Cyrano premiere: On the red carpet with Peter Dinklage, Hayley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Joe Wright, Erica Schmidt and Monica Dolan

From the British filmmaker behind Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007), Joe Wright, comes yet another sumptuously realised period drama, this time a musical, Cyrano. Based on the late 19^th-century play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand about a real-life man of the same name, the film has been adapted for the screen by Erica Schmidt who also penned the 2018 stage musical.

At its centre is Peter Dinklage, most familiar as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, here taking on the leading man role for the first time to fantastic effect. He acts opposite the flame-haired Hayley Bennett as Roxanne, Kelvin Harrison Jr of Waves as Cristian and screen veteran Ben Mendelsohn as De Guiche.

Not only does the visually spectacular film demonstrate a return to form for the director, but its imagery is also backed up by exquisitely written music and lyrics by the Dessner brothers from The National, bringing a classic tale to life afresh in luminous technicolour.

The cast and crew were in London for the premiere and shared their insights on the making of the film on the red carpet.

Dinklage spoke about the long process involved in making the film, how his character is a contradiction of a man and why working with Wright was a no-brainer for him.

The stunning Bennett shared how incredible it felt to finally be showing the film to audiences, why she was terrified of playing Roxanne and how she channelled inspiring women to achieve her interpretation of her.

Kelvin Harrison Jr spoke about his character of Cristian, the appeal of being involved in the project and how the film is about struggling with communication and acceptance.

Director Wright explained why for him adapting Cyrano fulfilled a desire to make a film about human connection, being knocked out by watching Bennett and Dinklage perform the play on stage and his goal to ensure there was a level of intimacy in the way it was shot.

Screenwriter Schmidt explained the whirlwind journey to adapting the play, the appeal of the story and why Dinklage was the perfect actor to play the titular character.

Monica Dolan reflected on the difficulty of making the film through the pandemic, how her character is initially cynical but transforms through the story and why for her Cyrano is more about romance than love.

 

Sarah Bradbury
Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures & Universal Pictures

Cyrano is released nationwide on 14^th January 2022.

Watch the Cyrano red carpet arrivals and photocall here:

Watch the trailer for Cyrano here: