Was Jim Carrey your first choice to play Scrooge?
Absolutely. I knew Jim would be unbelievably flawless and because he's such a perfectionist that he would approach the character with more attention to detail and more intensity that probably any other actor would. When Jim performs he doesn't just do a voice, he doesn't just do a dialect, his entire body and every muscle in his body transforms and he exudes the character. He's truly magnificent as Scrooge.

Doesn't he play other characters as well?
Yes, he plays all three ghosts: Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. Some of the other actors play multiple roles as well. Bob Hoskins plays two different characters and Gary Oldman plays the ghost of Scrooge's former business partner Marley, as well as Scrooge's clerk Robert Cratchit and Cratchit's son, Tiny Tim. We have a wonderful cast, which also includes Robin Wright Penn and Colin Firth

As an American, were you at all worried about tackling a beloved British classic?
We gave a lot of attention to getting the details right and especially the accents. We had British experts on set all day long. But English directors do films about America all the time and often have a very interesting way of seeing things that an American director might not even notice. So I think it can work both ways.

How about the fact that the film has been made in 3D? Is that going to add a lot to the experience?
I think when 3D is done right you fell immersed in the world up there on screen, yes. But the motion capture technique adds a lot too. There's a real purity about the performances that comes through on screen. And because the film is digitally rendered, you're also going to see images of London that would be impossible in a conventionally made film because the London that Dickens knew and described no longer exists.

Is it hard to get the balance right between pushing the technological boundaries of filmmaking and simply telling a good story.
Cinema has always been a blend of art and technology. A close-up is a special effect. Sound used to be a novelty. But no one thinks about what goes into recording a voice while they're watching a film any more. And it will be the same with 3D pretty soon. We'll stop paying attention to how vivid the images are and just be transported by them.

So in the end it still all comes back to the story?
Yes, and fortunately in 'A Christmas Carol' we have a great story. I mean, you take the meanest man alive and show him the error of his ways... and we get to come along for the ride.

'A Christmas Carol' releases at Ster Kinekor theatres on 6 November.