Masterpiece Theatre | David Copperfield

Essays + Interviews [imagemap with 9 links]

Daniel Radcliffe, actor
An interview with Daniel Radcliffe, the young David in David Copperfield

When he landed the coveted title role in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the eagerly anticipated film of the first book in the popular series by J. K. Rowling, the world shook beneath his feet. He is already in production on the second book in the series and Warner Bros. has the rights to all four published so far. The Harry Potter juggernaut has started rolling...

Simon Curtis, director
An interview with Simon Curtis, director of David Copperfield

"...I put together a wish list, and things just fell into place. Maggie Smith was obviously the only actress in the world who could play Aunt Betsey. Other people could be the Aunt Betsey at the beginning or the Aunt Betsey at the end, but she is the only one who could be Aunt Betsey all the way through. She was very keen to do it, and she was the magnet. Once she was part of the production, all discerning actors realized, "Oh, I see, it's that production. I'd like to be part of that..."

Adrian Hodges, screenwriter
Adrian Hodges, David Copperfield screenwriter, on adapting Dickens

"...For me, Dickens is the greatest prose writer in English and, along with Shakespeare, he is one of the two or three writers best known in the English language. I think anybody who adapts Dickens must be aware that you're dealing with a man whose ability to characterize is unique. Nobody can come up with characters like Dickens. Nobody has his energy as a writer. Nobody has his enormous range of humanity. I just hope lovers of the book will think I have done it justice..."

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