Martin Freeman as Adrian Mole
Who Is He? The main character of the series, Adrian isnt quite the everyman though he comes close to it. Although hes well-read and intelligent, he delusionally considers himself an intellectual and has ridiculously high aspirations of celebrity that are never fulfilled. His desire for an upmarket urban lifestyle drives him to the point of bankruptcy in The Weapons Of Mass Destruction, forcing him to finally start living in the real world. Despite all of this, hes a consistently moral and good-natured person who does his best to carry on as normal even when his life has turned to crap. Hes also incredibly neurotic and pedantic but still leads a relatively fulfilling life, being a loving father to Glenn, five year old daughter Gracie, and almost never seen son William who is living with his mother in Nigeria.
Why Martin Freeman? I thought long and hard about this one, considering Ben Miller or Tim Vine for a long time before deciding such a heavy role would be beyond them as theyre primarily comedic actors. As well as being a massively successful home-grown star, Freemans believable as an every-man (his role as Arthur Dent in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy springs immediately to mind) but has shown himself to be an incredibly capable dramatic actor with starring roles in The Hobbit and Sherlock. Hes hugely talented, and such a flair for understated drama combined with a talent for playing the every-man is exactly what is needed to play Adrian Mole. Another idea that sprung to mind was David Mitchell. Characters like Adrian are Mitchells stock-in-trade and hes quite a versatile actor but I just think that the dramatic aspects of the role (particularly the part of The Prostrate Years when Adrians chemotherapy leaves him at his lowest point and Daisy leaves him, taking Gracie with her) would be too much for Mitchell to effectively portray. Think Im wrong? Have suggestions of your own? Leave a comment...