David Nicholls has admitted he finds adapting his own work for the big screen complete torture.

The author, who wrote the screenplay for his own novel One Day, has written the script for a new film of Thomas Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd, but said that working on his own material was far more difficult.

He said of adaptations: “They’re big responsibilities. I find adapting my own work very painful, very hard, because I have a movie in my head which I write down and turn into a novel. I find adapting my own work extremely painful.

One Day
Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway starred in the film adaptation of David Nicholls’ One Day (Universal Pictures)

“With classic novels that you love, then you have to be respectful, but someone has done the difficult bit first of all, someone has already created these amazing characters, so it’s much more technical.”

Far From The Madding Crowd stars Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen and Tom Sturridge, and David had also had previous experience of Hardy’s work after adapting Tess Of The D’Urbervilles for TV.

He said of his love for Hardy: “I read him at just the right age when I was 17 and I loved the big emotions. A lot of period novels seem very buttoned up and a lot of unspoken passions. With Hardy everything is spoken, I think he’s a great romantic novelist.

David Nicholls
David Nicholls (Matt Crossick/PA)

“They are so painful, the stories, they’re heartbreaking, they’re really heart-rending.”

David added that he wasn’t writing at the moment as he was too busy promoting his latest novel Us, but didn’t have time for a holiday before getting back to work: “I never relax, I’m a nervous wreck constantly, I’m a mess.”

Far From The Madding Crowd is released in cinemas on May 1.