HALEY BENNETT ON ‘CYRANO.’ FILMING THE BALCONY SCENE. AND WHY SHE’S GRATEFUL TO...
0Haley Bennett on ‘Cyrano.’ Filming the Balcony Scene. and Why She’s Grateful to Peter Dinklage and Erica Schmidt
From director Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice. Atonement. Hanna). the epic love story Cyrano follows Cyrano de Bergerac (Peter Dinklage). a man of “unique physique” whose undeclared love for his hometown friend Roxanne (Haley Bennett) leads him down a path where he finds himself expressing his true feelings through the dashingly handsome Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). The young soldier has caught the eye of the beauty that inspires Cyrano’s poetic words. and Cyrano is so fearful of her reaction that he settles for ensuring her happiness with another. During this 1 on 1 interview with Collider. which you can both watch and read. Bennett talked about bringing something new to a story that’s been around for so long. why she had to wait to find out if she’d get to reprise the role that she’d already played with Dinklage on stage. why the balcony scene was one of her favorites. and her favorite song to perform in the film. Collider: Excellent work in this. This whole film is just so beautiful and emotional. and everybody did such tremendous work in it. HALEY BENNETT: That makes me so happy. That’s exactly what we intended. That’s what we set out to do. to give you that feeling. I’m so pleased to hear that. Thank you. I know that you did this on stage. but even then. when you sign on to do a retelling of something like Cyrano. that so many people are familiar with and that’s been told so many times. is there a sense of relief in knowing that it’s a story that’s been around for so long. or do you get extra nervous about bringing something new to a story that’s been around for so long? BENNETT: At a certain point. you have to let that go. and connect with the material on a personal level. and try to tell the story as truthfully as possible. as an actor. whatever that means to you. I’m really grateful to (writer) Erica [Schmidt]. We made this adaptation as a stage play first. I’m so grateful to Pete [Dinklage] and Erica for embracing my interpretation of the character. But of course. there’s definitely pressure. With the film. (director) Joe [Wright] had such a specific vision for the piece. It’s a film that’s set in the fantasy world of a period. It’s not so glued to the original story. which is set in France. It’s a French story. But the characters exist in an alluring dream world of a reality. It’s a drama. but we also sing in the film. There are a lot of elements that are completely new. With how moving your performances and with the emotion that comes out in the songs. I can’t imagine anyone else playing Roxanne. but you’ve also said that you weren’t sure if you would get to do this. How hard was the waiting to find out? BENNETT: I was eight months pregnant when we finished the stage production at the Goodspeed Theatre. which sat 70 people. When I first sought out to do theater. I’d always dreamed of maybe one day performing on Broadway. or off Broadway. or any theater would be fine. When we finished the play. I was eight months pregnant with my daughter. playing a virgin. which I don’t know how successfully I did that. I was really gutted when I didn’t get to go off Broadway. but I had been offered a part in Ron Howard’s film (Hillbilly Elegy). and that was just much more practical. in terms of nurturing a new relationship with my newborn. But I felt like I just wasn’t finished with the project. At the same time I knew that Joe was developing the project for the screen. to make the film with Erica. Pete’s wife. who was writing the script for the film. That’s a really long and drawn out process. and you never know if films are going to get made or if they’re not. I knew that the casting of Pete would be set in stone. but I didn’t know that. for sure. the studio would approve my casting. What was it like to have the familiarity of collaborating with Peter Dinklage. but also the discovery of collaborating with Kelvin Harrison Jr.? What did you enjoy about being...
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