David Copperfield Ciaran McMenamin Ciaran McMenamin made a major error when he heard he had won an audition for the title role in David Copperfield. The 24-year-old actor, who found early fame as Jez in British television's The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star, rushed down to his local video shop and rented MGM's 1935 film of David Copperfield. It did not help when he got the part. It took McMenamin weeks to get W.C. Fields' famous portrayal of Micawber out of his mind. "When we were rehearsing, I kept giggling every time Micawber (Bob Hoskins) spoke. I kept hearing Fields's voice in my head." The other early problem for McMenamin was learning to become a proper Dickensian Englishman, putting aside his strong Enniskillen accent. "It had to be done ... you can't have 'David O'Connor Copperfield.'" He perfected the English accent with dialect coach Jeanette Nelson. Ciaran McMenamin trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.