This Country star Daisy May Cooper cast a spell over the gala premiere of The Personal History Of David Copperfield when she arrived dressed as the magician who shares the name of the Dickensian character.
The Bafta-winning comedian, who is famous for her eccentric red carpet outfits, arrived in a top hat and velvet cloak, with a picture of the famous illusionist emblazoned across the back, for the opening night gala of the BFI London Film Festival.
Cooper, who plays nurse Peggotty in the film, which is based on the book by Charles Dickens, told the PA news agency: “I got this amazing woman, who is actually called the crazy costume lady, to make it for me and I thought I had to do it, I had to do it.”
She joked of director Armando Iannucci: “He is going to kill me. I’m going to get sacked now from the next job.”
Describing how she got the part, she said: “He just sort of sent an email and said ‘Do you fancy being our Peggotty in David Copperfield?
“And getting that email, Armando Iannucci coming up into your emails is pretty mental and then it just snowballed from there.
“We did a reading the first day I met Dev (Patel, who plays the title role) where we were doing a read through and it was just surreal.
“With This Country I am just acting with my family, basically just non acting, and then being with these huge actors like Hugh Laurie and Gwendoline Christie, it was amazing.”
The Personal History Of David Copperfield is released in UK cinemas in January 2020. The BFI London Film Festival runs until October 13.