EVENT UPDATE : GABRIELA PEACOCK BOOK LAUNCH .. BROADWICK HOTEL SOHO LONDON... APRIL 23RD 2024 ..

 

Joan made an appearance at friend Gabriela Peacock's book launch held at Broadwick Soho Hotel.. Gabriela's new book '2 Weeks To A Younger You' is a follow up to her bestseller '2 Weeks To Feeling Great'. The A-Listers nutritionist also relaunch her

Longevity Range of supplements.. Also in attendance were Princess Beatrice and Piers Morgan. 

PRESS UPDATE : THE SPECTATOR .. APRIL 18TH 2024 ..

 

I always judge a hotel by its club sandwich..

                                                                           By Joan Collins

Joan with cast and crew of Murder Among Friends

As a child I was fascinated by the exotic names of certain cities: Havana, Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles sounded so glamorous to me, and I was determined to visit them (which I eventually did). But never in my childhood musings did the country of Czechoslovakia join this roll-call of dream destinations. However, since a few friends returned from filming in the renamed Czech Republic and extolled the virtues of Prague, it started to interest me. So, I was delighted when producer Mark Rozzano offered me the role of Francesca Carlyle in his murder mystery Murder Between Friends. ‘Brad and George have made movies there,’ he said, ‘and the technical crews are extremely experienced.’ He was so right. As soon as we started shooting in a wonderful old castle in the charming town of Usobi, outside Prague, it became exceedingly clear that the mostly Czech crew were equal to any I’d worked with both in the UK and US. Not only that, but to a man (and woman) they all spoke perfect English.

Our ‘quarters’ during the shoot were in the magnificent Chateau Heralec, a beautiful hotel and spa where sadly we didn’t have the time to partake of the delights of the heated indoor swimming pool or any of the many beauty and health treatments on offer. However, I shall definitely return to sample them as the staff were kind, cheerful and polite and, again, spoke perfect English. We had an absolutely massive suite with a stunning view of exquisitely tendered grounds and the food was superb. Although I’m not keen on partaking of deer and boar, the dill soup was exceptional, and my husband told me he’d never had a better club sandwich. A club sandwich is one of my main criteria by which to judge the quality of a hotel, and I had to admit this one ranked alongside Claridge’s. The chef was wonderfully eager to please and would contrive to gratify our palettes, however we wanted a dish prepared. This was such a contrast to the chef at an extremely exclusive restaurant-club in London recently. When I requested that my asparagus (which was on the menu and in season) not be cooked al dente but softer, the waiter returned to inform me that: ‘The chef doesn’t want to cook asparagus that way.’ Oh really?! It seems some chefs are displaying diva-like qualities beyond anything I’ve ever been accused of.

Joan on set in Prague

The filming itself went swimmingly, which filming seldom does. The other actors were experienced professionals, both American and English, not a diva among them, and I was delighted that my niece India Thain had been cast to play one of the murder suspects. She did display a troublingly shifty demeanour, but perhaps that was the diet of deer and boar. The castle in which we shot most of the film was more than 400 years old and in many of the rooms stag and boar heads (none of whose bodies had made their way into our food, I hope) were prominently displayed on the walls. Luckily, there were no animal activists in our group, otherwise we would have had trouble.

My son, Alexander Newley, his wife Sheela and their adorable baby girl came to visit and, on our day off, we travelled to the centre of Prague to lunch at the famed Kampa Park restaurant on the shores of the Vltava river, overlooking the Charles (Karluv) Bridge. ‘Brad and George often ate there,’ I was informed. Well, if it was good enough for those renowned gourmands, it must be worth a trip. As I videoed the bridge and rushing river, I spotted a beaver swimming vigorously yet recklessly close to the boats that ferried passengers across. ‘Look, look! A beaver!’ I yelped. My son, ever the wit, yelled back: ‘Did you get the beaver shot?’

The last day of filming was night work, so Percy and I decided to go antiquing. Our driver took us to a countryside emporium called Antika. When we entered, it was an Aladdin’s cave: everything from candlesticks, jewellery and Victorian dolls to fine-china tea sets, paintings, Regency furniture, broken 1970s video games and even used clothing. Room after room was chock-a-block with fascinating and at times puzzling items. We bought some beautiful glassware and gifts. We told Mark and India and some of the other actors and they too had a wonderful ‘fishing day’, as I call shopping.

Iwas enchanted by the Czech Republic – the people, the food, the countryside. There seemed to be an aura of peace about it and the inhabitants all seemed to exude happiness. Maybe I only saw the good side, but I certainly plan to go back one day, not only to revisit Antika but the delights of Chateau Heralec and its glorious indoor swimming pool.

Dame Joan Collins’s Behind the Shoulder Pads is out now.

PRESS UPDATE : THE PRAGUE REPORTER ... APRIL 12TH 2024 ..

Joan with cast and crew of Murder Between Friends

 

Joan Collins films her latest movie in Prague by Charles Bridge...

The legendary Joan Collins is currently in the Czech Republic shooting her latest movie, the Agatha Christie-like mystery Murder Between Friends. The  star also shared some behind-the-scenes looks at the new project, along with her travels in the Czech capital, to her official Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Prague production on Murder Between Friends began on April 1 and is slated to run through next week, but judging by Collins’ latest Instagram post the star may have wrapped her scenes as of today.

“Thank you to the cast and crew of Murder Between Friends for a great shoot in Prague,” Collins writes alongside a group photo posted on Friday morning.

Murder Between Friends stars Collins as Francesca Carlyle, star of a hit true crime TV series who becomes embroiled in a real-life murder mystery at her country estate. The Czech location utilized as that estate has not been revealed, but eagle-eyed locals may be able to recognize it from the star’s posts.

Alongside Collins, Murder Between Friends also stars Jacob Young, best known for long-running roles on The Bold and the Beautiful and All My Children, who also co-directs with Trent Garrett from a screenplay by Mark Rozzano. Nadia Bjorlin, Toby Alexander Smith, Jim Borstelmann, Instagram influencer Espen Hatleskog, and Czech actress Hana Vagnerová also feature in the cast.

Collins is regularly active on social media, and her accounts are well worth following. Before heading to Prague, she stopped in London to have dinner with Michael Caine and family.

PRESS UPDATE : THE NEW YORK TIMES .. APRIL 5TH .. 2024 ..

Joan Collins in February.Credit...Amy Harrity for The New York Times

The Unstoppables

A series about people whose ambition is undimmed by time.

Joan Collins Refuses to Be Defined by Age...

Interview by Ruth La Ferla

I love writing, I love acting, going onstage and doing my little one-woman show, and I refuse to be defined by a number, by an age. I think that’s terribly old-fashioned and not relevant in today’s world.

But you have to be resilient in this business. Rejection is a part of it. I look with dismay at so many of my fellow actors, fallen by the way because of drink and drugs. My father — he was a theatrical agent — instilled in me that I should develop skin like a rhinoceros, and be like a marshmallow on the inside.

You also need patience. This business is a waiting game. For example, a script was written for me about the Duchess of Windsor [Wallis Simpson]. I’ve been wanting to do it since the 1980s. We got a green light only a month ago. Years ago I thought it would be wonderful to do a picture about growing up with my sister, Jackie. It just hasn’t come off.

It would be set when we were children, during the Blitz. At the time I didn’t feel fear. I didn’t know about the bombings. We would pick up shrapnel in the streets, and in the evening I would put it in my cigar box. We would draw silly pictures of Hitler. We were evacuated 10 or 12 times. We would be in the tube stations, and people would be playing their harmonicas and singing.

A question I’m often asked is, “Why are you still working?” It’s such a fatuous thing to say. I keep on working because I love being busy. It’s tiring when I do my one-woman show, going to a new hotel every night. But it’s rewarding. The audience is so responsive. That buoys me.

Current and upcoming projects: “Behind the Shoulder Pads, Tales I Tell My Friends,” a memoir; “Joan Collins Unscripted,” a British theatrical tour.