I started filming Lost Christmas in Manchester in March 2011, after having just finished filming Treasure Island in Puerto Rico.
Filming the role of Long John Silver in Treasure Island and then, two weeks later, the role of Anthony in Lost Christmas was a challenging opportunity and a drastic weather change. But I’d spent years trying to get to get roles like these.
The film story and the book story of Lost Christmas are slightly different, but I hope they will give people the same overall feeling – that it’s always good to hear a tale about a little magic at Christmas.
Anthony is a character who knows no fear. He can’t feel fear as he has lost all his memory, and this gives him his magical quality. He knows he has a mission, but has no idea what that mission is. He keeps having visions that scare him but also rather intrigue him.
He wanders through our story with the innocence of a child and the knowledge of a god – a god who knows only the weird stuff. He also has a spiritual link with other people’s lost things, but again he has no idea why.
In the end I think Anthony is the spirit of Christmas past and the spirit of Christmas future rolled into one.
Once upon a Christmas present . . .
Eddie Izzard, November 2012