Scherfig was prompt to commit, and just as promptly began envisioning the right lead actors with Jacobson, who was keen that “the casting of the movie should feel right on the money – given how many people read and loved the book.”
As it happens, notes Scherfig, Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway had read the script “at an early stage. She liked Emma so much that she flew to London to talk to me and tell me why she should have the part! Anne shares Emma’s humor and strength. She is a highly experienced actress who lends huge warmth and fragility to the part, more than anyone else I can imagine.”
Hathaway muses, “If you’re lucky, you can find a story that really moves you. If you’re lucky, you can find a character who speaks to you. With One Day, I found both.”
She reports, “Nina Jacobson had sent me the book, which had been published in the U.K. but not yet in America. I read the script before I read the book. I will always remember the experience of sitting at my kitchen table and reading it – the script seemed like it was on fire, as if lit from within. I was so entertained; all these unexpected things happened throughout. I could envision the whole film so vividly. I could hear Emma’s voice, her northern English accent; I related to her, and I loved her.
“I didn’t think they were going to see any American actresses, so when I found out that Lone would be open to meeting me, I was very grateful.”
Scherfig describes Emma as “witty, insecure, hard-working, and bookish. There’s always the question that we and she are asking; is Dexter too privileged for her, is he too sel-fassured? With her vast range as a performer, Anne captures those doubts but also all of Emma’s more tenacious qualities – and her ability to see through Dexter’s façades. “Her interpretation of Emma is empathetic and nuanced. Anne’s warmth and courage as an actress are extraordinary; these are rare qualities that she shares with some of the great stars of classic British and American cinema.”
For Hathaway, “these two characters were vividly and truthfully drawn in David’s writing. You feel instantly that you know them. When they feel something, you feel it too. The emotional moments hit you hard because you’re so invested in Em and Dex as individuals – and as a couple.
“Each of them has their own priorities, their own individual arc, and then their relationship has an arc as well. You’re watching them make mistakes that are understandable; you think, ‘I’d probably do that as well.’”
Nicholls comments, “Emma Morley is a complex character who puts in the effort to achieve her life’s ambition. We see her through an initial disappointment in terms of her seemingly unrequited attraction to Dexter and then through working in a Tex-Mex restaurant – Loco Caliente – and later as a schoolteacher, before she finally comes into her own as a writer of children’s books.
“Anne Hathaway has the vulnerability and intelligence that Emma Morley needs. Through Anne, you see Emma grow and change. She is spot-on.”
Hathaway states, “I believe in Emma; I wish I knew her. She is a girl that I recognized as true, and I hoped that if I could then everyone watching the film could too.”
Actor Jim Sturgess adds, “Dex tells Emma that she’s ‘the smartest person I know.’ Well, there’s a lot of Emma in Anne. She has an intellectual wit, as has Emma. On the set, I’d often find myself sitting next to Anne; I’d be reading a foolish magazine and she’d be reading some highbrow novel – that’s Em and Dex right there! She’s lovely, and we got on straight away.
“I was glad to get to act opposite someone who cared so deeply about the story – which is a lot of fun but also very emotional – and these characters.”
Sturgess got to act with Hathaway because, as Jacobson recalls, “When we first saw Jim audition opposite Anne, one of the most striking things was how natural they felt as friends, and how much you wanted them to be together. For a movie romance, those are the essential ingredients.
“Anne greatly identified with Emma, and Jim immediately understood how layered a character Dexter is as well as how extensive his emotional journey is. Jim shares Dexter’s humor and laid-back elegance, and understood how to play the character’s less sympathetic moments in a way that you can comprehend and forgive Dexter his mistakes – which are many.”
Scherfig adds, “Jim is extremely musical and collaborative. He will modestly downplay his efforts, but I found him to be thorough in his preparation with a real attention to detail including in the psychological sense.”
Nicholls comments, “What we have in Jim Sturgess is an attractive actor of great charm and warmth – I’ve always admired him in the movies I’ve seen him in – who is able to take the edge off some of the worst of Dexter Mayhew’s behavior.”
One Day: What is Love at First Sight
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