Imogen Poots has come a long way since appearing smeared with Vaseline in an episode of the British TV medical drama Casualty. At 25, she is one of the UK's most in-demand actresses, with a filmography that includes collaborations with acclaimed directors such as Richard Linklater, Cary Fukunaga, Michael Winterbottom, and Terrence Malick.
Her latest film, She's Funny That Way, adds the legendary Peter Bogdanovich, director of such films as The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon, to the list. For his first feature since 2001's The Cat's Meow, he cast the Briton as a prostitute-turned-Broadway actress. She is part of a glittering ensemble cast that includes Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston.
For Poots, who loves the 70s era of American cinema, working with Bogdanovich was a dream come true.
It was “the pinnacle of everything for me,” she says. “It was one of the most extraordinary jobs I’ve ever had the chance to work on.”
Unlike last year’s vehicular action-fest Need for Speed, in which she co-starred with Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, the modern-day screwball comedy was a return to old-school filmmaking.
“Bogdanovich knows exactly what he wants and doesn’t do much coverage,” says Poots, referring to the filmmaking term for the amount of footage shot and the number of different camera angles used. “Whereas, I think, everyone now needs so much coverage, especially if they’re using digital cameras.”
Working with Malick – who also rose to prominence in the 70s, as the director of Badlands – on the upcoming Hollywood tale Knight of Cups couldn’t have been more different. He works so intuitively that actors often don’t know what the story is, or whether they will even make the final cut.
“It’s funny, because people say stuff like, ‘Tell me what the story is about again?’ and I say, ‘I wish I knew.’” says Poots. “You are literally given your stuff for one day, and sometimes you don’t even get that, and you turn up and go to a palm tree and something magical’s going to happen.”
She didn’t worry too much about ending up on the cutting room floor while making the film, about a screenwriter in Los Angeles trying to make sense of the strange events happening around him. It also stars Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman and Antonio Banderas.
“You say, ‘I’m going to be with Terrence Malick and Christian Bale, and that’s enough.’ You just turn up, scare yourself, and have a good time.”
Poots had a different kind of challenge recently, when she played Linda Keith, who helped bring Jimi Hendrix to perform London, in the impressionistic biopic, Jimi: All Is By My Side.
“Linda is still around,” says Poots, “but because of the intimacy of the relationship she had with Jimi Hendrix, and because in real life she is somebody who does not want any spotlight, she didn’t want to be part of the process.
“She’s still very aware, though, of some imbecile attempting to play her in a film.”
Poots has another music-related film, The Green Room, in the can, and Cameron Crowe has also enlisted her for his made-for-TV rock comedy, Roadies.
However, although we’ll be seeing a lot of her on screen, somewhere you’re unlikely to find Poots is hanging out on social media.
“I just find it very strange,” she says. “Actor friends of mine put links up to their movies. Can you imagine Marlon Brando being like, ‘Yo, I’ve a great new film coming out.’ It’s just so strange.”
• She’s Funny That Way opens in cinemas on April 30
artslife@thenational.ae
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Results
6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 (PA) US$100,000 (Dirt) 2,000m, Winner Bandar, Fernando Jara (jockey), Majed Al Jahouri (trainer).
7.05pm Meydan Classic Listed (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,600m, Winner Well Of Wisdom, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
7.40pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m, Winner Star Safari, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby.
8.15pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner Moqarrar, Fabrice Veron, Erwan Charpy.
8.50pm Nad Al Sheba Trophy Group 2 (TB) $300,000 (T) 2,810m, Winner Secret Advisor, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
9.25pm Curlin Stakes Listed (TB) $175,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner Parsimony, William Buick, Doug O’Neill.
10pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m, Winner Simsir, Ronan Whelan, Michael Halford.
10.35pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner Velorum, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro
Fourth Estate
Saturday's results
Brighton 1-1 Leicester City
Everton 1-0 Cardiff City
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Watford 0-3 Liverpool
West Ham United 0-4 Manchester City
Specs
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Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
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The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
