Georges ‘Bel Ami’ Duroy
The central character of Georges was a complex and captivating subject for Rachel Bennette, as she explains. “Georges is a difficult character, that’s what makes him so fascinating. He’s quite enigmatic in certain respects and he’s not a typical character in many ways. He’s very reactive as opposed to the active protagonist that you’re used to. So it was a question of trying to get the measure of him.”
“He never works and he still gets it all. That’s what’s so maddening about Georges Duroy,” Donnellan concurs. “He gets the lot with no effort and it’s something we have to live with. Georges has a talent to get to the top and he’s a businessman with one commodity to sell. Another thrilling thing about Georges is his emptiness; people can project anything into him which is another reason why he’s so successful.”
Bennette concludes: “I find Georges really compelling, even if I don’t always like him. There’s something about his audacity, and his daring, and his absolute refusal to be told his place. And there is something quite appealing about that: essentially it is a kind of mad courage that he has.”
Casting
“We asked actors that we really wanted to work with, people that we have admired for a long time, explains Donnellan of their casting choices. “Kristin Scott Thomas we know of old. Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Robert Pattinson we have always admired. There’s also Colm Meaney, a wonderful Irish actor who plays Rousset and Phillip Glenister. They are all actors we love.”
Continue reading →
