Haley Bennett Plays Word Aficionado In Musical Romantic Drama ‘Cyrano’

After years of performing in front of the camera, Haley Bennett (The Girl On The Train, Swallow) made her professional stage debut in 2018 with a new adaptation of the Edmond Rostand’s romantic classic Cyrano de Bergerac. Simply titled Cyrano, the newly interpreted musical play, by Erica Schmidt, offered a modern sensibility on the classic epic love story of a man with a gift for words who is unable to express himself directly to the woman he loves because he feels physically inferior to her. In Rostand’s original version and subsequent adaptations, it was Cyrano’s elongated nose that caused his self-doubt, but in Schmidt’s play, the protagonist is insecure about his diminutive size, which makes him feel unworthy of Roxanne’s love. The change came about when Schmidt’s real-life husband, actor Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones, The Station Agent) performed a “cold read” of the play aloud.

“I knew instantly that his innate deflective humor—protective, defensive, skeptical—and reflexive self-loathing and mistrust was dead right for the character of Cyrano,” she said.

Unable to express his love for the woman he has loved throughout his adult life, the otherwise brave and witty Cyrano instead offers his words to Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr., Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial Of The Chicago 7), a dashing new arrival in the King’s Guard, who is in the same regiment. Once Roxanne locks eyes with Christian, it’s love at first sight, but the handsome young guard is plagued by doubts of his own … and he’s not much of a wordsmith, either. Relegated to the friend-zone, Cyrano pledges to Roxanne to watch over Christian as their country is on the brink of war. He selflessly helps Christian write love letters to Roxanne, a lover of literature and romantic prose.

Meantime, Roxanne must walk a fine-line with an overbearing wealthy suitor—the powerful Duke De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn), who holds the fate of both Cyrano and Christian in his hands.

Schmidt directed the actors, including Dinklage and Bennett, in theater workshops, with songs written by brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner of the Grammy winning alt-rock band The National.

After award-winning filmmaker Joe Wright (Darkest Hours, Atonement) attended a staging at The Terris Theatre at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, he was moved by the passion and romance of the story, and knew right away he wanted to bring Cyrano to the big screen. Wright and real-life partner, Bennett, with whom he had a child during the play’s run, would have an opportunity to work together in the film version. When Cyrano was green-lighted in mid-2020, the global pandemic was in full swing, yet the elaborate and ambitious production went ahead as scheduled, shooting mainly in the Baroque town of Noto on the island of Sicily.

“We were in complete and total isolation and lockdown,” recalls Bennett, via Zoom from the UK. “There were no restaurants open. It was a strange atmosphere but I think that fueled our passion. On set, it kind of gave us an anarchic spirit.”

Bennett, of course, is no stranger to singing. She made her film debut as a pop star in the Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Music and Lyrics and subsequently sang in Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply.

Cyrano is set in a fantasy of a period—somewhere between 1640 and 1712. The costumes are modern interpretations of period dresses, created by Oscar nominee Massimo Cantini Parrini (Pinocchio) and two-time Oscar winner Jacqueline Durran (Anna Karenina, Little Women), who created Bennett’s wardrobe as Roxanne. Both are nominated for Academy Awards for their costume designs for the film.

Wright calls Working Title and MGM’s production of Cyrano, an “irreverent celebration of life and a love letter to love.” It opens in theaters Feb. 25.

Angela Dawson: This has been such a big part of your life for so long. Does it seem real that the movie is about to come out and audiences will see it?

Haley Bennett: No. I feel like we’re going to approach that week and they’re going to say, “We’re going to push it (back) again.” I’m really happy to share this love letter to the world.

Dawson: What was your preparation process for playing Roxanne on film?

Bennett: The film is about Roxanne realizing what true love is. Each of the three main characters go on that journey. For Cyrano, it’s his pride. For Christian, it’s his fear. And for Roxanne, it’s about learning what true love is and the balance between what’s real and what isn’t. Because this film has been a part of my life through so many stages of my life—being a single woman, living in New York, doing the tiny workshop off-Broadway with The National, working with Pete and Erica even before I met my partner (Joe Wright), doing the workshop and having a child and now being a mother—that, through that process, my heart has expanded, my love has grown and I have realized what true love is, so that’s been an incredible journey.

Having the opportunity to work with these incredible actors time and time again and the respect we have as actors to grow and change, and then working with Joe was just an amazing experience.

This film is set in a fantasy period and the characters exist in this alluring dream of romantic reality. It’s been one of the single-most exciting experiences of my life.

Shooting the film during the pandemic when nobody was working or filming and being on a set was such an incredible experience. This film is so beautiful, so luscious and alive. It was made with love. It’s a very open-hearted film.

Dawson: What was it like filming on location in Sicily?

Bennett: It was amazing. Joe had seen our (stage) production in Connecticut and was immediately interested in adapting it for the screen. It took a couple of years before we had the draft (of the script) that we ended up working with. When COVID hit, he realized this story mattered more than ever and that we don’t need a pandemic to feel isolated. There are a lot of people that feel like they don’t deserve love. So, we found a way to make this film in Noto, which is the most beautiful Baroque gem of a town. It’s stunningly beautiful. I got to play this role again and explore it for the screen.

Dawson: You’ve sung in movies previously, but in this one you were singing live while filming. How did you like performing the songs live while filming?

Bennett: There’s a degree of freedom. We did some pre-records in a hot, sweaty box in this old Baroque theater. At the end of the day, what worked for us with The National’s music, and what Joe loved about the original stage production, was that it is live and it doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s like the essence of folk music. What I love about folk music is that you hear those cracks and faults in the song, you feel the emotion. You’re right there with the performers, rather than behind glass. So, that was really interesting for me.

Especially with songs like I Need More, which is a power ballad, I didn’t want it to sound pretty. I wanted it to sound ugly, desperate and frustrated, because I was frustrated. I was like, “I don’t know if I can hit these notes,” but it was quite liberating because I wasn’t trying to hit them dead-on or sound perfect.  I was excited about those limitations and the fact that we couldn’t pre-record. It gave us more space to act the songs.

Dawson: You’ve known Peter Dinklage for some time. What was it like working with him in the play and now the movie?

Bennett: He’s so talented. It’s such incredible casting. He doesn’t need to wear a prosthetic nose to convey that insecurity and fear of unworthiness. Actually, he’s quite confident in real life, even though his character betrays him. That’s how good he is. I’m so grateful to Pete and Erica (Dinklage’s real-life wife who adapted her play for the screen) for embracing me in this and inviting me to be a part of this project so many years ago.

I was actually pregnant when we did the stage production so we had to adjust the costumes. I don’t think I ended up wearing the costumes (then) that Erica dreamed I’d wear. To her credit, the fact that she didn’t recast me, is kind of amazing. It shows how supportive she is of the feminine experience.

Dawson: And the third part of this love triangle is Christian, who is played by Kelvin Harrison Jr. How was it working with him?

Bennett: It’s not difficult to fall in love with him. He’s just wonderful. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is such an open-hearted actor and so brave. It’s cool that he played this part; it’s so different from anything I’ve seen him play in the past. You have to put your manliness aside to play a character like this, who’s so vulnerable.