Nicholls adapted the screenplay after being asked to work on it by producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, with whom he had worked on And When Did You Last See Your Father?. Helena Bonham Carter was asked by Newell to appear as Miss Havisham
and accepted the role after some initial apprehension, while Irvine was initially intimidated by the thought of appearing on screen as Pip.
Jeremy Irvine as Pip, an orphan. Irvine gained the role of Pip, having previously starred in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of War Horse, which Irvine described as his big break, having previously appeared in minor roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company.[3] Irvine found the role intimidating, but said that he "wanted to make my character Pip stronger and more driven than how he's been played in adaptations before".[4]
Toby Irvine, the younger brother of Jeremy Irvine, as young Pip.[5]
Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham, wealthy spinster who has taken up a life of seclusion following the loss of her love and whom Pip suspects is his benefactor. Bonham Carter was concerned about playing the role of Miss Havisham and questioned Mike Newell when he phoned her to talk about taking the part. She was worried about the typical appearance of the character, describing her as a pensioner in a bridesmaids dress. Newell assured her that she was the right age,[6] as the character in the book is in her forties,[3] and she accepted the role.[7]
Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch, a criminal who changes Pip's life. Fiennes hadn't read a great deal of Dickens' work prior to gaining the role. Following the filming of Great Expectations, he moved onto another Dickens-related role, both directing and playing the author himself in The Invisible Woman.[8]
Robbie Coltrane as Mr Jaggers, a lawyer responsible for handling Pip's money. Great Expectations was Coltrane's first Dickens-related role. He had been offered the role of Mr. Micawber in an adaptation of David Copperfield some years previously, but was unable to take it. Coltrane described Jaggers as a "heartless bastard", and was pleased to be able to deliver the line to Pip about "great expectations", which took several takes to perfect.[9]
Holliday Grainger at the preview of Great Expectations at the Toronto Film Festival
Jason Flemyng as Joe Gargery, Pip's brother-in-law and legal guardian.[10] Flemyng was pleased to be able to appear in a film which he could take his children to see, and thought it'd be great for the Christmas period.[11]
Holliday Grainger as Estella; Newell encouraged Grainger to bring sensuality to her role.[12] Grainger has said in interviews that the role was the one which she has coveted more than any other.[13]
David Walliams as Uncle Pumblechook, Joe Gargery's uncle, and provides a route for Pip to be in touch with Miss Havisham.[10] Walliams brought his mother along to the film's premiere.[14]
The film is the seventh film version of Charles Dickens' novel.[3]David Nicholls was asked to develop the screenplay after he had worked on the 2007 film And When Did You Last See Your Father?, and while he was working on an adaptation for television of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles for the BBC. He had worked with producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley on the 2007 film, and they approached him to work on Great Expectations. During the development of the film, Nicholls published the novel One Day, which was subsequently adapted into a film in 2011. Nicholls described in interviews that he saw Dickens' work as his childhood defining novel, having first read the book when he was 14 and it having since remained his favourite. He also praised the 1946 version, directed by David Lean.[15]
Mike Newell was looking to develop Dickens' Dombey and Son for the screen, but after it didn't go ahead, he was told about Nicholls' script. The two worked together on further developing the screenplay and finding the funding for the film.[3] Nicholls thought there was a problem with choosing the ending for the film, as Dickens wrote both a downbeat ending and a more positive version. He described their solution as, "What we've tried to do is to make it work as a love story without sentimentalising the book",[3] having criticised the ending of the David Lean version.[12]
Filming
The former headquarters of Gillette on the A4 road was used as the main filming location. The interior was transformed into a Victorian era street scene.[3]
Great Expectations received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 68%, based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 6.20/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Not the best version of the oft-filmed Dickens classic but far from the worst, Mike Newell's Great Expectations breathes just enough life into the source material to justify yet another adaptation."[20] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 60 out of 100, based on 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[21]
