THE INVISIBLE WOMAN

Speranza

Ralph Fiennes praised Charles Dickens as "a fantastically complicated, brilliant man" at the premiere of The Invisible Woman.

The actor stars in and directs the film based on the real life story of Dickens' affair with a much younger woman towards the end of his life.

Fiennes, who plays Dickens, said of the role:

"It's thrilling.

It's no good being intimidated to the point that you can't function.

"He was a fantastically complicated, brilliant man.

He had amazing energy so even when I got the early draft I could see the part was great."

The story follows the writer as he meets and falls in love with Ellen Lawless Ternan Robinson, played by Felicity Jones, and tells how it impacts on his marriage, which includes Dickens writing a letter to The Times to announce that he is leaving his wife.

Fiennes admitts that at first he had been reluctant to both star in and direct the film, and had been planning to stay behind the camera as the director but was eventually won over for both roles.

He said:

"Initially I didn't want to do both things because it was so challenging but as I worked on it, I couldn't help in the end saying, 'OK, I'm in, I'll play it.' I couldn't say no."

Also at the premiere in London's Leicester Square were Tom Hollander who plays writer Wilkie Collins, The Thick Of It's Joanna Scanlan who plays Dickens's wife, and Claire Tomalin who wrote the book the film is based on.

The Invisible Woman was premiered as part of the 57th BFI London Film Festival.

However, Jones lived up to her billing as The Invisible Woman as she was out of town with other filming commitments.