Could Keira Knightley's love interest in "The Duchess," Dominic Cooper, be a steampunker?
When we caught up with the actor at the opening night of "Equus", he didn't want to talk Harry Potter, as did a lot of the celebs who came to see Daniel Radcliffe on Broadway. Nope -- for Cooper, the fantasy series he's most into is "His Dark Materials," the Philip Pullman trilogy from which the movie "The Golden Compass" and inspiration from steampunk came. Cooper had played the part of Will during the Royal National Theatre adaptation, and he hopes to land a part in one of the proposed sequels.
"I tried to get Keira," who's read all the Harry Potter books, "into the Philip Pullman ones, but she wasn't having any of it," Cooper said. "No luck. I think you're either a fan of one or the other, is how it works. But why can't you be both in life?"
Cooper might be too old to play Will (who's supposed to be 11) in "The Subtle Knife" or "The Amber Spyglass" -- but that hasn't stopped him from trying. "I desperately pleaded with them saying I could still play that age, but I think I'm lying to myself, aren't I?" he laughed. "I could play other characters. I could be a daemon."
When we pointed out he could be the voice of a daemon, but not an actual daemon, since he's not an animal, he gave a disappointed look and said, "How do you know? You haven't seen my impression of a dog. It was meant to be a lion, but someone told me it looked more like a smelly dog than a lion. But I'm not an animal, no. I could be." Whatever the part might be, Cooper's game -- if the films are ever made. "Absolutely!" he said. "It would be really good fun."
Did you like "The Golden Compass" or was it a disappointment? Do you think they should make "The Subtle Knife" or "The Amber Spyglass"?
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