The cast list of Lone Scherfig's new film An Education reads like a Who's Who Guide to actors who deserve to be much more famous than they are. Everyone's talking about its star, Carey Mulligan: she plays a bright 16-year-old ingénue named Jenny (a version of British journalist Lynn Barber, who penned the memoir on which the film is based). Jenny strikes up a romance with a sophisticated older man, David—played by Peter Sarsgaard, whose supporters will be glad to see him in such a wonderfully complex role.
The supporting cast of the film, which opens today in New York, is no less impressive: Alfred Molina as Jenny's father; Emma Thompson and Olivia Williams (Rushmore) as her headmistress and English teacher; and the talented Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky), who manages to be completely heartbreaking in less than five minutes onscreen.
And then there's Dominic Cooper, who plays David's best friend and business partner, Danny. The rakish, compact 31-year-old actor -- who was trained at the London Academy and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role in The History Boys -- also has that most essential trait for a young actor: adaptability. "I was thrown into this job really late on," Cooper explains. "I got a phone call saying I'd been cast, and the following day, I was in a read-through and a costume fitting, and then I was filming the day after that -- which, in a way, was very liberating."
Fortunately for Cooper, he already had a keen interest in the film's setting: 1961 London, just on the cusp of the swinging decade that would follow. "My parents grew up in London during that time, so I was very interested and excited about it," Cooper says. "The Beatles and the Stones were recording music that was about to be released, which was going to change youth culture."
Youth culture, in fact, is one of An Education's most striking themes -- the film is essentially a coming-of-age story, albeit a highly unconventional one. Cooper is quick to point out, though, that Jenny isn't the only one who grows up a little by the movie's end. The film, he clarifies, "is an education for every character in every way -- they're all learning something new, at all the different stages of their lives."
When it comes to remembering his own adolescence, the actor is both nostalgic and wary. "That time in your life is so painful for so many reasons," he says, quite seriously. "I fell in love when I was really young, with someone at school. And when it didn't work, I just thought it was the worst thing that could possibly, possibly ever happen."
Above: Dominic Cooper as Danny, Photo taken by Kerry Brown, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
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