Interview with Alexander Devrient

Interviewing the talented Alexander Devrient was such fun, he’s dashing, eloquent and such a gentleman. You will recognise him for his latest role in Emmerdale Farm as the french love interest to Kerry. His rather dramatic entrance was too funny for words and if you watched it I am sure it would have had you gripped. The story line is unfolding and he is fast becoming one of my favourite actors. I am not going to spoil it for you in anyway, but you must keep your eyes on this rather beautiful chap.

He’s worked with the likes of Guy Richie on the set of Sherlock Holmes, and Jude Law was very excited to work with him, as was I the other day. I got to photograph this wonderful TV personality and create some rather cool images for the interview. We had such a great chat and he was a joy yo work with.

  Alexander Devrient

Q. What made you get into acting and was it at an early age you knew you had a calling.

A. I’ve always tremendously enjoyed acting and performing. I took drama classes as a kid, played in every school play and later, managed to see a lot of professional theatre as a teenager.

Saying that, it was only at University that I realised I wanted to make a profession out of my passion. I applied for Drama School in my 3rd year of studying Economics and International Relations. I felt I had to give it a shot and luckily I got in. A few months after finishing my degree I started acting training.

Q. Where did you grow up.

A. I grew up in Brussels, Belgium but my dad is Argentinean/German and my mum is Lebanese. My household was always a mishmash of languages. My mum spoke French to us, my dad German. When they didn’t want us to understand what they were saying they spoke Spanish.

Alexander Devrient

Q. How have your parents influenced your career

A. My parents have always been very supportive but my biggest influence has been my Lebanese granddad. He’s performed on stages in Cambridge, Paris and Beirut since 1957. He absolutely adores theatre. In February, I was playing Anglo-French production Poilu & Tommy here in London. We opened the same night as he did with his play in Beirut. He’s 80 years old now. Magic!

 

Q. What was it like to be asked to join the cast of Emmerdale

A. It was a beautiful feeling indeed. Emmerdale is a British TV institution, the first episode was aired in 1972. The longevity of this series is incredible.

 

Q. What would be the biggest achievement you could imagine

A. Leaving a lasting mark in the industry for generations to come.

 

 

Q. Working with such great actors and directors it must be hard when you are not working on a project. How do you stay focused and motivated

A. I attend workshops, go to the theatre, and watch films. It’s important to be in tune with the industry and learn from the best.

I also work as a Voice Over artist and do the occasional freelance broadcasting work.

 Alexander Devrient

Q. What role would you just love to play.

A. Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Specter in Suits.

 

Q. Who in history would you have loved to star with

A. Klaus Kinski, Rita Hayworth and Jack Nicholson would have to top that list.

 

Q. You have striking looks, do you get spotted and recognised in the street, if so how do you respond.

A. I can still roam the streets relatively freely but when I do get stopped the responses to my work are always very positive which is great.

 

Alexander Devrient

Q. What has been the most wonderful experience to come out of acting

A. I get to work with an array of talented people from all around the world and what do we do? We essentially tell stories. That’s a wonderful gift that comes with acting.

 

Q. One last cheeky question…what role do you think you could have played far better than the original and why!!

A. Give me the chance to play Lestat de Lioncourt and I’ll show you why.

We really look forward to following your career and all you lovely readers make sure you do to! Follow Alexander on Twitter @ADevrient if you want to pop me a little tweet I’m over here @sarahbacchus for any other information regarding my photography head over to sarahbacchus.com and take a look at our lifestyle blog SLBStyle.com 

This interview and shoot was held at the beautiful Mamounia Lounge in Mayfair, I want to thank them for their hospitality and for allowing me to take over an entire room for a few hours! Tweet them @MamounialLounge

Interview with Mem Freda

What made you get into acting?

As a child I was always fascinated by these ‘beings’ that lived inside our TV set! I was 
convinced I would see them leave from the back of the TV after a show was over, if I waited 
long enough!

Born with such a wild imagination, the decision was not a conscious one, but a route destined 
to happen. Often I would roll around the living room floor wrestling with pillows 
(crocodiles) having just seen an episode of Tarzan. 

Not much changed into adulthood, where I would recite dialogue from films I’d seen, with an 
attempt at replicating the characters. Eventually, I realized that the energy I had was best 
channeled into acting, hence, it chose me, as much as I chose it, as a career. 

Mem

 

What is the strangest role you have been offered?

Its very rare I find anything ‘strange’.

Once I was asked to be in a commercial, and was paid £38,000.00 for two hours work and when the 
advert was aired, all you saw was the side of my nose, that for me was strange!!

 

How do you prepare for a role?

Often when you land a role, you have background information at your disposal, from the script, 
the director, the character breakdowns etc.

Depending on whether the character is fictitious or not, will determine the nature of the 
research one does. If the character in not fictitious, I would gather as much information 
as possible to build a profile that is as close to the real life personality of that person.
I find it easier when a role is fictitious, as this allows for more freedom to experiment
with different layers to the character, until I find one that best fits to what the writer 
intended.

 

Who is your role model? It could be anyone from the past or present. 

Marlon Brando was my first ‘role model’. I have also always been influenced by the work of
De Niro, Pacino, Penn, Travolta and recently Christian Bale. 

 

You have some amazing films coming out soon, but what has been the most diverse role so far?

I’m excited for audiences to see two films coming out soon in which they will see me in a 
different light. First is BREAKDOWN, in which I play a tortured victim. It stars Craig
Fairbrass, James Cosmo and is directed by Jonnie Malachi and produced by Luke Fairbrass.

The second film is MY HERO, here I play a cockney florist, Simon Flowers, who is a drug lord 
operating out of Margate. Directed by Robert Osman and produced by Katarina Gellin, 
audiences are in for a real treat.

 

Plastic that's out now, is one brilliant film. If you had unlimited funds what would you do 
with it and why?

In terms of film, I would continue developing and producing interesting and stimulating stories 
for audiences to enjoy, appreciate and remember through time. In terms of life, I would set up 
a charity organisation to help others less fortunate. 

 

You do really get all the gritty roles to play in films, but are there any roles that you long 
to play? Like a Romantic comedy, or are you digging deep with the bad guy stuff for now?

I love playing the villain. Having made a career out of it, I still want to pay service to 
playing such roles. However, it is also high time to show my diversity as an actor, 
hence, a romantic comedy,horror, drama, are all avenues for me to explore. And I am 
currently setting these wheels in motion.

 

If you could play any role that is really out of your comfort zone what would it be?

Not sure any role is within my ‘comfort zone’, as all require a substantial amount of work. 
However, what would be fun to play, is a similar role to that of Dustin Hoffman’s role in 
Tootsie.

 

If you could direct any film past or present what would it be and why?

It would be thrilling to do a remake of Boogie Nights. It had me in fits of laughter, so it 
would be fabulous to attempt to make it just as funny.

 
Are their any roles you have played that you felt you changed as a person while filming 
or can you walk away and not get too involved with the character?

After 20 years of psychosis, with each dark and terrifying character I’ve portrayed, you have 
to learn to walk away unaffected. It’s that or strangling the cat when I get home.

To keep sane you have to have full control over reality and fantasy. I did have problems at
the start of my career, but had to deal with them pronto.

 
Who would you love to star with next and why?

I’d love to be able to work with Juliet Lewis. She captured my interest ever since I saw her in 
Kalifornia and Natural Born Killers. She’s a sensational actress and her music ain’t bad either!

 

 Tell us something about yourself that we don't know.

I love horror films and was excited to win an Award at the prestigious
Myrtle Beach International Film Festival for Truth or Dare, which I produced along with
Jessica Cameron and Jonathan S Higgins.I also like to dip crisps into diet coke. 

 
Are you into this whole selfie things and even if you are not who would be the one person in 
history you would love to have a picture with?

Absolutely detest the whole selfie thing! If I were to have a selfie picture with anyone, it 
would be with Elvis.


Kerastase Hair Product Review

Every girl knows the importance to regular haircuts but after that we are all a little terrible when purchasing good quality products. We rush off to the pharmacy to purchase the latest hair oils and frizz fighting serums and most of them don’t cut the mustard. Well these 2 new products from Kerastase will leave you wallet a little lighter in the short term but will last for around 10 months. So price per wash and style it really is worth investing in the latest hair innovations.

hair products

The Kerastase – ELIXIR ULTIME -125 ml beautifying hair oil is one tough fighter against damaged hair. The more this is used the better the results you will see. It gives hair that perfectly fresh cut, bouncy and smooth as silk feel. I loved this so much as its created dazzling shine, Its the ultimate light and soft oil. You will only need a pea sized drop used on the mid lengths of the hair to really see a change. Over the coming few days using it your hair will get better and better as this is a leave in treatment that can be used all year round with no build up.

It can be used as a pre shampoo, or used on wet or dry hair and this is really well worth the money.

hair

I am also a gluten for beautiful packing and this looks stunning sitting on the dressing table.

P1150341 hair

The DENSIFIQUE Mousse Densimorfhose 150 ml is as you would expect just as awesome as the oil, smells divine and helps you create the most brilliant bouncy styles. Applied on damp towel dried hair at the roots is adds hold, volume and delightful style for more than the first day its used. I loved the fact it didn’t weigh the hair down one little bit. Just remember a little goes a very long way for both these products so one small pump of each should be all you need.

For more beauty and style advice head over to slbstyle.com and come ask me anything beauty related over on Twitter @sarahbacchus as I used to be an educator with some of the leading brands. Now its more about the product photography but I still love giving advice to all you lovely readers. x

No5 Bridge Street Winchester

Winchester has some of the finest places to eat and one in particular will knock your socks off! NO5 has to be the most vibrant happening places to spend a few quality hours eating and drinking. The food is so incredible you will think you are being fed and cared for by the most famous of chefs. The presentation is out of this world and every dish is bursting with flavour and will send those taste buds on a delightful joy ride. We sampled the dishes sitting outside in the pretty courtyard with the sun beaming down on us. A perfect sunny evening full of chatter and excitement over each morsel that we ate.

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NO5 Bridge Street

First we got stuck into the olives, bread and a delicious herb dip before ordering the main events. We drank a smooth red Shiraz that was just the right temperature, velvety and delightful and a crisp bottle of Pinot, perfect for the most balmy and humid of evenings we have had in a very long time. Siting outside in the quaint courtyard was just what this day called for.

P1150109 NO5 Bridge Street

NO5 Bridge Street

We ate pulled pork burgers with a scrumptious BBQ sauce and french fires. This dish was soft, tender and rich. The sauce added a slight sweetness to the flavour that worked perfectly, accompanied by the wine.

NO5 Bridge Street

Hampshire steak burgers and fries with a spicy dip. The burgers melted in the mouth and not one bit was left. These are possibly the best burgers we have tasted in years. Perfect and delicate at the same time meaty and comforting.

NO5 Bridge Street NO5 Bridge Street

The vegetarian option was incredible. A Roasted garlic gnocchi dish with spring onions and baby red broccoli and chilli with lashings cheddar shavings on top.

P1150124 NO5 Bridge Street

A table set for Kings and Queens

NO5 Bridge Street

The mains where just perfect but no meal is ever truly complete without pudding now is it!!

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The best Banana Sticky Toffee pudding on the planet. Rich, crunchy, gooey and it’s possible to say we could have eaten about 3! Not because it was too small, just because we didn’t want this little beauty to end!

NO5 Bridge Street

Raspberry chocolate mousse with a caramel and peanut slice. This was totally tantalising and the mousse had a hidden sharp treat at the bottom. The raspberries just popped the flavour of the chocolate mousse. Creamy and light with every mouthful, the caramel slice was a perfect addition.

NO5 Bridge Street

This stunner was a Vanilla cheesecake with blackberry sorbet and a side of honeycomb. Light and delicate in taste but when the sorbet was added it gave the perfect treat for those taste buds.

No5 gets a big thumbs up and 5 star rating with us. One place to visit when you are in Winchester next. No5 also has 5 beautiful, contemporary, cozy and stylish rooms you can stay in too… More on that soon!!

Check out their website here and follow them on Twitter @no5bridgestreet

If you want to see more of the fashion in this post head over to SLBStyle for more details. Come say Hello on Twitter @sarahbacchus.

NO5 Bridge Street

Beer Butt Chicken

This has to be the best and the only way to cook incredible delicious melt in the mouth chicken. Smothered in whatever your heart desires, be it BBQ with a fiery kick or a more delicate rosemary and lemon tang. Beer Butt chicken is a novel way of cooking a bird, but once you have done it you will wonder how you will ever cook chicken any other way in the future. Shoving the beer can up the chickens bottom is somewhat hilarious and a little unglamorous but who cares when it tastes like a Roman feast at the end!

Beer Butt Chicken Beer Butt Chicken P1140874

Beer Butt Chicken

All you need to do is grab a ton of ingredients and marinate the bird about 12 hours before cooking. We chose to use 4 large scoops of brown sugar, a good glug of soya sauce, an ample helping of BBQ sauce, a few chillies chopped up for a real kick and about a tablespoon of smoked paprika. Mix it all up and smother it all over the chicken. Make sure you cut the elastic holing the legs together. Place it in the fridge until you are ready to cook. Then when you are ready just pop it onto a can of dark beer or ale. Empty out about a 1/3 of the can or drink it before hand so their is space for it to let off steam! It takes a bit of patience and its a 2 person job if you get the giggles! Make sure its sturdy and but that beast in the oven and cook as usual.

P1140846Rustle up some balsamic potato wedges and a green salad and you are in for a delicious feast. 
The juices of the bird make a perfect rich gravy by just adding some flour to thicken over the hob, in the try the bird was cooked in, then thin out the mixture by adding a pint of water and simmer until you are happy with the thickness.

P1140856 P1140862 P1140863 P1140874 P1140884 P1140891 P1140892A nice weekend treat that will send your taste buds to heaven! P1140894 P1140896 The best way to serve this is with a ton of friends and gallons of wine. A truly fantastic memorable meal thats so simple to create, tons of fun and will leave your guests laughing for weeks on end! P1140907

 

Black White Red Winchester

If you have the chance to visit Black White Red in Winchester you will be sure to want one on your very doorstep for breakfast, lunch and fantastic evenings out. We are so lucky to have this cool trendy and vibrant cafe and bar at our disposal. The coffee is exceptional and tastes like nectar. The food will send you on a trip to the moon! Out of this world is the only way to describe this brilliant, busy and fun new find.

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Food from the gods, we ate poached eggs on toast, tomato and mozzarella and avocado & onion on the best fresh bread that had been lightly toasted and drizzled with olive oil. We all dipped in and shared mouthfuls of each dish as it was too good to miss a single flavour!

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They believe Wine and Coffee are linked…even if you don’t drink them at the same time of day they are produced in very similar ways, with distinctive flavours and characteristics. Wine and coffee should live together and at Black White Red they do just that.

Try a few of your favourite wines and you will notice how the flavours between certain coffees and the wine are almost identical! The fun is trying, tasting and exploring all they have to offer. Its a totally new concept that no one has tried before and by golly it works. This place is always packed and you can just feel the happiness waft down the street. It has fast become our Sunday go to place for coffees, really delicious food and a place to just sit and watch the world go by!

 

Black….. is just for Coffee, White… is the link between the two (white coffee, white wine) Red……. is just for Wine. Simple as that but such a perfect place to take time out and create memories.

Follow, Tag, Tweet and Instagram them! Check out the menu here come say hello over at slbstyle.com or follow me on Twitter @sarahbacchus to check out my professional work take a look at sarahbacchus.com

t: @BWRWinchester
i: /BWRWinchester

 

Interview with Emrhys Cooper

I had the real pleasure of interviewing the oh so beautiful and talented English born Actor and producer Emrhys Copper a few days ago. I wanted to get to know him a little better and share with all of you some of the questions he never gets asked! We had a great chat and he was up for being asked almost anything including a few cheeky questions. He gets my vote to play James Bond or any Jude Law film ever created!
Interview with Emrhys Cooper

Emrhys was born in Devon, England and at 16 his was awarded a scholarship for the Central School of Ballet and later trained at Laine Theatre Arts, Epsom. He has toured and stared in Fame The Musical before making his West End debut at 21 in the Queen musical We Will Rock You. Emrhys has made several appearances on British television, including Coronation Street, ITV’s I’d Do Anything.

His on-screen movie debut was in the 2007 film Natasha and he is also featured in my all time favourite film Mamma Mia! (2008) How incredible is that?!!
There is no end to his talent and he decided to move to Los Angeles in 2008 to pursue his dream where he quickly started working on some of the USA’s biggest shows including the well known and down right brilliant Desperate Housewives.
Emrhys has also worked as a dancer alongside the likes of Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Pussy Cat Dolls and The Sugababes. He starred in the music video to the No1 hit Push the Button as the Geeky Guy directed by Matthew Rolston. While dancing, he appeared on TV shows such as The X Factor, America’s Got Talent, Stars in their Eyes and the MTV European Music Awards.

I was very keen to catch up with this cheeky and amazing chap and get the low-down on life in LA and what makes him tick.

Interview with Emrhys Cooper

Sarah. What made you become an actor, did you just decide one day…you know I think I will do this or has it been in your blood.
Emrhys. To be honest it happened really young, it was pretty cliched. I watched a James Bond movie and I was so captivated, I said to myself I want to be James Bond… Then it just went from there.
S. Where your parents supportive.
E. Very, my dad was also acting and my mum was involved with Dance.
S. Who are your heroes in the industry
E. I have so many. It was take all day to acknowledge them all. But I would like to say I have had my many teachers over the years that I owe my career to, and hopefully they know who they are.
S. What do you love about being in La.
E. It is the land of dreams. The weather doest hurt. You can be whoever you want to be and know one will judge you for having a dream.

S. Have you changed since living in La
E. Yes, I have grown into the person I believe I was supposed to be.
Its not been easy, but I definitely feel lucky that I am here right now and making my dreams a reality.

S. Who is the most random friend you have made in the industry.
E. Hmmm, well one of my best friends in an actress called Anne Jeffreys, we met at the Oscars and now we see each other all the time. She just turned 90 (she will hate that I said that LOL).
S. Ricky Gervais and Russell Crowe recently publicly tweeted about a night out and posted selfies. Who would you love to be buddies with it could be anyone past or present.
E. I would have like to have been friends with Fred Astaire, he is one of the biggest dance inspirations of my life – we could have a tap off. I would also have done anything to have met Michael Jackson. He is one of my idols, I would have wanted to have moon walked with MJ.

S. Being a British lad at heart, what do you miss about England living in LaLa land or is it a dream come true?
E. I miss my family most of all. But I also miss pub life, my friends, a good sunday roast. And most of all the British sense of humor.

S. What’s your elevator pitch to get a role. If I was a director and you had to convince me in 1 minute you where perfect for a role how would you go about impressing me!!

E. Jude Law is not available and I am ;)

S. If you could play any film role in History, what would it be?
E. I wouldn’t say no to James Bond.
S. What role in history do you think you could have payed better than the original?
E. I loved Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins – but his accent….
S. Lastly what is your advice to yourself if you could travel back in time and pull yourself over for a chat. What advice would you give yourself.
E. The bad times are never as bad as you think and the good times only get better.

He’s one to watch over the coming years and he’s cheeky enough to grab that role as Bond. He’s totally perfect for the role in my eyes. He is a rising star we all need to follow. If you want to pop him a little Tweet and say hi I am sure he would love it!! @EmrhysCooper come over and say hello to me @sarahbacchus visit my website www.sarahbacchus.com to see my photographic work or jump over to my blog www.slbstyle.com

Gluten Free Lemon & Strawberry Oat Bars

With various food allergies people my have its a good idea to have a few delicious ones that you can fall back on. This particular one I created by swapping and shifting about a few of the normal basic flour based ingredients. This is better than any flour fuelled muesli bar you could imagine. So easy to create and won’t last a day, so I suggest you make more than one batch as you will want not just one but maybe 3 of these bad boys in one sitting! Yes I did say 3…I am a piglet and Yes I did eat 3…NO LIE!!!

 

P1140633 P1140646 P1140647 Lemon and Strawberry bars

You will need:

For the crust

2 cups of gluten free oats
1/2 cup of Stivia or powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla paste
12 tbs of cold butter
For the Filling

3/4 cup of sliced strawberries
1 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
4 eggs
3 tbs gluten free oats
1 cup of strained fresh lemon juice
zest of one of the lemons
icing sugar to dust
Lemon and Strawberry bars

Put all the crust ingredients into a food blender and pulse until you have created pea sized lumps.

P1140533 Lemon and Strawberry bars

Place in a lined tray, I used greaseproof paper. Add the mixture and pack down tightly, then pop this into the freezer for 30 minutes.

Lemon and Strawberry bars

Add the 1/4 of a cup of the granulated sugar to the strawberries as this will soak up the juice.

Lemon and Strawberry bars

Put on one side while you mix up the rest of the filling. Put the eggs, sugar, oats, lemon zest and juice into a bowl and whisk up.

bars

Place the crust into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until it looks crispy and browned around the edges.

bars

Once its out of the oven place the strawberries dotted evenly around the base and top with the filling mixture.

bars

bars

Cook for about 30 minutes or until the centre is firm to the touch. Leave this to cool as long as you can before chopping up into equal sized bars. No one will want the smallest bar now trust me!!

 

P1140627 Lemon and Strawberry bars P1140647 P1140646 P1140633

 

Serve with a big pot of steaming hot tea and fresh strawberries on the side. Try not to deprive yourself either…go on have another one you worked hard to create these babies.

For more delicious recipes head over to my blog at www.slbstyle.com and tweet me @sarahbacchus