Fionn Whitehead Gets Real

Those who have not considered Dickens's iconic novel Great Expectations since high school English class might be surprised to encounter its latest iteration as a grim, dark, and gritty miniseries now streaming on FX on Hulu. Written and developed by Steven Knight of Peaky Blinders fame, the six episodes, which recount the tumultuous rise and fall of Pip on his journey from working-class orphan to prosperous gentleman, bristle with Knight's trademark audaciousness, revealing stark truths about life in the Victorian era that are often papered over. For Fionn Whitehead, who plays Pip in his adult years, bringing the novel's harsh undertones to the fore is exactly what makes this adaptation, the most recent of dozens of films and series, uniquely relevant. "Steven himself said it really well that there were a lot of things that Dickens was not allowed to write about because of the constraints of that time, but humans haven't fundamentally changed," the 25-year-old actor says. "Our version is a lot darker and it is a lot more upfront about the flaws and vices of society and of the people in it, but it doesn't mean that that wasn't going on. I like that Steven had drawn and read between the lines."

Whitehead, who was born and raised in London and first came to global attention out of nowhere as the lead of Christopher Nolan's blockbuster 2017 World War II epic Dunkirk and was most recently seen in the period film Emily about Emily Brontë, says that he did his best to approach the role of Pip, which has been embodied through the decades by a string of notable actors from John Mills and Michael Yorke to Ethan Hawke and, more recently, Douglas Booth and Jeremy Irvine. "I knew of it and I knew the story but I'd never read it, so the script was my way in rather than the other way around and it was quite an interesting way to go about it," he recalls. After he secured the part, he listened to the audiobook and watched a few earlier productions, mostly to ensure he brought a fresh approach to his portrayal. "If anything, I was sort of going against my better judgment to watch them," he laughs. "I didn't want to get too in my head and end up just doing a mimic of anyone else."

Knight's idiosyncratic vision for the series was also crucial to helping Whitehead, along with the rest of the cast—including the Oscar winner Olivia Colman as the domineering Miss Havisham, a local dowager who initially sets Pip on his path to prosperity; Johnny Harris as the convict Magwitch; and newcomer Shalom Brune-Franklin as Estella, Miss Havisham's ward and Pip's love interest—to establish a sense of distinction from the many versions that have come before. Rather than a genteel comedy of manners, this Great Expectations is vigorous and violent, befitting an age when the British Empire was going through tumultuous upheaval. Both the slave and opium trades, for example, are pointedly referenced in the series, highlighting the brutality and inequity that underpinned much of the wealth of that time and reflecting the current landscape in which histories and narratives are being reconsidered from new perspectives. "We talked a lot about making it our own and I think that was quite easy to do with the scripts that Steven had written," Whitehead says. "They were completely different from the original text. I think sometimes there can be a bit of a disconnect when you watch a period drama between the audience and what's going on on screen because it's so unfamiliar, the landscape is so different to what we know now. We wanted to take that away as much as possible and really have the audience empathizing with the characters from the get-go. Whilst keeping with the period, it's giving it a contemporary feel at the same time."

For all its differences, though, this Great Expectations has the same intrinsic appeal as Dickens's novel: a propulsive plot, complicated characters, and an incisive insight into the nuances of British society. Whitehead notes that the wealth disparity that is so meticulously delineated in the book remains in place over a century-and-a-half later: "It's changed a lot, but it is still a very prevalent thing in the U.K., this arcane class structure," he says. With a deeper understanding of the context and circumstances of Pip's progress, the actor found himself better able to fully inhabit the character. "I was trying to make sure that Pip came across as a human being who is flawed and has all the other attributes that real people have rather than an idealized or stereotypical version of what his caricature is within English literature," he adds. "I think really he's just a lost boy who's looking for happiness in probably all the wrong places."

Great Expectations is now streaming on FX on Hulu.

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