In these austere times, it won't only be residents of Port Talbot who recognise the description of "a town with low self-esteem" where it "felt like there was little going on". But not every industrial town has a son like Michael Sheen to do something about it.

A West End star lost part of the £1.7m settlement he was awarded following the break-up of his civil partnership, after the Court of Appeal ruled that his "home-making" role did not entitle him to a larger slice of the couple's assets.

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is the sort of play that benefits from a pertinent revival. Rarely has his take on the hollow heart of the American Dream seemed more relevant as American self-belief continues to falter amid economic fragility and continued job insecurity.

'Homeland' star is just one OE invited to dine with the President

"Trying to teach Marilyn how to act is like trying to teach Urdu to a badger," rages Laurence Olivier in Simon Curtis's frivolous drama about the brief relationship between third assistant director Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) on the set of Olivier's stinker The Prince and the Showgirl.

Simon Callow – actor, director and writer – doesn’t have many regrets, but he says he would love to have joined a circus. He would be “a clown of course.”

I've always loved the idea of playing an inspiring, rabble-rousing teacher I had an amazing teacher at my school called Alastair Langlands, who introduced me to my first love: storytelling. He made language, words and poetry magical, which has stayed with me. It's what attracted me to the role of a drama teacher in [my new film] Hunky Dory.

Fighting off the men on screen is one thing, says Reese Witherspoon. But real-life, modern dating? You can keep it, she tells Gill Pringle

Fighting off the men on screen is one thing, but real-life, modern dating? You can keep it, she tells Gill Pringle

No shame in short

How quick we are to take offence. I have written before that it's the sign of an increasingly infantile society when, as soon as anyone speaks their mind or says something remotely off-colour, there's usually a reaction bordering on the hysterical, followed by widespread condemnation and ultimately a demand for a grovelling apology. Calm down, dear, I'd like to say – yet that would only incense half the population.

I realise none of us is compelled to watch the interminable displays of professional log-rolling and improbable frocks otherwise known as movie awards ceremonies; but somehow the obsession of the broadcasting media with these festivals of self-congratulation leaves us with no escape. Thus, at 7am yesterday, I – along with everyone else whose reluctant emergence into daily consciousness is punctuated by Radio 4's news bulletins – had to endure the sound of a hyper-ventilating Meryl Streep (pictured) telling an invited audience at the "Orange Baftas" that her performance in The Iron Lady "located something real".

Black British actors should head to Hollywood as quickly as they can because they won't find leading roles in the UK, David Harewood, the acclaimed National Theatre performer, has advised.

Actor says he was shocked into seeking treatment for mental illness during the 1990s