James Blackley

  1. Alden Ehrenreich, Beautiful Creatures, 2012.   “Southern fried bullshit,” said Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers about this “warmed-over Twilight with witches instead of vamps.” Young Brits Blackley and Jack O’Connell were lucky to escape what became part of Ehrenreich’s rapid meltdopwn. His witch-friend was Alice Englert. She should know better being the daughter of The Piano director, Jane Campion.

  2. Jack O’Connell, 300: The Rise of an Empire, 2013.   O’Connell, the kid from Skins had been cheated out of his Hollywood debut that year when replaced at the last minute in Beautiful Creatures. Now, he replaced Jamie the Manxman as Calisto in the 300 sequel, writer-produced again by Zack Snyder – while he was off helming Man of Steel. With another British Islander, Henry Cavill. (Blackley was born on the UK’s Isle of Man, Cavill on the Isle of Jersey). 

  3. Tye Sheridan, X-Men: Apocalypse, 2015.   “A big monster of a movie,” declared producer-director Bryan Singer, “A kinda conclusion of six X-Men films, yet a potential rebirth of younger, newer characters.” Blackley, Luke Bracey, Timothée Chalamet, Taron Egerton, Ben Hardy, Josh Hutcherson, Logan Lerman, Dylan O’ Brien, Jesse Plemons and Charlie Rowe – they all tested to inherit Scott Summers/Cyclops from James Marsden in the opening quartet, 1999-2013. Jeff Nichols’ Mud, 2012,; and Spielberg’s Ready Player One, 2017, had been great for Sheridan.

 

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