*UPDATED on 4/25 to include a link to Darwin Shaw's Official Facebook Page. Go and show his Facebook Page some love from his co-star and friend, Diogo's awesome fans. :) Thanks, Sara.
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Most of you probably recognize Darwin Shaw as "Peter" from "The Bible" series. But there's a lot about this extremely talented English actor you may not know, which is why we've chosen him as our first "Follow Friday" recommendation.
(Click the "Read More" link below to read the rest....)
Before we get to just how awesome Darwin is to follow on Twitter (and he really is), let's talk about his brilliant portrayal of "Peter," and his career prior to that.... (we're willing to bet you've seen a couple of movies he's been in and may not even realize it.)
But back to Darwin as "Peter".... for me, in many ways, he is the unsung hero of "The Bible" series. Satan had his controversy, Jesus had that hashtag, so sometimes in all the frenzy, the true beauty of "The Bible" got overshadowed. And frankly, Darwin's performance of Peter was truly beautiful. Indeed, one of the best aspects of "The Bible" was the relationship between Peter and Jesus. I tweeted this to Darwin once, and forgive me as I know this is not a Biblical term, but to me, Peter and Jesus in "The Bible" series was the original "bromance." All thanks to Darwin and Diogo's genuine chemistry and talents. But why I was so drawn to Peter/Darwin is that Darwin uniquely managed to portray "Peter," a historical character, a larger than life character, as a totally relatable character. Growing up reading the Bible, I always got so mad at Peter for denying Jesus 3 times, never understood how he could do it. Until Darwin showed me that Peter was human. Just like all of us. Also thanks to Darwin's talent, you could see, almost feel, Peter's guilt over denying Jesus, and the way he said "and now I can't even ask him to forgive me" about the denial, who can't relate to feeling that kind of regret? But most of all, when you see the friendship of Peter and Jesus as portrayed so incredibly by Darwin and Diogo, you can easily see why Peter was Jesus' "rock" in a way you may have never fully understood before.
Now, aside from playing "Peter," one thing you may not know about Darwin is that he is actually a doctor. Not as in he "plays one on TV," as in, he IS one, off of TV. He has said he practiced medicine at Kings College Hospital in London before studying acting in New York City and then at the famed London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, after which he began pursuing acting full time. While I am sure he was an excellent doctor, I think we are all thankful that he switched careers.
Speaking of his career, did you know Darwin was in such movies as "Casino Royale" with Daniel Craig, "Prometheus" with Charlize Theron, and "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" with Jake Gyllenhall? In fact, his character in "Prince of Persia," Asoka, even has his own Lego Minifigure! How cool is this:
Darwin is also an accomplished director, writer, and producer. You can see all of Darwin's credits on his IMDb Page and learn even more about him at his official website: www.darwinshaw.com.
Darwin will next be seen as "Prince Nabil" in episode 3 of the UK's ITV series "Endeavor," entitled "Rocket." The episode will air on Sunday, April 28th, but unfortunately at this time, it is only airing in the UK. However, Darwin recently tweeted he thinks it will air in the US at some point, and he'd keep us informed.
So, that means you MUST follow Darwin on Twitter, @DarwinShaw if you are not already. (Hence, our "Follow Friday" recommendation.) Not only is Darwin active on Twitter, and very kind to his fans/followers, but he is the most eloquent writer/Tweeter on Twitter ever, hee. Like, I want to have a beer with the guy, even if it's only over Twitter, hahaha! Seriously, he just writes really great tweets and responses that make him a great follow. That said, he actually tweeted last night that he was "in lock down audition mode, see you after the weekend." (See how awesome he is? Who does that?) So please follow him, but PLEASE, do NOT flood his timeline/him with tweets until Monday. :) Thanks, and break a leg, Darwin, we can't wait to see what you do next!
Finally, I want to conclude with a link to this interview that Darwin, Roma Downey, and Diogo did with "Good Day LA." I wanted to share it because Roma and Diogo discusses the close off screen friendship between Diogo and Darwin that clearly led to their beautiful portrayal of Jesus' and Peter's relationship. I also love this interview because Darwin's comments on quitting being a doctor to pursue acting are entertaining. Don't worry Darwin, you're still very respectable! :)
And that's why @DarwinShaw is our first "Follow Friday."
QUICK UPDATE: Darwin tweeted earlier tonight that he will be doing a live chat soon, so make sure you follow him so you won't miss it! It's bound to be a great chat.
Thanks for reading,
Sara (@diogofanblog)
What an amazing man Darwin is! Thank you for writing such an informative piece on him giving him the recognition he deserves. Hope to see lots of him the future. PS I LOVE your writing!
ReplyDeleteThere's something special at Darwin too. And I loved the way you wrote about him/it. The vídeo is great, saw it for the first time! Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you both for the extremely kind words. I admit this one was fun to write and I LOVE that interview. From Diogo deflecting the hot Jesus thing to Darwin making a joke out of the used to be respectable line from Steve Edwards. Seriously, thank you again for your support and yes, Darwin is indeed special! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for featuring Darwin on this blog. I couldn't agree with you more about him being the unsung hero of the miniseries. The scene when he denies Jesus is so heartbreaking because of Darwin's emotional acting and talent. I have seen interviews with him and he is so well spoken and complimentary and far better looking than the "Duck Dynasty" beards they had in the Bible allowed you to see. I know this is a blog about Diogo, but since they are both so talented and good friends, I'd love it if you'd post about him too. I follow him on Twitter but would just like to see him discussed here as well. I am sure he has a lot of fans here too. Thank you. Julie.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU for this informative post. I too loved Peter and so love the "bromance" hahaha between Peter and Jesus. I didn't know much about Darwin before, didn't even know he was on Twitter but now I look forward to following him. Thank you for sharing this with us! Please keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about Darwin, I had no idea he was in movies I had seen before. Must re-watch. I agree his was great as Peter, and I hope this leads to many other opportunities for him here in the States. Loved that interview too, they clearly all getting along so well which is why I think the Bible has become such a hit. Thank you for sharing his Twitter information with us. I may join just to follow him and your blog of course lolol.
ReplyDeleteOh I am so glad I am not the only one who noticed how talented Darwin is. I loved the bromance too. So nice to read he has done so much, yet I suspect the best has yet to come. Unfortunately, I am not on Twitter, so maybe you could keep us posted on Darwin too every now and then? I don't think Diogo would mind. :) Keep up the great work, this is an awesome blog.
ReplyDeleteI just had to post again to say Darwin responded to me twice on Twitter tonight and MADE my weekend. He is so nice and funny. Hope he knows how special he is! Can't wait for his live chat. He's great and I hope his UK show airs here soon. Thanks again for having this blog for us!
ReplyDeletehey there good blog but I wanna know, is Darwin single? :) j/k he's a handsome and talented actor even if he's not. Following him on Twitter, don't want to miss his chat. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI followed him on tweeter just now. Would you update us when the live chat going to be?
ReplyDeleteLove seeing all the Darwin fans here! And to Rociel and all the others who asked me on Twitter LOL, yes, I will do my best to keep everyone here posted on when Darwin's chat will be, I promise. So go follow @DarwinShaw and I'll see you all there. :)
ReplyDeleteI joined Twitter just for his tweets and chat LOL. Darwin was perfect as Peter. I hope if they do the Jesus of Nazareth series Diogo and Darwin are both in it because nobody else could play either character in my eyes. But besides Peter, Darwin has such talent I think the best is yet to come. He is good looking too! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. I went back and read his old tweets and he is awesome. So kind to his fans. Glad to see he has the personality to match the talent and looks. We all love Diogo obviously, but please feature Darwin more too. I can't wait for his chat and to see what he does in the future. Thanks again Sara.
ReplyDeleteI have been a fan of Darwin since his first seen on The Bible. My favorite scene was when they came to arrest Jesus and he punched Judas in the face and them threw himself at the guards and was yelling, "Run..run Jesus." That's true love right there. Sara you got it right when you talked about the original bromance. Darwin is such a sweet down to Earth guy. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
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