Lost in Karastan: Ben Hopkins Exclusive

Ben Hopkins was interviewed about Lost in Karastan and its upcoming release in the UK (22nd January).  Here's what he had to say about Matthew Macfadyen

The movie sees Matthew Macfadyen take on the central role of Emil Forester, so what were you looking for when you were casting this role? What did you see in Matthew that you thought would be perfect?

There are many films about artists, directors, poets, and writers and they tend to be quite tortured, twisted people who are self-obsessed, drink a lot, and have screaming fits. Normally, those people are annoying to watch and would be annoying in real life (laughs). We didn't want to focus on that kind of artist, we wanted to do someone who is a bit more down to earth, likeable, and slightly lost. Again, in the cinema, artists tend to have an incredible sense of purpose in knowing what they are doing but most of us are more human, lost, and are not quite sure what we are doing.

Matthew has an incredibly charming quality and he is as charismatic a person in real life as he is on screen. There is something instantly likeable about him, even when he is looking depressed; you just want to give him a cuddle when he looks sad (laughs). He is a very good comedian and he is trying to do more comedy in his career and a bit less serious costume drama. He immediately wanted to do it, which was great. It was just perfect for me.

Read the full interview on Female First