What if someone had the gift of reading characters right out of a book? What if those characters could actually come alive? That’s the premise of German author Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart, which has been made into a live action family fantasy starring Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren, Paul Bettany and Jim Broadbent. British director Iain Softley gladly stepped up to the challenge of bringing the tale of a father and daughter on a quest through great literature to reunite their family.

Funke is one of Germany’s best-loved and most prolific authors, having written 47 books published in 43 countries, for a total of more than 15 million books sold. Although six of her works have been adapted into films, Inkheart, the first in a trilogy that made the New York Times Bestseller list, is her first major studio production. Not only did she advise screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire on the adaptation, but she served as a producer of the film as well. She seems to be fitting into Hollywood quite nicely.

Q: Is it true that while you were writing the book, you based Mo, the lead character, on Brendan Fraser, long before you even dreamed of making a film?

Funke: Yes. I base many characters on real people. When I wrote The Thief Lord, I based one of my characters on Bob Hoskins, and I found it incredibly helpful. Steal a smile, use a gesture, know how your character walks… So Mo is boyish, in the beginning, but then he has to become ferocious to get his daughter out of that village. Who can do that? I asked myself. I’d seen Brendan in Gods and Monsters, Blast from the Past, and The Mummy films, and I thought,”he can do all that. He can be very funny, very sad, very tender and also very strong.”

Q: How do the rest of the film characters match up to the book?

Funke: In a most incredible way, although some are very different. Helen Mirren is an example of that. In the book she is a stout spinster who looks more like Kathy Bates. But when Helen said she would do it, I was very excited because I knew she would take my character and make her different in a very interesting way. Paul Bettany, as Dustfinger, on the other hand, is the incarnation of everything this character could be. I’m still quite breathless that he did it.

Q: Was it difficult to give up your cherished book, which some writers see as their baby, to be made into a Hollywood movie?

Funke: People ask me how I could allow my book to be changed so much for a film, and I have to say I am very open to it. I have hundreds of stage productions from my works by now. I have puppets playing my characters, I have children’s plays at schools, I have seen six movies from my works so far. I think it’s always inspiring when you suddenly have to let go – you have to allow inspiration from others. I think it’s a very good and balancing experience.

Q: You’ve been described as  “The German JK Rowling.” How do you feel about that?

Funke: I’m actually very flattered. I think she’s a born storyteller. I think we’re in the golden age of storytelling right now. And so many of the great storytellers have their niche in children’s books. There are so many brilliant writers for children, who pass all borders and are loved by everyone. It’s very inspiring to live in a time when there is so much passion for the printed word, and that transfers into film.

Says Brendan Fraser of Funke: C’mon! She wrote the book with me as the main character! She sent me the book, inscribed, “Dear Brendan, thank you for inspiring the character of Mo.” It also went on to say that she hoped one day I would be able to read this book aloud to my children. I didn’t know who she was, so I Googled her and found she’s prolific and has a big following. I was in kind of a dry spell, or career quicksand after the Looney Tunes debacle (hey-I did my job, alright? Bugs is a nice guy, Daffy Duck is a jerk.) So I read the book and I thought it was great—it was fantastic, and we clearly needed to make a movie of it.