Alessandro Nivola Talks BBC’s New Version Of Black Narcissus

Closing Himself Off From The World

The BBC has just remade classic film Black Narcissus for TV and here’s one of its stars Alessandro Nivola, who plays Mr Dean in it, talking about it…

How did you get involved in the project and has it been enjoyable?

They sent me the script and then I met Charlotte (Bruus Christensen) who had worked with a lot of close friends of mine back in America as a cinematographer. We hit it off immediately and we had a lot to talk about. She had this notion of Mr Dean having been a World War One veteran and the impact that had had on him, that there was some sort of post-traumatic stress that accounted for him being such an emotionally closed-off person and I really liked that take on it.

I’ve really enjoyed this one – I have a cast of amazing women surrounding me. We started the shoot in Nepal where we had a very exotic location up in the Himalayan mountains and none of us had met each other yet. There was no internet so we really bonded in the first couple of weeks. I’ve never been to India or Nepal and it was an eye opener. Just huge enormous sky and mountains and silence. Stunning.

What was it like working with Charlotte Bruus Christensen?

Charlotte is an unusual type of first-time director as she has so much technical experience. When someone like her comes along who is making the jump from cinematographer to director and has that real expertise and understanding of the visual landscape of storytelling, it instils confidence in everybody across the board.

What were your first impressions of the script and what leapt out about your character that made you want to get involved?

My wife Emily [Mortimer] had been in a Scorsese movie, Shutter Island, and Scorsese is obsessed by Powell and Pressburger, who made the original film. He made it required viewing for Emily, back when she was preparing to film the movie with him, so I watched it then.

I was a bit wary of the notion of remaking this story as it’s such a classic movie. Then they sent me the script and from the minute I read it it was obvious that Amanda (Coe) was really coming from the book rather than the film, and the portrait of the character of Mr Dean in the script was so much more involved, more central to the story and I really felt I could do something with the character. There was so much to sink my teeth into.

What were your first impressions of Mr Dean and how did you approach the character?

He’s one of those guys who is very gruff and almost delights in offending people. He’s got a very direct and brutally honest manner. He’s kind of disgusted by the arrogance that the English had in this part of the world and the Catholic mission that is being set up in the palace represents all that is wrong to him. He’s  predisposed against these women coming in and has already had an experience where a bunch of brothers had previously come in to do the same thing.

He has closed himself off from love – whether it was the war crushing the hope out of him or something that had happened in some romantic situation with some girl in the past. He’s covering things up with a lot of sarcasm, humour and rudeness, and under all that is someone who has had his heart pierced by Sister Clodagh.

What is his relationship with the nuns?

When the nuns arrive, he really wants nothing to do with them and doesn’t support their mission at all. He’s put off by Sister Clodagh and her arrogance and snobbery. He’s also immediately attracted to her – she’s incredibly beautiful and there’s something about her that he can’t help but find appealing. There’s tension between his real suspicion of her motives and her presence there, and being drawn to her.

Over the course of the series, despite both their preconceptions about each other, they come to know each other really intimately and their relationship slowly develops. I think Mr Dean identifies pretty early on in the story that Sister Ruth is a really fragile personality and someone who is on the edge. He has compassion for her but is also wary of her.

What is Mr Dean’s relationship with the General and his nephew Dilip?

His relationship with the local population is one where he really appreciates the fact that this part of the world is a very accepting community. He really respects their authority in the place but has an independent lifestyle and independent role in the community and seems to be well liked by them. All of that is upset by the presence of the Western world encroaching.

How did the set, along with costume and make up, allowed you to inhabit your character?

All of the technical people are top people. I don’t understand how they have done it. When I came in for the costume fittings the attention to detail was just unmatched. I have a sort of Indiana Jones hat, which is something that he even talks about in the original film and in the book. He calls it Old Felty and it’s a very weather-beaten hat which he’s had for a long time. We were actually in Nepal filming and some German tourist came up to me between takes and asked me if I was Indiana Jones!