THE lead actress of His Dark Materials has spoken out against complaints levied at Phillip Pullman’s books from the Catholic Church.
Dafne Kean, 15, will be playing Lyra in the upcoming BBC drama, which is thought to be the broadcaster's most expensive show to date, in collaboration with HBO.
His Dark Materials has been adapted in various forms over the years, with a Radio 4 series, a play at the National Theatre and the infamous 2007 Hollywood flop starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.
The latter came under fire from religious organisations, who took issue with the source material’s depiction of The Magisterium.
Pullman depicts the religious organisation as authoritarian and abusive, and the author found himself accused of taking a swipe at Catholicism with the portrayal.
Despite the film cutting out any explicit religious reference, the Catholic League called for a boycott, along with the Vatican.
Feathers are set to be ruffled once again, as the TV series doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to comparing the Magisterium to a fascist regime, something Kean is on board with.
No doubt TV watchdog Ofcom will be bracing themselves for impact come launch night.
Kean said of the film’s censorship: “I thought that was sad, but I understand why they had to do it.
“But I think people are reading too much into it,” she added to The Guardian.
“When Philip writes about the Magisterium, he’s not bringing down the church, he’s bringing down the system.”
Kean confessed that she hadn’t read Pullman’s books before being cast as Lyra, but said that in doing so as a matter of research, she fell in love with them.
“Now I’m a massive, massive fan. As soon as I read the books, I knew this was a good message to the world, and it’s important that we have stories about young girls, because there aren’t many,” she concluded.
His Dark Materials starts Sunday 3 November on BBC One.
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