ntour of the Far East for The Chronicles Of Narnia, Barnes cracked. <\/p>\n

\u2018You go from your hotel to a press junket, to a plane and then to hotel room and never see where you are. <\/p>\n

\u2018So
\nin Thailand I insisted on going for a walk. It was comical. Fans were
\neverywhere so I had to have bodyguards, but I was a foot taller than
\nthese guys. Still, we all marched to a fruit market together. <\/p>\n

\u2018It was so bizarre, but it made me laugh and that was what I needed. <\/p>\n

\u2018The key thing is never to take anything too seriously.\u2019<\/p>\n

Killing Bono is released today.<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The rest is here:
\nBen Barnes on the pitfalls of playing a rock ‘n’ roll failure in Killing Bono<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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