Ben Allen

1 month ago | gq-magazine.co.uk | Ben Allen

Kieran Culkin has given so many awards acceptance speeches in the last couple of years that I reckon I could have a good stab at writing one. The beats are straightforward: Sarcastic opener, then a sincere handbrake turn thanking his manager Emily Gerson Saines, ending with an anecdote about his wife Jazz. It’s good, it’s charming, it works. He is mercifully brief, too (two and a half minutes compared to Adrien Brody’s five-minute epic later in the night, which was begging for an intermission).

1 month ago | gq-magazine.co.uk | Jack King |Ben Allen

For decades, Gene Hackman was a titan of American cinema — one of those rare, greatest-of-all-time screen presences whose name on the poster came with a promise of brilliance. He was of that actor's generation that is steeped in mythology and formed of demigods: De Niro, Pacino, Hoffman, Cazale, et al. Those who might not have fit the contemporary movie star mould, but redefined what it meant to be a leading man.

2 months ago | gq-magazine.co.uk | Ben Allen

We're deep enough into awards season now that for some, winning and losing statues has become so routine as to be mundane. You can see it in the brief reaction shots the camera gives us: actors in a trance, just vacant and clapping. Take Jeremy Strong, whose face betrayed no hint of emotion whatsoever when Kieran Culkin – who has already won a Golden Globe and a Bafta for his role in A Real Pain – beat him to win best supporting actor at the SAG Awards on Sunday night.

Jan 1, 2025 | gq-magazine.co.uk | Ben Allen

Have you seen Andrew Garfield cry? It’s really something. When Andrew Garfield cries, his brow furrows and his eyes narrow and quiver. He doesn’t do that thing that most men do where they fight and fight to stop it coming, gritting teeth and holding it in. Andrew Garfield embraces the tears and they flow down his cheeks gratefully, his irises glistening like pebbles underwater. As I sit across from him at lunch, a sick part of me wants him to cry just so I can see it.

Nov 27, 2024 | gq-magazine.co.uk | Killian Faith-Kelly |Ben Allen |Jack King

This story is part of GQ's Watercooler Week, a celebration of the workplace in TV. Bad bosses are a staple of workplace TV. It's easy fodder – of course people want to hate the boss. Most do in real-life, too. And it can be quite comforting to see how the likes of Tony Soprano treats his employees (not Chrissy, T, for god sake…). Maybe we don't have it so bad…Over the years, TV has produced some all-time greats. Plenty of the below are great characters, and some aren't even bad people.