Ralph Fiennes directs Dickens secret love story
- 10 years ago
Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones and Kristin Scott Thomas have hit the red carpet in London for the premiere of ‘The Invisible Woman’.
It is the story of the scandalous and relatively unknown love affair between Charles Dickens and young actress Nelly Ternan.
‘The Invisible Woman’ is Ralph Fiennes’ second movie as a director following his successful adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Coriolanus’ in 2011.
Fiennes also plays the lead character. He explained Dickens was not only one of the Victorian era’s greatest writers but also a highly complex person:
“He’s a contradictory character. He was capable of great acts of generosity. He was a very vital man. A highly energised man. Driven to work. Driven to write his novels. Sort of a self-made man in many ways. I think he was possibly a rather controlling father and husband. And I think in this film we have to deal with the way Dickens exited his marriage, which was unfortunate and arguably quite cruel,” Fiennes said.
Felicity Jones, who plays Nelly Ternan, said she enjoyed working with Ralph Fiennes: “He’s so detailed. That’s what I love about him. Everything, the costume, the characterisation… He doesn’t let you get away with anything that’s phoney or false. It’s always about finding the truth.”
Co-starring Joanna Scanlan as Dickens’ wife and Kristin Scott Thomas as Nelly’s mother, ‘The Invisible Woman’ has received mostly positive reviews. It is out across Europe in February.
It is the story of the scandalous and relatively unknown love affair between Charles Dickens and young actress Nelly Ternan.
‘The Invisible Woman’ is Ralph Fiennes’ second movie as a director following his successful adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Coriolanus’ in 2011.
Fiennes also plays the lead character. He explained Dickens was not only one of the Victorian era’s greatest writers but also a highly complex person:
“He’s a contradictory character. He was capable of great acts of generosity. He was a very vital man. A highly energised man. Driven to work. Driven to write his novels. Sort of a self-made man in many ways. I think he was possibly a rather controlling father and husband. And I think in this film we have to deal with the way Dickens exited his marriage, which was unfortunate and arguably quite cruel,” Fiennes said.
Felicity Jones, who plays Nelly Ternan, said she enjoyed working with Ralph Fiennes: “He’s so detailed. That’s what I love about him. Everything, the costume, the characterisation… He doesn’t let you get away with anything that’s phoney or false. It’s always about finding the truth.”
Co-starring Joanna Scanlan as Dickens’ wife and Kristin Scott Thomas as Nelly’s mother, ‘The Invisible Woman’ has received mostly positive reviews. It is out across Europe in February.