Telegraph.co.uk – When Mike Newell cast Jeremy Irvine as Pip in his forthcoming dramatisation of Great Expectations Irvine had only one film under his belt. But that film was War Horse, and its director was Steven Spielberg. As starts go in the movie industry, the lead role in a $100 million First World War epic made by one of the greatest ever filmmakers is some learning curve.

But Irvine says his education was made all the easier because of the example set by Spielberg: ‘He was the first on set every morning, the last to leave, and he spent long hours with me.’ Irvine had been plucked from nowhere to play Albert, the West Country farm lad who forms an unshakable bond with his horse, Joey. The partnership even survives the separate horrors endured by them both on the Western Front.
Almost daily on the Devon set, Irvine – with only one year’s experience of drama school – had to pinch himself as a reminder of his great fortune and unique opportunity. ‘There is no way if I was in Spielberg’s position that I would have cast in that role someone who’d never been on a film set before,’ he says. ‘Because it’s too much of a risk. They might get on set and just freeze up in front of camera for a start.’

Spielberg has described his search as ‘look[ing] for months and months… I was running out of hope, then Jeremy Irvine came in towards the last third of the casting process.’ Ten months on from the release of War Horse, does Irvine yet have any understanding of why Spielberg did choose him from hundreds of auditionees? ‘I honestly still don’t know why he felt that risk was worth taking,’ Irvine insists. ‘That is a huge responsibility to put on this snotty-nosed little kid who’s really done nothing. My way of explaining it is, he took that huge risk because he knew that he had the skill to manipulate and work with someone and make them feel comfortable.’ Irvine thinks that is Spielberg’s ‘greatest skill as a director of new actors. With me the best thing he ever did was make me feel totally at home.’

>>Read the full article at Telegraph.co.uk

DailyMail – As Charles Dickens ended the final chapter of Great Expectations, he probably had no idea that his tale of one boy’s climb from pauper to gentleman would be so timeless.
For the last 151 years, readers have been captivated by Pip’s story, and the often terrifying characters he met along the way.
From shady criminals to cruel family members, a terrifying old woman mummified in her own misery to a girl trained from toddlerhood to tease and torment, there are few stories with such a cast of unforgettable characters.

So it’s no surprise that Dickens’ vivid yarn has been given another big screen adaption, due for release in time for Christmas.
Directed by Mike Newell, viewers are transported back to Victorian London, where factories coughed acrid smoke in to the air, criminals were shipped off to Australia and the divide between the well to do and the lower classes was vast.

The film focuses on Pip, played by Jeremy Irvine, and Holliday Granger, who puts in a blood-chilling performance as the heartless objects of his affections, Estella.
In an exclusive clip from the film, it is clear that the two young leads have managed to capture the tension and indignation that undercurrent the two characters perfectly.
In the clip, Jeremy who previously starred in War Horse and Holliday, who has been seen on the small screen in Waterloo Road and Casualty, are seen arguing after Pip realises the woman he loves is now involved with a love rival, Bentley Drummle.
Dressed in Victorian finery, the two characters argue in the shadow of a grand house, and Pip realises that despite a wealthy secret benefactor, he will never be good enough for the cruel-hearted Estella.

Ralph Fiennes is terrifying as Magwitch, the escaped convict who looms over Pip’s life, while Jason Flemyng’s Joe, Pip’s kindly brother-in-law and the only father figure he’s ever known, is as patient as loving as Dickens could have envisioned.
But it’s Helena Bonham Carter’s turn as the most iconic character from the book, Miss. Haversham, the bitter spinster who has never removed her wedding dress since she was left at the altar in her youth and now sits surrounded by her rotting wedding feast in her dilapidated mansion, that will stay with viewers the longest.

The 46-year old actress has spoken out about her initial reservations about taking on the role.
She said: ‘At the point when I was offered it I felt a bit young, and then Mike said, “No, no, if you look at the book she is actually your age.” And I said “Oh great! Okay!”
‘She really is an incredible character. I kept wondering how does anyone end up being so psychologically grief-struck?’

Source: DailyMail

>> Watch the trailer below, or click here to watch and view stills! <<

The movie has an awesome cast on board, which includes Jeremy Irvine, Holliday Grainger, Robbie Coltrane, Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes.

David Nicholls is responsible for the script which centers on a young orphan Pip (Irvine) who is given a chance to rise from his humble beginnings thanks to a mysterious benefactor.

Moving through London’s class ridden world as a gentleman, Pip uses his new found position to pursue the beautiful Estella; a spoilt heiress he’s loved since childhood.

Yet the shocking truth behind his great fortune will have devastating consequences for everything he holds dear.

What do you think of the poster? Click below for a larger view.

Jeremy Irvine as Pip in Great Expectations

Tackling an adaptation of a 150-year-old Charles Dickens novel, especially one that has already been brought to the screen at least a dozen times in various forms, is a daunting task indeed. What do you change? What do you freshen up? Well, if you’re Mike Newell, who directed a new adaptation, the answer to those last two questions (at least based on this new clip) is “very little.” The brief clip of the BBC co-production, shows Jeremy Irvine as Pip and Ralph Fiennes as the mysterious Magwitch, in what appears to be their first meeting since encountering each other many years before and it is, more or less, exactly what you’d expect.
The clip, courtesy of Empire, is moodily lit by frequent Ridley Scott collaborator John Mathieson and Fiennes seems to have set his line delivery to “extra British,” but beyond that, it doesn’t leave much of an impact. Irvine seems fine as the iconic Pip, and Newell’s direction seems handsome enough, though we’re still waiting to be wowed.

While watching we couldn’t help think back to Alfonso Cuaron’s flawed but fascinating 1998 adaptation, which modernized, revamped, and relocated the action of the Dickens’ novel in some pretty profound ways. Robert De Niro played Magwitch and Ethan Hawke played Pip in that version, and while it didn’t completely work (Mitch Glazer and David Mamet were among those who contributed to the stew of a screenplay), it was fresh and interesting and frequently arresting, both visually and on a storytelling level.

This new “Great Expectations” will have its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this month before closing out the London Film Festival a month later. And while it hasn’t been scheduled for domestic release yet or even have a stateside distributor, depending on the festival word of mouth, it could find a home and release date very soon.

Source: IndieWire’s The Playlist Blog

Jeremy Irvine was jumping on top of Helena Bonham Carter and the director Mike Newell was urging him to be more vigorous. I was watching Irvine — playing Pip — smother Miss Havisham, who has just gone up in flames on the set of the big-screen version of Great Expectations. Helena plays the vengeful Miss Havisham, but for part of this scene a stuntwoman had been called in to take the heat. Things are heating up for Irvine (pictured), too, but in a very good way.

He stars in Steven Spielberg’s great movie War Horse, about a boy and a horse who have to endure the horrors of war.
It’s such a moving and epic portrayal of courage that it would have been appropriate for it to have opened today — the 11th of the 11th — to honour those who lost their lives in the Great War. Of course, we all know the significance of why we stand silent at 11am today, but I somehow feel that War Horse — on stage and film — will help bring it home to new generations.

Read more: DailyMail

The film is about to wrap shooting soon, and will be released sometime in 2012. Next, Jeremy will go on to star in the upcoming film ‘The Railway Man.’

Collider has exclusive photos and a promotional poster from AFM of Jeremy Irvine’s upcoming film Now Is Good, co-starring Dakota Fanning. The film just recently wrapped, and will be released in 2012. Jeremy is now filming his next project, Great Expectations. Brendan Bettinger of Collider writes:

Dakota Fanning stars as Tessa, a 17-year-old diagnosed with a terminal illness: “She determines to use every moment, compiling a catalogue of what normal teenager would experience, including losing her virginity and taking drugs.” Fanning has been a talented actor since she was in utero, and she will surely put together a great performance with this meaty role. But I’m drawn to the young supporting cast. Anyone who watches Skins can speak to the screen presence of Kaya Scoledario. And Jeremy Irvine is poised to be The Next Big Thing, groomed by none other than Steven Spielberg in his debut feature War Horse.

Olivia Williams and Paddy Considine also star in Now Is Good, written and directed by Ol Parker.

Official synopsis for the film:

Tessa is seventeen and passionate about life. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, she determines to use every moment, compiling a catalogue of what normal teenager would experience, including losing her virginity and taking drugs. With the help of her friend, she sets the list in motion. And while her parents and brother each deals with their fear of losing her in their own way, Tessa explores a whole new world, determined to live every day as intensely as possible. Falling in love with Adam, her new neighbor, wasn’t on the list, but it proves to be the most exhilarating experience of them all.

The stills and poster have been added to the photo gallery.

Jeremy has been picked as part of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Next Gen 2011: Hollywood’s Fastest-Rising Stars list, among fellow young actors and actresses like Shailene Woodley, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer, and Henry Cavill.

The men and women chosen for THR’s 18th annual Next Gen issue demonstrate both talent and success. Their ambition and perseverance have taken them into leadership roles at an age when most others are just getting their start. The 35 on the following pages represent some of the industry’s brightest talent and highest-profile projects; likely, they themselves will be the ones running Hollywood in years to come. (Stacey Snider, Ari Emanuel and Mike De Luca are among the notable earlier honorees.) Behind the scenes, their success is measured by drive, commitment and passion: weekends spent reading scripts, time away from families, holidays celebrated with BlackBerry in hand.

Jeremy’s listing inlcuded this bio:

Before Irvine, 21, was cast as the equestrian World War I soldier in Spielberg’s War Horse, he was just a kid from tiny Gamlingay, England (pop. 3,535) who trained at the National Youth Theatre and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He won limited fame for an MTV commercial, a British Disney Channel show and a role in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Dunsinane, “literally playing a tree,” as he puts it. Good thing he fell into the hands of Steven Spielberg, who has launched little-known actors to fame before — Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun and Liam Neeson in Schindler’s List. “I virtually went from having no lines in a theater show to playing the lead in a Spielberg film,” says Irvine. Never a horse lover, he had to act alongside 130 of them, including one that stepped on his foot during a shot. He has just finished Now Is Good with Dakota Fanning and is filming Mike Newell’s Great Expectations with Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter, due in theaters next year.

Read more at The Hollywood Reporter

The script was co-written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson, who is also producing via his Archer Street Productions with Chris Brown of Pictures in Paradise and Bill Curbishley.
Lionsgate has the U.K. rights and is handling international sales. Liongate U.K.’s Zygi Kamasa will executive produce. Irvine is currently in production on director Mike Newell’s Great Expectations, in which he will star as Pip opposite Ralph Fiennes and Helen Bonham Carter. He has completed Now is Good, opposite Dakota Fanning, Paddy Considine and Olivia Williams.

In Dreamworks’ War Horse, which will be released in December, Irvine plays Albert, whose beloved horse is sold to the cavalry during World War I. Though too young to enlist, Albert heads to the battlefields to save his equine friend. The film is based on the Tony Award-winning play.

Irvine is represented by CAA, Hatton McEwan in the U.K. and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams & Hurwitz.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Congrats to Jeremy for landing another great project!