fact proving to be something of a flash in the pan. Firstly,
Marie Antoinette
was not as successful as everyone had hoped. The initial reviews were mixed. American film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, whereas website
Rotten Tomatoes
scored it 55 per cent in positive reviews, describing it as: ‘Lavish imagery and a daring soundtrack set this film apart from most period dramas; in fact, style completely takes precedence over plot and character development in Coppola’s vision of the doomed queen.’
However,
People
magazine’s movie critic, Leah Rozen, was quick to pan the film and wrote in her wrap-up of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival: ‘The absence of political context upset most critics of
Marie Antoinette
, director Sofia Coppola’s featherweight follow-up to
Lost in Translation.
‘Her historical biopic plays like a pop video, with Kirsten Dunst as the doomed eighteenth-century French queen acting like a teenage flibbertigibbet intent on being the leader of the cool kids’ club.’
The film grossed $15 million in Northern America and $61million worldwide, making it one of the few underperformers for distributor Columbia that year. In the UK, the movie took only $1,727,858 in box-office sales. It wasn’t the best news for Jamie but, undeterred by the film’s flop, his agent had lined him up for numerous auditions – all of which, to Jamie’s embarrassment, failed. ‘I mean f***ing hundreds of auditions,’ he said. ‘Some of them totally humiliating experiences. People attach too much to the idea of being a model that you can only be a certain way to have done it. You will always be dealing with it.
‘You’re an actor who used to be a model, who never trained; there are not many directors queuing up.’
For the time being, though, he had aspirations of being a rock star which helped to keep him positive. ‘It’s fun being able to play your music and people listening to it and responding well. You get a real buzz. I think there is part of me that does want to lift off and go a bit more Chris Martin, jumping around the place.’
The night before his homecoming gig in Belfast’s Auntie Annie’s club, Jamie admitted he was set on concentrating on one thing at a time. ‘When I’m doing my music, I put my all into it and when I’m doing my modelling or acting, I do the same. At the moment I’m really busy with the band so I put everything into it.
‘I see them all as different things. They’re three different jobs, I work really hard on all of them and I can make it all work, I believe, to a credible extent, if I’m willing to put the work in.
‘Someone told me they thought I would land on my feet and I probably believed them too much. But from that point I stopped worrying about everything.’
As it turned out, though, Jamie had plenty to worry about – and this time it wasn’t Keira. It was his beloved dad. Behind the scenes, his whole world had turned upside down again.
Chapter Seven
THE BIG âCâ STRIKES AGAIN
J amieâs father had cancer. It was a devastating blow to the Dornan family and it hit his three children hard. He certainly didnât seem particularly ill but the truth was that he was very sick indeed. To all those who knew him it seemed impossible. How could such a strong and energetic man â at just fifty-seven years of age â be struck down with the same disease that had taken Jamieâs mother just seven years before?
Professor Dornan had been a real guiding strength throughout his childrenâs difficult childhood years, and it was both cruel and inconceivable that someone so crucial and present in their lives now faced his own mortality. After all, he was Northern Irelandâs most successful obstetrician, drove a sports car, was happily remarried, went to the gym twice a week and played golf. âProfessor Jim Dornan, the colourful Obstetrician Gynaecologist, with an insatiable zest for life,â one journalistwrote
Marie Antoinette
was not as successful as everyone had hoped. The initial reviews were mixed. American film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, whereas website
Rotten Tomatoes
scored it 55 per cent in positive reviews, describing it as: ‘Lavish imagery and a daring soundtrack set this film apart from most period dramas; in fact, style completely takes precedence over plot and character development in Coppola’s vision of the doomed queen.’
However,
People
magazine’s movie critic, Leah Rozen, was quick to pan the film and wrote in her wrap-up of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival: ‘The absence of political context upset most critics of
Marie Antoinette
, director Sofia Coppola’s featherweight follow-up to
Lost in Translation.
‘Her historical biopic plays like a pop video, with Kirsten Dunst as the doomed eighteenth-century French queen acting like a teenage flibbertigibbet intent on being the leader of the cool kids’ club.’
The film grossed $15 million in Northern America and $61million worldwide, making it one of the few underperformers for distributor Columbia that year. In the UK, the movie took only $1,727,858 in box-office sales. It wasn’t the best news for Jamie but, undeterred by the film’s flop, his agent had lined him up for numerous auditions – all of which, to Jamie’s embarrassment, failed. ‘I mean f***ing hundreds of auditions,’ he said. ‘Some of them totally humiliating experiences. People attach too much to the idea of being a model that you can only be a certain way to have done it. You will always be dealing with it.
‘You’re an actor who used to be a model, who never trained; there are not many directors queuing up.’
For the time being, though, he had aspirations of being a rock star which helped to keep him positive. ‘It’s fun being able to play your music and people listening to it and responding well. You get a real buzz. I think there is part of me that does want to lift off and go a bit more Chris Martin, jumping around the place.’
The night before his homecoming gig in Belfast’s Auntie Annie’s club, Jamie admitted he was set on concentrating on one thing at a time. ‘When I’m doing my music, I put my all into it and when I’m doing my modelling or acting, I do the same. At the moment I’m really busy with the band so I put everything into it.
‘I see them all as different things. They’re three different jobs, I work really hard on all of them and I can make it all work, I believe, to a credible extent, if I’m willing to put the work in.
‘Someone told me they thought I would land on my feet and I probably believed them too much. But from that point I stopped worrying about everything.’
As it turned out, though, Jamie had plenty to worry about – and this time it wasn’t Keira. It was his beloved dad. Behind the scenes, his whole world had turned upside down again.
Chapter Seven
THE BIG âCâ STRIKES AGAIN
J amieâs father had cancer. It was a devastating blow to the Dornan family and it hit his three children hard. He certainly didnât seem particularly ill but the truth was that he was very sick indeed. To all those who knew him it seemed impossible. How could such a strong and energetic man â at just fifty-seven years of age â be struck down with the same disease that had taken Jamieâs mother just seven years before?
Professor Dornan had been a real guiding strength throughout his childrenâs difficult childhood years, and it was both cruel and inconceivable that someone so crucial and present in their lives now faced his own mortality. After all, he was Northern Irelandâs most successful obstetrician, drove a sports car, was happily remarried, went to the gym twice a week and played golf. âProfessor Jim Dornan, the colourful Obstetrician Gynaecologist, with an insatiable zest for life,â one journalistwrote
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