Mr Richard Madden is beginning to get recognised quite a lot. At a private party in Claridge’s hotel, London, a fortnight ago, I watched a 50-year-old man ask if he could photograph Mr Madden and his Game of Thrones co-star Mr Kit Harington, for his “14-year-old niece; she’s a big fan of the show”. As if. That photograph was obviously taken for his own pleasure: the gentleman couldn’t hide his delight that there he was, next to a giant Christmas tree in Mayfair, with the show’s two young lead characters, Robb Stark and Jon Snow.

Game of Thrones – a cross between Middle Earth and The Sopranos if you’ve been hidden in a bunker for the past two years – is massive. The cult novels by Mr George RR Martin have been dramatised by HBO with no expense spared on gore, full-on arse-banging sex and eye-popping locations. And this has given Mr Madden, who has been critically acclaimed for his theatre roles in London’s West End (including Be Near Me with Mr Ian McDiarmid) and the BBC TV dramas Worried About the Boy and Birdsong, a whole new level of fame.

Mr Madden is one of those people who comes alive in front of a camera or at a party – both seem to energise him

And 2013 looks as if it’s going to be even bigger. The 26-year-old Scot, who has just finished filming a movie with Ms Rebecca Hall and Mr Alan Rickman, and is about to embark on another secret project this month, can barely contain his excitement. Talented, handsome and with absurd levels of energy, he’s in New York – where the MR PORTER photoshoot takes place – for a few days holiday to catch up with his girlfriend, Ms Jenna-Louise Coleman. Ms Coleman, who he has been dating for more than a year, is in town to promote Doctor Who, the popular British sci-fi show. On Christmas Day, she made her debut as the Doctor’s new assistant; a role that will transform her almost overnight into a national treasure. This year is going to be an eventful one for them both. (read more at the source)

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One of Britain’s finest actors features in a new exhibition of photography at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Rising star Richard Madden, 26, from Elderslie, began his acting career at Paisley’s famous PACE youth theatre, and has gone on to take lead roles on stage, in television and film.

And now a portrait of him by K K Dundas is among a number of famous names that can be seen in the photographer’s show “Leading Lights”.

Hanging alongside him at the prestigious gallery are portraits of Bill Paterson, Billy Boyd, Elaine C Smith and Ruby Wax – all, like Richard, graduates of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

In 2010, to celebrate its 60th anniversary, the Conservatoire commissioned Glasgow-based Dundas, who specialises in theatre and portrait photography, to take portraits of past and present students from the school of drama.

These images, presented in collaboration with the Conservatoire, features some of the institution’s most illustrious alumni, from old hands to more recent graduates.

Richard got his acting break at the age of 11 when he appeared in a film adaptation of Iain Banks’s hit novel Complicity. Then came a lead role in kids’ TV series My Barmy Aunt Boomerang, before he quit acting for a while.

But he returned to the profession with a vengeance when he was 17.

Richard said: “I got to the point when I was being asked to choose what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do more. I went back to PACE and spent a year being one of the oldest ones, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but I had to get back into acting.”

Richard then earned a place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and jobs with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Globe Theatre, in London, followed.

He later gained the lead role of Dean McKenzie in the 2009 BBC series Hope Springs, followed by his roles as Ripley in the 2010 film Chatroom, and as Theatre of Hate singer Kirk Brandon in the 2010 film Worried About The Boy.

Since 2011, he has been starring as Robb Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones, the Channel 4 series Sirens and in the BBC series Birdsong.

Leading Lights runs until Sunday, March 3, 2013.

(source)