Edmond Rostand’s classic play Cyrano De Bergerac has been adapted for the screen many times before – from the 1990 film starring Gerard Depardieu to the more light-hearted, comedic adaptation Roxanne, which saw Steve Martin take on the lead role.
Now, a new musical version starring Peter Dinklage is about to hit cinemas, which has itself taken a few liberties with the source material.
Perhaps most notably, the title character’s traditional long nose has been dispensed with entirely, and Dinklage recently revealed to RadioTimes.com exactly why those changes had been made.
In an exclusive chat for The Big RT Interview, the former Game of Thrones star explained that the change would help give the film more universal appeal – while he was also quick to point out that his “size isn’t a substitute for the nose.”
“I thought that really opened up the whole show, if you get rid of the nose, what are you left with?” he said. “You’re left with a guy who’s just incapable of seeing himself worthy of love being returned to him, based on what he feels about himself.
“And with the original, it’s all about his nose. For me, personally, I always thought, ‘What’s the big deal?’ And when you see it, in movies and on stage, you know it’s a fake nose, it’s an actor and a fake nose. So that sort of takes you out of it as well.”
“My size isn’t a substitute for the nose,” he added. “It just happens to be that I hitched myself to this production. As Erica [Schmidt, screenwriter and Dinklage’s wife] said from the beginning, anybody could have played this part. Not anybody, but anybody that… it doesn’t matter physically. It’s just how you feel internally about yourself, and your insecurities.
“And I think that opens it up to having more and more universal appeal. Because when you see Cyrano with the big nose, you sort of stand like the rest of the characters do in judgement of it. Get rid of that, what are you left with? You’re just left with what everybody goes through in the face of love, being terrified of it not being returned.”
Read more: Cyrano star on why Roxanne needed to be “distinctive” from previous versions
The full Big RT Interview with Peter Dinklage will be available to read on RadioTimes.com from Friday 25th February.
Cyrano is released in UK cinemas on Friday 25th February 2022. Looking for something to watch? Visit our Film hub for more news, interviews and features, or check out our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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