Little Dorrit, a major 91Èȱ¬ One Dickens adaptation
Emma Pierson plays Fanny Dorrit
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Emma Pierson has had a whale of a time playing Fanny Dorrit, a young woman for whom the epithet "flighty" could have been invented.
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She is the self-obsessed older sister of the kindly Amy.
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Fanny's life is turned upside down when the family is admitted into London's high society after a lifetime spent within the walls of Marshalsea debtors' prison.
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The actress, who also stars as Anna in Hotel Babylon, says that she "got" her character immediately.
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"Fanny's a tough little cookie. She's a bit of a madam and is absolutely her father's daughter. He has taught her that whatever her circumstances, she is still a lady. She believes that with all her heart - despite the evidence to the contrary!"
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Fanny, Emma continues, "works as a dancer. It's not rude dancing, just a bit coarse! She doesn't care what people think of her or her job. She's uncompromising about everything and just wants to make the best of the hand life has dealt her."
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Dickens draws interesting comparisons between the two Dorrit sisters.
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"It's like nature versus nurture," observes the actress, who has also starred in Charles II: The Power And The Passion, Talk To Me, and Who Gets The Dog?
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"Amy is very happy to live in prison, but Fanny's attitude is quite different - she thinks, 'I'm going to climb the social ladder as far as I can and as fast as I can'.
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"She genuinely enjoys money. To her, it's like a game. She relishes the pursuit of wealth, thinking, 'this is what a lady does'.
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"Amy is naturally very caring, while Fanny is more a product of her environment and has had to become tough. Because of prison, she has been forced to become a survivor.
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"At heart, I think the sisters are the same - they both want the best from life. They just have very different ways of going about it."
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Emma goes on to explain how brilliantly Dickens uses the image of the prison in Little Dorrit.
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"The whole piece is a statement about the prisons we create through the class system. Because of society's expectations, we build walls around ourselves."
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She adds that Little Dorrit works so well because "human beings may be incredibly complex, but there are still only a certain number of tales we can tell, and this is one of them.
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"It's a universal story about falls from grace, dashed dreams and men and women that still rings true today."
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Emma, who says she adored working with Claire Foy (who plays Amy), was in awe of Sir Tom Courtenay, who takes the role of her father.
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"Oh my God!," the actress exclaims.
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"Tom is magical. You could get lost simply watching him. He made me want to give up and become a plumber! I'd sit there and think, 'ruddy hell, that's how it's done!'
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"It was scary, but such a privilege to be part of this wonderful cast. It makes you want to be the very best you can be."
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