Cyrano Director Joe Wright on Why It’s His Most Personal Film Since Atonement

With Cyrano now playing in select theaters, I recently spoke to director Joe Wright about making his brilliant movie musical. Cyrano is based on Erica Schmidt’s stage adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, with music by The National’s Aaron & Bryce Dessner and lyrics by The National lead singer Matt Berninger & Carin Besser. Wright’s version reimagines the timeless tale of a heartbreaking love triangle with Peter Dinklage as Cyrano de Bergerac, Haley Bennett playing Roxanne, and Kelvin Harrison, Jr. starring as Christian. The film also stars Ben Mendelsohn and is produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, and Guy Heeley. During the interview, Wright talked about why he wanted to tell this story—which he says is his most personal film since Atonement—how he staged the musical numbers, and what it was like directing Dinklage and watching his amazing performance up close. Wright also discussed how he felt so close to all the characters, and shared a great story about having to evacuate an er