Cyrano Interview: Joe Wright

Last Updated on February 25, 2022

Joe Wright is no stranger to the costume drama. The London-born filmmaker has made a name for himself over the years with luscious adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, and Anna Karenina, while a handful of years ago he nabbed Gary Oldman his long-awaited Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Churchill in Darkest Hour. Now we’ve interviewed Joe Wright about how he’s made what might be his most compelling period piece yet: Cyrano, the lovely musical version of Edmond Rostand’s classic starring Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett (see our interview with her here).

The film takes a somewhat new approach to the well-known material, with the script written by Dinklage’s wife Erica Schmidt (it’s based on her stage play, also starring Dinklage and Bennett) and songs by Aaron and Bryce Dessner. Shot in Italy in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, Wright and company essentially marooned themselves in order to make this production of the immortal play, about a physically-unusual man who can barely contain his passion for the love of his life.

We recently spoke to Wright about the working conditions on Cyrano, his first time directing a musical and much more.

Cyrano opens on February 25th. Did Joe Wright answer your Cyrano questions in our interview?