John Hurt originally played Winston Smith in the acclaimed Eighties film adaptation of
1984 (1984), by
Michael Radford opposite
Richard Burton as O'Brien. Hurt was so intrigued by the prospect of "completing the circle" of Orwell's best-known work that he agreed to film a brief non-speaking role as the all-seeing face of Big Brother. The sequence was then looped to allow Hurt's face to stare out at the audience as members of the British Paper Zoo Theatre Company acted live on stage. Hurt also narrated a brief epilogue over the closing scenes, taken directly from Orwell's novel. The production was premiered at Britain's National Media Museum on June 3 2009. The cast was: Winston Smith (Damien O'Keeffe), Julia (Julia O'Keeffe), O'Brien (Ben Eagle), Syme (David Peel), Charrington (Kate Shackleton), Citizen (Emily Thornton), Prole Woman (Jodie Lowe), Voice of Party Newscasts (Catherine Callinan), Voice of Telescreen (
Tony Earnshaw)
