Howard's End - Hayley Atwell and Matthew MacFadyen Interview

Hayley Atwell and Matthew MacFadyen  star in, Howards End

For all of you who are having Downton Abbey withdrawal - have no fear... you're going to love this news! 

A fresh take on Howards End (based on E.M. Forster's beautiful novel) will be airing on the STARZ  network  starring  Hayley Atwell and Matthew MacFadyen 

The four-part miniseries tells the story of the Schlegel sisters, played by Hayley and Philippa Coulthard (The Catch), two intelligent and idealistic young women living together with their hypochondriac younger brother Tibby (The Imitation Game‘s Alex Lawther) in Edwardian London.

The new stars certainly have big shoes to fill. Hayley plays Margaret Schlegel, a role made famous by Emma Thompson in the 1992 Merchant Ivory film, (Emma Thompson won an Oscar for playing Margaret) while Matthew is her eventual suitor, Henry Wilcox, played originally by Sir Anthony Hopkins.

The cast is rounded out by Tracey Ullman as Aunt Juley, Julia Ormond as Ruth Wilcox, and Joseph Quinn (Game of Thrones), who plays the unfortunate Leonard Bast.

And that’s not all: adapting E.M. Forster‘s classic novel is Kenneth Lonergan, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Manchester by the Sea and You Can Count On Me.

Hayley Atwell’s impressive body of work has established her as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Last year, Hayley reprised her role in Marvel’s Agent Carter for its second season. In the show she played the role of the feisty Agent Peggy Carter, a character that she has portrayed in The Avengers and Captain America franchises. Hayley can also be seen in the Kenneth Branagh-directed Cinderella, and John Ridley’s Jimi Hendrix biopic Jimi: All Is by My Side. In television work, Hayley won critical acclaim for her performance in The Line of Beauty and STARZ Original Miniseries Pillars of the Earth with the latter role earning her a Golden Globe® Nomination. 

Matthew Macfadyen is one of the UK’s most respected television, film and stage actors, widely acclaimed for performances in such projects as Pride and Prejudice, Any Human Heart, Spooks, Frost/Nixon and Criminal Justice for which he won a BAFTA TV Award. Matthew has recently completed work on Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms as ‘Mr. Stahlbaum.’ The live-action retelling of the classic story is directed by Lasse Hallstrom. This year will see Matthew star as ‘J.P.Morgan’ in The Current War(2018), alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon. Matthew will also star as ‘Tom’ in the HBO drama pilot, Succession.

I spoke with Hayley and Matthew via satellite about working on this glorious production and the challenges they faced recreating these memorable and iconic characters. 
 

Howard's End Premieres Sunday, April 8th at 8pm ET/PT on STARZ

Check out the trailer below: