[Currently airing on Sky tv in the UK Channel 4's small-screen version of William Boyd's
Any Human Heart has attracted a whole host of well-known stars, including The X-Files'
Gillian Anderson, Harry Potter's
Jim Broadbent and Sex and the City's
Kim Cattrall. Not since Tim Roth was picked as the lead in Sky's Skellig have we been so excited about the casting of a UK adaptation!
The four-part drama, adapted for TV by Boyd himself, intimately depicts the life of fictional writer Logan Mountstuart. In it, Oscar-winning Broadbent plays the older incarnation of the eccentric (and oddly-named) novelist, while Criminal Justice actor Matthew Macfadyen and newcomer Sam Claflin depict his earlier, more naive years.
Spanning nine decades, Any Human Heart tells stories around some of the most significant historic events of recent decades. World War II and the New York art scandal of the '50s and 60s are explored through Logan's eyes, as are his various relationships. Kim Cattrall takes a role reminiscent of Sam in Sex and the City, playing one of the lothario's glamorous lovers when the show starts later this year.
Logan's three wives will be portrayed, chronologically, by newcomer Emerald Fennell, The Prisoner's Hayley Atwell and Mistresses' Natasha Little. Meanwhile, The X-Files' Gillian Anderson and Desperate Romantics''s Tom Hollander depict the Duke and Duchess of Windsor--a couple who greatly influence the path of his long life.
William Boyd describes his novel,
"I am fascinated by the life and work of that generation of English writers who were born at the beginning of the century and reached maturity by the time of World War II. People like Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene and Anthony Powell, obviously, but also less well known writers—Henry Green, Lawrence Durrell, Cyril Connolly and William Gerhardie. The last two in particular lurk closely behind Logan. I wanted to invent my own exemplary figure who could seem almost as real as the real ones and whose life followed a similar pattern: boarding school, university, Paris in the 20s, the rise of Fascism, war, post-war neglect, disillusion, increasing decrepitude, and so on—a long, varied and rackety life that covered most of the century."
IMDbOfficial siteSong featured on trailer for Any Human Heart:
Nightbook:
Ludovico EinaudiI'm not sure how much of this series will show
Macfadyen and
Atwell but I'm interested to see their characters marry after reading
Pillars of the Earth, where their characters became friends.
Trailer (courtesy of cubbie866)
Here are more promo images from Any Human Heart
Matthew Macfadyen
Hayley Atwell
Holly Grainger
Kim Cattrall
Love this pic of Gillian and Tom - for some reason
[Currently airing on Sky tv in the UK
William Boyd describes his novel,
