The stars of TV’s War and Peace who had never read the novel
It may well become the dinner party question of 2016: Have you read Tolstoy’s masterpiece?
IT IS without question one of the most revered books in world literature.
But there is one nagging question about Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel, War &
Peace. Who has actually read it? The stars of the BBC’s lavish production of the classic, which starts tonight, have admitted to never having read the original before they landed their roles.
War and Peace is admittedly a demanding read, not only for its length – more than 1,200 pages – but also for its heady mixture of drama and romance in Tsarist Russia, as well as its cast of almost 600 characters.
Paul Dano, who plays the idealistic but hot-headed Pierre Bezukhov, admits: “I’d always meant to get round to reading War and Peace. I was very excited to read it when I got the job. I wasn’t disappointed – it’s a wonderful novel. A few parts are hard, but the trick is that you have to just keep reading.” Dano, previously seen in 12 Years A Slave and There Will Be Blood, had at least previously read Tolstoy’s Anna
Karenina, set against the backdrop of Russia’s stifling feudal system.
Lily James, the Downton Abbey star who plays Natasha Rostova, also admits to not having read the novel until landing the part. But once she started she could not stop.
“It’s so addictive,” said James whose character captivates both Dano and his best friend Andrei Bolkonsky.
She added: “I was reading it while we were filming Downton Abbey. I’d be reading between takes at the dining table. The director would call ‘Action!’ and – bang! – the book would be back under the table.” James Norton, who plays Bolkonsky, did at least carry a copy of Tolstoy’s novel while on the set of the TV crime drama Happy Valley.
He said: “My character went into a charity shop to disguise himself and picked up this red book, and it’s War
and Peace. So the only bit I’d read before was when I was sitting at that bus stop, waiting for the cameras to turn around. I got through around ten pages.” He added: “The job has actually been a great reason to read it and now I’m one of those smug people who can say they’ve read it.”
Greta Scacchi, who plays Countess Rostova, said: “I’d never had the courage to read it before, but being in it now has been an incentive. It’s great being an actor – you get a literature degree forced upon you by all the books you have to study.”
Even the production’s screenwriter, Andrew Davies, admitted that he had not read the book until he started on his adaptation. “I’d been saving it up,” said Davies, who admits to having “sexed-up” parts of the novel.
Perhaps the last word should go to Woody Allen, who parodied War and
Peace in his 1975 film Love and Death: “I took a speed reading course where you run your finger down the middle of the page and was able to read War and
Peace in 20 minutes. It’s about Russia.”