Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Toby Stephens

Toby Stephens, much like a fine thoroughbred race horse, has an impeccable pedigree, produced by champion Shakespearean sire/actor Sir Robert Stephens and Oscar winning mare/actress Dame Maggie Smith. The fiery colt romped home to early victories in the movie Orlando - starting fellow cherrycrotch Tilda Swinton - and later in the sci-fi/OAP crossover Space Cowboys. But his most tremendous outing was when he pipped Pierce Brosnan by a freckled nose with the standout performance as the melanoma-wary megalomanic Gustav Graves whose dastardly scheme for world domination was predictably foiled by the unctuous normhair James Bond in Die Another Day. Stephens, with his long loping stride, fondness for sugar cubes and impressive lineage, is still throwing up quality performances today, but the time will come surely where he is put out to stud and left to create his own enduring legacy of lil' acting Red Rums/Yums.

Right: Actor Toby Stephens. Out of shot, his horse bag full of cola cubes.