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There are few plays more well-known around the world than Edmond Rostand\u2019s Cyrano De Bergerac. First written in 1897, it\u2019s been performed countless times in hundreds of countries \u2013 and was even responsible for introducing the word \u2018panache\u2019 to the English language.<\/p>\n
Now, a new reimagining of the age-old story \u2013 told with much panache indeed \u2013\u00a0 arrives in UK cinemas this week. Adapted by Erica Schmidt from her off-Broadway stage version, the film sees her husband Peter Dinklage turn in a fine performance in the lead role \u2013 perhaps the most accomplished of his impressive career to date. At the end of last year, RadioTimes.com<\/a> sat down with Dinklage, who talked about taking on the role, the vital changes made for the new adaptation, and why he had to stop listening to The National.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, it\u2019s one of those classic stories,\u201d he explains, when asked about what the play meant to him prior to starring. \u201cEven if we haven\u2019t read the script or anything, we know about the nose, and we perhaps know about the balcony scene.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Dinklage himself was well aware of Rostand\u2019s play before he initially took on the role, he had never seen a version of it on stage. Instead, he was familiar with a couple of film adaptations \u2013 both the Gerard Depardieu version from 1990, and Roxanne, the more light-hearted Steve Martin film that reimagined the source material as a modern-day rom-com. And while he was a fan of both films, he was careful to put them out of his head during the rehearsal process, lest he found himself inadvertently adopting the mannerisms of those who\u2019d played the part before him.<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of sort of had to push all that aside, not cloud my head with different versions and just sort of make it my own again,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I didn\u2019t heavily research into past performances or anything like that, because those are some great actors and I didn\u2019t want to take anything that they did.\u201d<\/p> As with any adaptation, there are a number of notable alterations in this new Cyrano that sets it apart from previous versions. For one thing, it\u2019s a musical \u2013 with a number of mellow ditties having been composed for the production by acclaimed rock band The National, several of them sung by Dinklage himself. Although he\u2019s proven himself as an extremely versatile actor several times over, this is something that was completely new to the former Game of Thrones star, but the opportunity to sing was one he relished.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving done the stage production already my familiarity with it was at a much better comfort level for me going into the film,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut everything was done very professionally. I had a vocal coach, and we really worked on the songs together.<\/p>\n \u201cPlus there aren\u2019t really any big chorus numbers, they\u2019re just duets and solos and all of that \u2013 so I feel like it\u2019s more like a movie with songs rather than a musical. With musicals, people start to think about chorus numbers and big finishes and all of that stuff, and it\u2019s really not that. So that helped.\u201d<\/p>\n