Hugh Laurie on mental illness, distraction, and Dickens

In Armando Iannucci’s long-awaited The Personal History Of David Copperfield, Hugh Laurie plays Mr. Dick, a kind but mentally ill man who—in his own way—helps set the title character’s life back on course. Laurie plays Mr. Dick as childish and wide-eyed, living in rooms covered in scraps of paper filled with his notes and constantly distracted by his own thoughts about King Charles. The A.V. Club talked to Laurie about his portrayal at the film’s premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

The Personal History Of David Copperfield arrives in theaters for better or for worse on August 28.