Fry meets Pi at premiere

Published on 04/12/2012 02:08

COMEDian Stephen Fry was one of the celebrities attending the London premiere of Life of Pi last night.

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee has revealed his new movie Life Of Pi was his most challenging yet.

The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon filmmaker’s latest offering is a 3D adaptation of Yann Martel’s fantasy novel about an Indian boy who is stranded at sea with a Bengal tiger for ­company.

At the premiere, at the Empire, Leicester Square, Lee said: “Cinematically speaking, it was the most difficult movie I ever made.

“Water, kid, tiger, a new language I was not familiar with, 3D, and it does have a tricky ending that sort of pulls the rug under the audience’s feet. That was quite scary.”

Lee, who cast newcomer Suraj Sharma to play the title role, said he fell in love with the message of the Booker Prize-winning novel, which was published by Edinburgh’s Canongate Books.

“The book is about the power of storytelling, faith and spirituality, how that is important in our lives,” Lee said.

“It’s incredible, incredible ­material. I didn’t know it was movie material but it really grabbed my heart.”

Sharma, 19, landed the role after accompanying his actor brother to the audition.

The student joined Lee and co-star Rafe Spall at the premiere last night.