Names and faces

■ The widow and the biographer of the beloved British children’s writer Roald Dahl told the BBC in an interview this week that Charlie Bucket, the young boy whose life is changed by a golden ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was originally supposed to be black. “His first Charlie that he wrote about was a little black boy,” the widow, Felicity Dahl, said in the interview. It was timed to the author’s birthday, which fans of his work celebrate as Roald Dahl Day. He would have been 101. Felicity Dahl made the remark during a conversation with Donald Sturrock, her husband’s biographer, on BBC Radio 4’s Today program. Sturrock said Roald Dahl had understood “the American sensibility.” In response, Felicity Dahl revealed the original idea for Charlie’s race and said she believed it had been “influenced by America.” But as readers and moviegoers the world over know, Charlie Bucket is white. Sturrock said that was because of Roald Dahl’s agent, whom he did not name. “It was his agent who thought it was a bad idea when the book was first published to have a black hero,” Sturrock said. “She said people would ask why.” Felicity Dahl said that “it was a great pity” that her husband had changed Charlie’s race. When the interviewer asked if they would ever issue a “reworking” of the story, she replied, “It would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?” ■ Ben Stiller thought the best way to prepare for his role as a dad taking his son on a college tour in the film Brad’s Status was to take the actor playing his son on an actual road trip. So Stiller and Austin Abrams got in a car and took a drive from Montreal to New York, making stops along the way. “I feel like it really helped because we’re supposed to be like father and son,” Abrams said. The bittersweet comedy has Stiller’s character, Brad, driving his son around the Northeast looking at schools, but all he can think about are his own failures in life. Along the way, he starts to question whether he has really failed, which Stiller said he found relatable. He also spoke of getting the chance to work with Mike White, who wrote and directed the film. “I just thought it was a well-written script. I think Mike’s an amazing, creative force, and he was trying to tell this very personal and emotional story without trying to make it in any way forced — or sappy or anything,” Stiller said. The road trip not only helped the two actors’ relationship on screen; Stiller said they also had a great time doing it. At one point during the trip, Stiller stopped at a historical attraction and dressed up in a Revolutionary War outfit, much to embarrassment of Abrams. That moment, Stiller said, made it feel real. “I was like, hey, we’re father and son. This is happening,” Stiller said. Brad’s Status hit theaters today.

Stiller