Hoffmann story Nutcracker and Mouse King.
Copeland calls her film role the icing on the cake of her recent career success.
Rather than portraying one of the classicNutcrackercharacters, Copeland describes her role as that of storyteller.
Laurie Sparham/Disney
I exist [in the film] just to share this story, she explains.
Director Lasse Hallstrom says Copelands feature sequence opened his eyes to what it takes to excel as a dancer.
[She was] sitting there with ice packs all over her feet, Knightley says.
Physically I cannot imagine how strong you have to be to do that.
Copeland admits the unpredictable nature of moviemaking was her greatest (and most unexpected) challenge.
And not having a real idea of what was next, she explains.
The ballerina says she cant wait for the world to see dancers portrayed as she knows and loves them.
Most dancers are not happy with how were represented [on screen].
This feels like a very pure and beautiful representation of us, she reflects.
This is an incredible opportunity to bring people into my world.
