In The Lost King – the new film telling the remarkable true story of the discovery of Richard III’s remains in a Leicester car park – the 15th Century monarch himself appears as a character, played by Harry Lloyd.
At various points in the film, an apparition of Richard appears to lead character Philippa Langley (Sally Hawkins) to advise and encourage her on her search, especially as her efforts are frequently undermined.
And speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Steve Coogan – who co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Pope and stars as Langley’s ex-husband John – revealed the reason behind this creative decision.
“We did a draft where we put it in, [and then] we did another draft where we took it out completely,” he explained. “And then we mused on it and we thought let’s put it back in again and eventually we decided let’s keep it.
“It was sort of a bit of a gamble because it can look just cheap and tricksy and like an affected device. But really, we thought it was the most efficient way of explaining to people who Richard is.
“When you’ve got a limited amount of time in the film, bringing him to life can save you a lot of time because you get to see the Richard that Philippa felt she had gotten to know through her research.”
He added: “[It] also is a great device to know what Philippa was thinking because in actual fact, the conversations she has with Richard in the film – if you analyse the dialogue – they’re all conversations that Philippa could just as easily be having with herself.
“Because Richard doesn’t actually tell her anything she doesn’t already know. So it’s an internal monologue made flesh.”
Director Stephen Frears, who previously collaborated with Coogan and Pope on the Oscar-nominated Philomena, also felt that the addition of Richard directly into the narrative was a sensible approach.
“I knew that you had to have the past as well as the present,” he explained. “And you had to deal with Richard III. And that seemed to me a rather ingenious solution.”
The Lost King will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 7th October 2022. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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