Great Expectations star Jeremy Irvine reveals 'acting masterclass' with Colin Firth in The Railway Man - but says he doesn't want fame (COVENTRY TELEGRAPH)

 By David Bentley on December 10, 2012 9:12 PM

Jeremy Irvine is having the year of his life. No sooner had he made his film debut as the lead in Steven Spielberg's War Horse in January than he found himself being asked by director Mike Newell to play Pip in his adaptation of the Dickens classic Great Expectations, now on release in cinemas.


And then he was in demand yet again when Colin Firth wanted Irvine to play his younger self in upcoming war drama The Railway Man.

In The Railway Man - due out in 2013 (no UK release date has yet been announced) - Irvine plays the young Eric Lomax, a British army officer sent to a Japanese prison camp during World War Two and forced to work on the infamous Death Railway from Thailand to Burma. Firth portrays the older Lomax.

"I met Colin Firth and had dinner with him and he was the one that actually got me the role, which was nice," says the 22-year-old rising star.

"We kind of share the movie and he was so generous. We'd rehearse in his living room and I was thinking 'My God, this is the kind of acting masterclass you can only dream of when you're at drama school'.

"At the time, you're just working with someone who's really good at what they do and really interesting, and of course afterwards you go 'Wow, that was really kind of him'."


READ MORE: http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2012/12/great-expectations-star-jeremy-irvine-on-his-acting-masterclass-with-colin-firth-in-the-railway-man.html

Dinner with Colin Firth helped Jeremy Irvine land Railway Man role by Birmingham Post, Birmingham Post

Jeremy Irvine is having the year of his life. No sooner had he made his film debut as the lead in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse in January than he found himself being asked by director Mike Newell to play Pip in his adaptation of Great Expectations – then Colin Firth wanted him to play his younger self in upcoming war drama The Railway Man.

“Sometimes you read a script and spend a long time saying, ‘Oh well, maybe it could work this way’, but this was just such as ‘I’ve got to do this movie’ moment,” the 22-year-old says earnestly.

“I met Colin Firth and had dinner with him and he was the one that actually got me the role, which was nice.”

Irvine plays the young Eric Lomax, a British army officer who was sent to a Japanese prisoner of war camp during the Second World War and forced to work on the infamous ‘Death Railway’ from Thailand to Burma. The film is based on his memoir of the same title, and Firth plays the older Lomax.


“We kind of share the movie and he was so generous,” says Irvine. “We’d rehearse in his living room and I was thinking, ‘My God, this is the kind of acting masterclass you can only dream of when you’re at drama school’.

“At the time, you’re just working with someone who’s really good at what they do and really interesting, and of course afterwards you go, ‘Wow, that was really kind of him’.”



Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure-birmingham-guide/birmingham-culture/film-news/2012/11/29/dinner-with-colin-firth-helped-jeremy-irvine-land-railway-man-role-65233-32326505/#ixzz2DeME4Bt1

First Look: Jeremy Irvine as Pip in Mike Newell's 'Great Expectations'

November 11, 2011
Source: Empire
by Ethan Anderton

Just last week we got or first look at Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham with a couple of haunting photos from the forthcoming adaptation of Charles Dicken's classic novel Great Expectations from director Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mona Lisa Smile). Now we have our first look at Jeremy Irvine (who will certainly break out in War Horse next month) as the main character of an orphan named Pip in a story that spans 30 years of his life as he encounters a peculiar cast of characters like an escaped convict named Magwitch (Ralph Fiennes) and a reclusive woman named Miss Havisham.

Here's the photo of Jeremy Irvine as Pip in Great Expectations courtesy of Empire:

This new adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel Great Expectations comes from director Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mona Lisa Smile) working from a script by Rowan Joffe (The American). The story sees the orphaned Pip (Jeremy Irvine) given a fortune by a mysterious benefactor, who he suspects is the eccentric Miss Havisham (Helena Bonham Carter). But he's less concerned with who's behind the gift, administered by lawyer Jaggers (Robbie Coltrane) and more concerned with wooing Miss Havisham's man-eating ward Estella (Holliday Grainger). No release date has been set.

First Showing