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 The Line of Beauty 
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Interview with producer Kate Lewis
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Producer Kate Lewis...
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"Being one of the generation of Thatcher's children I was captivated when I read Alan Hollinghurst's witty and beautifully written novel set in 1980s London.
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"It was fascinating to look back at Thatcherism, excess, the tabloid scandals and Aids with the perspective of the intervening years; it made me wonder how much had really changed.
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"And the novel's such a page turner, with richly textured characters and an ending that really packs a punch.
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"Andrew Davies, the adaptation maestro, had suggested the novel to the 91Èȱ¬ and was aboard to write the screenplay.
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"It felt daunting to be adapting such a highly regarded novel, but having worked with Andrew as a script editor numerous times, I reckoned he could pull it off if anyone could.
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"The novel went on to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize, and I found myself rather star struck to be sitting down for dinner with Alan [Hollinghurst] a month or so later.
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"In fact, he couldn't have been nicer. He's a courteous and modest man, softly spoken though occasionally revealing a flash of the biting wit that makes his novels so remarkable. And his enthusiasm for the project was infectious.
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"Alan seemed comfortable with Andrew's scripts – indeed, they are very pretty faithful to his novel – and also with the direction that the director, Saul Dibb, wanted to take the material.
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"He came along to watch a lot of the filming. Having a novelist on set can be tricky as they often get frustrated that things aren't as they had imagined.
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"Andrew Davies is often humorously quoted for saying that he prefers his authors not to be living!
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"But Alan was great, standing back with an objective and generous eye but filling in the gaps when we needed.
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"He's the sort of man who soaks up information like a sponge, and I'm pretty sure he now knows more about the filming process than I do!
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"Alan says he likes what we have done with his novel - though I know that he is too polite and generous to say otherwise.
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"But I hope there is some truth in this, as there will be many fans of the novel waiting to lynch us if we get it wrong!"
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