New Max Irons Photoshoot From L'Optimum Magazine /France)

      
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Belfast Telegraph: Max Irons: Parents Are Annoying

Max Irons listens to audio books if he has trouble sleeping.

The British actor is the son of fellow thespian Jeremy Irons and Irish actress Sinéad Cusack. But despite coming from acting royalty, the 29-year-old isn't keen on preparing for his roles with his folks.
"It's a bit like when your parents give you driving lessons," he laughed to the American edition of Harper's Bazaar. "You know they're right, and they have wisdom to impart, but nonetheless it's inexplicably irritating."
Max has starred in a number of films including The Riot Club and Woman in Gold.
Despite his reluctance to rehearse with his family, he did appreciate their point of view when he told them he wanted to follow in their footsteps.

"They didn't persuade or encourage. They gave me an honest appraisal of what it is to be an actor," he recalled. "They said it is a very unpredictable life of discombobulation; you can find yourself in different parts of the world, not knowing what you're doing next, and it takes a toll on the family. It involves rejection and instability. But they said, as long as I really wanted it, they would back off and let me do it my way. And they did, which I am grateful for."

With such a hectic professional life, it can be hard for Max to chill out. Thankfully he has one technique that he uses that comes from his school days.

"At night, I have this thing, because I used to get very home sick when I started boarding school - my parents used to send me tape recordings of them reading books, and I'd get one every couple of days. Now, if I can't sleep I will listen to audio books. Very unsexy," he admitted.
His genre of choice is The Cold War, but he does often tune into a comedy book too.


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New Max Irons and Sophie Pera Photos From Woman In Gold Premiere

Harper's Bazaar: #MCM: Max Irons Meet the man crush-worthy English-Irish actor and model

As we begin our conversation, Max Irons puts aside an article he's been reading in the Daily Mail. "The US Navy's 'Ghost Hunter' Hits The Water: Robo-Boats Set To Track Down Silent Enemy Submarines For Months At A Time," reads the headline—one he relays with earnest excitement. The 29-year-old actor is the most unsuspecting Cold War nerd.

Irons, the son of acting royals Sinéad Cusack and Jeremy Irons, is assuming his own throne as a leading man among the recent wave of young breakout Brits to take Hollywood's center stage. This month, he appears alongside Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds in Simon Curtis's triumphant WWII art theft stunner Woman In Gold, and he next stars in George Mendeluk's Soviet-set epic The Devil's Harvest (sating both his fascination with espionage and his inner romantic—which, too, is alive and well). His thoughtful curiosity is just one facet of Irons's understated charm, which, at its core, seems to be comprised of the manner of a man who's never known quite how pretty he is and the humble assurance of one who always has.

In other words, Max Irons is a perfect gentleman—just not in his latest movie, The Riot Club, a gruesome glimpse of the depravity that results when a group of well-bred, elitist Oxford boys, drunk on mob mentality, swears commitment to a life of hedonism. "I get people coming up to me in places like West London, saying, 'You're attacking the best of Britain,'" says Irons, whose character Miles is the mildest and most likeable member of the university's secret dinner society, a fictionalization of the historic Bullingdon Club, which, in reality, boasts alumni of the grandest pedigree (including British Prime Minister David Cameron) and a rap sheet of even grander ethical violations.

Shortly before the Woman In Gold premiere (and after delving into the bummer histories of all his latest films, of course), Irons opened up about taking opera lessons to lip sync like a pro, Law & Order nights with his girlfriend Sophie, and a curious knack for making passion fruit party drinks that dates back to his barman days.
Do you ever practice lines with your parents?
No—it's a bit like when your parents give you driving lessons. You know they're right, and they have wisdom to impart, but nonetheless it's inexplicably irritating.
What do you do to unwind?
I hang out with my girlfriend or I go to the gym, and I drink lots of tea. Lots of fruit tea—I love it; can't get enough of it.
Hear you there. I'm just about the only New Yorker who doesn't drink coffee.
There is a really good tea place in Grand Central Station in the market, where they sell really nice fruit teas. I can't remember what it's called, but I am actually specifically going to go back for this red tea. Red berries and stuff—it's delicious. Check it out.
What are your morning and nighttime routines?
Coffee—that's pretty standard I guess; read the news. At night, I have this thing, because I used to get very home sick when I started boarding school—my parents used to send me tape recordings of them reading books, and I'd get one every couple of days. Now, if I can't sleep I will listen to audio books. Very unsexy.
No, it's adorable! What audiobooks are you listening to right now?
It's usually about The Cold War, I'm not going to lie.
Let's talk about your obsession with submarines. How did that come about?
I don't know. Mechanically, they are amazing. And what they did during The Cold War is sort of hunting and stalking. The Cold War I find fascinating because it was like an incredibly high-stakes poker game going on between two very powerful countries. It's almost make-believe; you couldn't write it. Submarines are the epitome of that.
Do you do podcasts too?
I quite often I do comedy podcasts. But I cannot fall asleep to comedy.
No Serial for you?
No, but I actually have it ready to go on my iPhone. I keep hearing how amazing it is.
Who's your ideal dinner guest, living or dead?
My girlfriend! Is that very boring?
What's your favorite kind of date with Sophie?
We like watching SVU.
A worthy pastime.
They are very good conversation starters, SVU episodes. We usually watch an episode—and we have already watched most of them—and then sit around talking about these things. It's good. I like the darker episodes.
I started watching it from the very first episode a few months back, and it's like looking at old awkward family photos. Gotta love Mariska throughout.
Gotta love Mariska, but also, you gotta love Ice-T, though, with his one-liners. It's a New York institution.
How did you get into character for Woman In Gold?
Woman In Gold preparation was mainly about speaking German. There was also a bit of opera singing so I had to work with an opera coach, even though, believe it or not, I was dubbed in the movie. I had to look as if I was breathing correctly so when we were filming I was actually singing—but I didn't make the film.
Is that what you're singing in the shower these days?
Yeah—Mozart, Puccini. I think Carnegie Hall was trying to book me.
Can you actually speak some German now?
It is unfortunately just those lines.
I don't rattle easily, but The Riot Club made me queasy, more because of the total lack of humanity the characters display than the actual gore. How did you feel watching it?
Watching it wasn't the problem; it was actually the filming of it that was so unpleasant. To me the violent scene was unpleasant, but the scene where Holliday Grainger, who plays my girlfriend, came in and was basically assaulted, was the worst. These are all great, young actors, and the dialogue is full of bile and violence and sexism and homophobia that it gets into your bones. There was one day in particular, when Sam Claflin had a monologue that peaked on the quote, "I fucking hate poor people." A scene like that takes a whole day to film, so you're hearing this dialogue again and again.
What was the general response you have gotten to the film?
Well, it's funny. Because it's talking about the class system so much, I get a lot of people coming up and saying "It's really good that you made that film; it's addressing the Bullingdon Club and the origins of people who run our country: David Cameron, Boris Johnson, George Osborne." But then I also get people coming up to me, especially in places like West London, saying, "How dare you attack the hand that feeds you; you're attacking the best of Britain." We wanted this film to spark debate and get people thinking about who are the people actually representing us.
I know you interviewed alumni of the actual Bullingdon Club in the research phase. How did their stories compare with the way the club was depicted in the movie?
We were very cautious that we didn't want to exaggerate. We wanted it to be a real take. What we did was we interviewed those people that were in the club and we interviewed various equivalent clubs in Cambridge, and the response we got, especially from Cambridge, was that the stories aren't true enough. That, in fact, worse things happened.
Seriously? That's hard to believe.
Yeah! There are documented examples in the press of pretty terrible behavior. We're not sure what our prime minister and the mayor of London actually did, but they certainly at one point or another stood shoulder to shoulder with people who stood for these ideals. It's really interesting.
Have you ever been a part of a club or fraternity? (I'm assuming not one like this.)
Never. I didn't go to university—I went to drama school. So, if anything, I was in a club of actors, which is a nightmare as you can imagine.
Who are your best acting buddies?
Sam Claflin is a very good friend of mine. So is Doug Booth. Freddie Fox, Jessica Brown Finley, Tatiana Maslany from Woman in Gold.
What was your first-ever job?
I worked in an office as a receptionist, then I was a barman for a couple of years.
What was your go-to drink to mix?
I used to be very good at doing stuff with passion fruit and experimenting with different types of hot toddies.
Exotic! You were also a teacher in Zimbabwe for a short period, right?
My parents send me there me there when I was 15. I taught English and woodwork and football. I was getting in trouble a bit at school, and they thought they should send me away to make me appreciate how lucky I was to have the education I had. A friend of my family sponsored a young child there named Lovejoy, who founded a school there, so I went to live with him and work for his school. Initially I was terrified, but it turned out to be a great thing. It's a thing that my parents have been very great to offer me—the privilege to travel and see different ways of life.
What did you do to warrant your exile?
It was usually being somewhere with a girl, maybe drinking—that sort of thing. Never anything I am morally ashamed of!
What was the role that made you want to become an actor?
When I was at school I did a Neil LaBute play called A Gaggle of Saints, which is a two-hander. It was about two Mormon kids that went to Central Park and ended up beating a gay guy to death—very bleak—but Neil LaBute is a great writer, and it was my first intense acting experience I've ever had. At that point I realized that it was more thrilling than anything I'd done at school, and I put all of my attention into acting.
Did your parents weigh in on your decision to pursue acting as a career?
They didn't persuade or encourage. They gave me an honest appraisal of what it is to be an actor. They said it is a very unpredictable life of discombobulation; you can find yourself in different parts of the world, not knowing what you're doing next, and it takes a toll on the family. It involves rejection and instability. But they said, as long as I really wanted it, they would back off and let me do it my way. And they did, which I am grateful for.
What in your closet gets the most wear?
Hats! I have a Borsalino, white-rimmed one. It makes me feel like a spy in The Cold War. It makes me feel like Dick Tracy.

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Max Irons Times Two

If you've been looking for that date-night Max Irons double feature, your time is now. The talented, 29-year-old British actor stars in both Woman in Gold and The Riot Club, two new films currently playing in limited release.

"A Max Irons double feature, that sounds nice," Irons said during a recent interview."They're both films that I'm proud of. They're both very different films. So I guess it's nice for people to see different sides of what I can do."

"I sort of like that Woman in Gold and The Riot Club are out at the same time," he said."I've got another film, The Devil's Harvest, which I just finished, but that will be out later this year."

Based on true events that occurred between 1996 and 2006, Woman in Gold centres on Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), an elderly Jewish woman who, 60 years after fleeing Vienna to escape the Nazis prior to World War II, attempts to reclaim her family's stolen possessions. Chief among them is a painting of her beloved aunt, a piece better known to the world as Gustav Klimt's 'Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.' Altmann hires a young, inexperienced American lawyer (Ryan Reynolds) and takes her case public, battling the Austrian establishment, contending with deep and long-standing prejudices and even compelling the US Supreme Court to get involved.

Tatiana Maslany and Irons appear in the film's intermittent flashbacks as the young Maria and Fritz Altmann. Maria and Fritz, an aspiring opera singer, married only a few weeks before the Nazis annexed Vienna in March 1938.

Irons, the son of actors Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack, was vaguely aware of the story. He had seen 'Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I' at the Neue Galerie in Manhattan, he recalled, and during his visit the museum staff had explained what happened with the Altmanns.

"It had sort of gone in one ear and slightly out the other," Irons admitted."I was aware that it was a case of restitution, but I had no idea the extent to which it was this David-versus-Goliath situation. This one lady, in the twilight of her life, was taking on the Austrian government, Austrian pride and, to a certain extent, also the American government."

Irons described Woman in Gold as two separate films. On modern-day sets and locations, director Simon Curtis shot scenes with Mirren, Reynolds and Daniel Bruhl, who plays an Austrian journalist. Then he worked with Irons and Maslany, shooting on period sets and at historical locations.

"We would bump into Helen and Ryan and Daniel and sort of ask them what they were up to, what the feel of their film was, what the tone of it was, versus ours," Irons said."What we were doing in our bit was basically context. We were explaining what happened to this family and the injustices forced upon them. That was our purpose."

"The story interested me, but it was also the people around me, like Helen and Simon Curtis and Tatiana," he continued."And I liked the idea of the film, which is about making things right. Terrible things happen, and it's important, where one can, to set these things right. That's what Maria Altmann did and, hopefully, shining a spotlight on this particular case might cause other people to move forward with their own cases."

Irons called Maslany"fantastic" to work with, but admitted that it was tough, at times, because they both were being asked to speak a language which wasn't their native tongue.

He then recalled an amusing meeting with the film's producer, Hollywood heavy hitter Harvey Weinstein.

"When I was in consideration for this," Irons said,"I had a meeting with Harvey, and he said to me, 'Can you speak German?' I said, 'No, I can't.' He said, 'Well, you can learn it for the audition, right?'

"To anyone else you'd say, 'Well, I think that's going to be a bit difficult,'" he said."But to a man like him you just say, 'Yes.' And somehow it transpired that I got the part. Tatiana and I learned it all phonetically, and she's such a talented actress that, once we got on set, it all just fell into place, really."

As for The Riot Club, Irons revealed that he initially passed on it. Based on a play by Laura Wade, the drama centres on a group of spoiled rich children (Irons, Sam Claflin etc.) who are part of a drinking club at Oxford University. Irons plays Miles, the least snobby, least toxic member of the group.

"I found the world in which these characters exist, the subject matter and the values these characters stood for, to be so unpleasant that I didn't really want to be associated with it," Irons said."Then I read deeper into it and I saw that Laura Wade had created almost a metaphor.

"These people aren't to be taken literally," he explained."She's actually talking about the world that they live in and the double standard of justice that exists in our class system. And that was something I did want to be involved in, that idea."

On deck for Irons, as noted, is The Devil's Harvest, a romantic drama set in World War II-era Ukraine. The film co-stars Terence Stamp, Barry Pepper and Samantha Barks. It's another typically eclectic choice for Irons, whose credits include such films and television series as Dorian Gray (2009), Red Riding Hood (2009), The Host (2013) and 'The White Queen' (2013), as well as several plays.

"When I look at the actors I respect, like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti - taking aside the franchise model, which I think is a dangerous and slightly unpredictable way of operating for young people - they tend to lay a foundation of variety, of working with good people on good scripts, and of making good movies," Irons said."I think that is the key to longevity, and also to keeping you on your toes and letting you keep learning."

"You can't learn enough in this business, I think," he said,"and everything you do and the different stuff you do just makes you better and better as an actor. And that's my goal, really."

In recent years the press has dubbed Irons"the next Robert Pattinson." He's also been touted as"the next Jeremy Irons." For his part, he's perfectly content to be the first Max Irons.

"I've heard a bit of that in my life," Irons said,"but then I think that any young actor that comes out of England now is called the next somebody. If you start reading into that or try to contemplate that or try to manipulate the idea, it's a road to nowhere."

"Like I say, concentrate on the work, working with good people and doing good stuff," Irons concluded."I think that's all you can do. That's your job. That's what you should be thinking about, and not the perception of you."



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New Scan From Cosmopolitan UK April 2015 Issue

Vulture: Your Guide to the Hot Sons of Hollywood

Max Irons
Ostensible Claim to Fame: He's an up-and-coming British actor currently starring in The Riot Club and The Woman in Gold.
Real Claim to Fame: He's Jeremy Irons's hot son!
Sexiness Rating: Four out of five Redmaynes.
Representative Daily Mail Headline: "My name has opened doors — and slammed doors shut": The world according to Max Irons
Instagram Followers: None, since he doesn't do social media. "I find it distracting," he told BBC America. "I find it stressful." (The image above is from a fan account.)
Obligatory Quote About Nepotism: "Nepotism is despised in England, which is a very good thing. I think something to do with the class system. People really look down on nepotism. So yeah, it never really works in your favor — even in this industry."
Was His Dad Hot Back in the Day? Dashing!


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