‘All the Light We Cannot See’ Writer on Releasing Amid Russia-Ukraine War: “It’s a Symbol of Hope”
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In 2019, Netflix and Shawn Levy’s production company 21 Laps Entertainment acquired the rights to adapt Anthony Doerr’s 2014 war novel All the Light We Cannot See for television. The Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller tells the story of two teenagers whose paths cross during the height of World War II in occupied France: Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind French girl, and Werner Pfennig, a German boy who is kidnapped and forced to become a Nazi soldier.
The four-part drama, which counts Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie among its cast, was developed by British screenwriter Steven Knight who also serves as an executive producer of the limited series (which released Thursday).
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“What I have learned is that the story is the story, and it doesn’t necessarily fit the conventional boxes,” Knight says of adapting Doerr’s novel. “I wanted the story to be as long as the story is, and it was perfect for four hours.
“I hope a trend will be set where people will have the freedom to say, ‘This is the story I want to tell. It’s going to take three hours, it’s going to take four hours, it’s going to take five hours,” adds Knight. “That would be a more authentic way of storytelling.”
Authenticity is a cornerstone of the project, which introduces two new actresses in the lead role of Marie-Laure. Aria Mia Loberti stars as the teenage version of the girl whose radio broadcasts during the war connect listeners across France in unexpected ways in the series and serve as the thread between past and present for viewers. Nell Sutton plays the younger version of Marie in flashbacks.
“We collectively decided that we had to have actors who were either blind or low visibility,” Knight tells The Hollywood Reporter in the chat below. “Then it was Shawn’s faith and Netflix’s faith to say, ‘Okay, never acted before, lead character.’ The second miracle is that it worked.”
Location was also a large part of placing audiences in the world Doerr and Knight described in text, Saint-Malo, France, being a city that was central to the original novel. Filming took place there as well as in Budapest, Paris and Villefranche-de-Rouergue in southern France just as Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, explains Knight. Noting the underlying message of the book and series to be one of hope, the imagery of the historic French Port, Knight says, helps impart that sentiment, which is of particular necessity for those impacted by the current war.
“Hopefully, people will continue to watch through the end credits where we see Saint-Malo in archive footage being destroyed, and then see how it looks now,” says Knight. “It’s a symbol of hope.”
This project feels like a long time coming from when Netflix first acquired the rights to the story in 2019. How does it feel to be ready to finally show it to the world?
There were bumps along the way. COVID came along and all of that, and so not a lot was getting made. The adaptation itself, I loved it. It was a labor of love. I loved the book. I’ve read the book before, being invited to adapt it, and I loved it. So that process, for me, painless and enjoyable. And then Shawn [Levy] has done such an incredible job of realizing and executing at such scale. The performances are amazing. Aria is incredible, Nell is incredible, these are two actresses who have never acted before, never even auditioned before, who are centerstage and carry this thing. It’s sort of a miracle, really.
Can you talk about finding your Marie-Laure LeBlancs?
Shawn was the driver of that. We collectively decided that we had to have actors who were either blind or low visibility, but because agents don’t normally have many people who live without sight, it became just a general internet appeal for someone to play these parts. Aria had never acted before. She was at college and sent in a tape that just was mind-blowingly good, and Nell, equally, just suddenly sparkled. Then it was Shawn’s faith and Netflix’s faith to say, “Okay, never acted before, lead character.” The second miracle is it worked.
The role of Etienne feels like a very different role for Hugh Laurie as well. Can you talk about casting him?
Yeah, it was a sort of thought that there is this damaged character who is living within himself, who is a war hero in a metal box. And something about the Englishness, even though the character is French, there’s something about the restricted Englishness of some of the characters that Hugh has played [that made him right for the part]. We were very lucky that he responded to the scripts and sent a photograph of someone with a very long beard as a response to the script and said, “What about if I look like this?” which was brilliant. It was fantastic and I think he plays the part so beautifully.
Anthony Doerr’s novel was particularly praised for its sensory details. How did you bring that aspect to life on screen?
We particularly wanted it to be an audio experience as well, so that, for instance, if a leaflet falls, you hear it flutter. So that’s a very rich environment for obvious reasons. But I think the look of the thing is so extraordinary as well. The scale of it is extraordinary. And what I think is important in lots of different things that I’ve done, and I’m sure that Shawn has done, is that even the most difficult, dark, bad experience can be seen with beauty. It can look beautiful. And that almost there is hope within the texture on the screen, even when people are doing bad things. So, I hope that we have come close to the same sensory experience of people who read the novel.
Hope is a very palpable feeling even as you watch the devastation unfolding throughout the series. Can you talk about the elements that make that sensation possible, I think the score by James Newton Howard being one of them?
The score is amazing. My opinion has always been that it’s the music that gives you permission to cry when you’re watching something. Often, very, very often, the moment is there, you feel it, it’s building, and then the score comes in, and you’re gone. That’s it. I think this score, more than any score maybe that I’ve ever been involved with, is so powerful, so emotional. I went to the recording with the full orchestra in London, and just watching the scene, I’m sure you know the process, but the scene is put up on the screen, the orchestra is all there, and the conductor is conducting so that the music is following the scene. And just to see the two things together in that studio environment breaks your heart, so that when you’re in the darkened room and you’re looking at it on the screen it’s even more so.
You said that this was “painless” for you to adapt, but were there any particular challenges in developing All the Light We Cannot See for television?
It’s always very, very, very intense. You give months of your life where you’re not thinking about anything else other than these characters. But what I mean by that was that the quality of the material is so good that you’re not stubbing your toe all the time on something or bumping your head on something that’s not the right size. It’s very open and smooth. The obvious challenge is this is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, so you better be good. And then the time jumps, the spinning plates of the different time periods, making sure of that, but the most important thing is being true to the characters and having the characters in your head well enough for them to do what they need to do.
How closely did you work with Anthony Doerr and has he given any feedback on the final product?
I’ve been saying all day during the interviews that you write this, and you have a certain sense of trepidation. That’s with any project, but without any shadow of a doubt, the opinion that matters to me more than any 98 percent of what’s said is Anthony’s opinion. And the weight that is off one’s shoulders when he said he absolutely loves it. He loves it to the extent that he’s doing press for it. And so that for me is total vindication.
Shawn Levy, as you mentioned, is the director and an executive producer on this series. What was the creative process like working with him?
Shawn is one of the most positive human beings on the planet, which is fantastic. He’s got incredible drive, he’s got incredible energy, vision, and in the process of writing, it’s great to be left to do what you do, and then deliver when you can deliver. And to be fair, that’s to Netflix’s credit as well because you can work on projects where you’re involved in telephone calls with 20 people to talk about different parts of the script. What happened in this case, Netflix left Shawn and I alone pretty much, and we just did what we had to do. And I think it shows because there is a certain freedom in the way that the story is told.
This project and the release date were set long before the events taking place in the world right now. Can you talk about the importance of this work coming out at this point in time?
It’s very sad. When I started writing this, obviously there was no way of knowing. This story is about a nation invading another nation from the east, and the destruction and death that follows. And then that happens. And it happened just as we started shooting. And some of the extras in the scenes where the refugees are leaving Paris are actual refugees from Ukraine. So that’s not just life imitating art, it’s art becoming life. And the fact that these things still happen, this darkness is still out there, people still covet each other’s countries and their own invasions, and all these things just makes the actual fundamental message of the book more important. What Anthony’s book suggests is that there is light, that there is hope, that two individuals from opposite sides, Marie and Werner, meet and peace breaks out for an hour and they dance to some music. That’s what’s beautiful about the book, and hopefully about the series.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
All four parts of All the Light We Cannot See are now streaming on Netflix.
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