Character History Jules Verne Jules Verne is a budding French writer in his mid twenties. He was born in the provincial Atlantic port city of Nantes, the son of a well-to-do attorney. His father wanted him to join the family firm, and he went to Paris to study law. However, he is determined to pursue a literary career as a playwrite, and though he continues his studies, he has made as many contacts as he can in the world of the arts, including established writers like Alexandre Dumas. So far, his plays are either not performed at all or only performed for a few nights, and he finds himself eking out the classic life of the starving artist in the poorer quarters of Paris. It is during this period the series finds him, before he has found his true vocation as a novelist. He is committed to literature and to the creative life, but has not yet found his niche within it. Jules is part of the impoverished world of young artists which later became famous through La Bohème, sitting with his friends in low bars and cheap cafés on the Left Bank trying to make cups of coffee and glasses of wine last as long as possible. He always has been a compulsive note-taker, gathering facts the way a squirrel gathers nuts and scribbling them on file cards and in his journals. He is determined to take in as much information about the world as he possible can. When we first meet Jules he is somewhat naive, and romantically inexperienced. As the series progresses, his experiences will gradually change him - not his youthful enthusiasm, but his ability to interact with the "real" world. This is largely the result of his relationship with Phileas Fogg, who becomes his mentor. Fogg is a man of the world, an experienced lover, a brilliant swordsman, a man who knows how to play a game of poker with the most dangerous opponents. A hopeless romantic, Jules has a particular crush on the daring Rebecca Fogg who insists on regarding him as a good pal, or an amusing surrogate younger brother. He relieves some of his frustrations about women - and indeed about life in general – by drawing sketches of imaginary machines. These inventions pour out of his head almost without thought; and often, while talking about something else entirely, he'll dash one off, crumple it up and throw it away. It is his natural vision of the future, which is sought after by the forces of good and evil. Jules is not a natural athlete or swordsman; he does his best with what Phileas teaches him of conventional weapons (sword, gun and fists) and what Rebecca shows him of more exotic weaponry and methodology. Jules is a visionary, with all the weaknesses and strengths that implies. He has grand holistic visions of society and man's place in the world. These are based on his belief in the value of the individual and universal self-expression, but they make him vulnerable to seduction by other holistic visions - such as those of the League of Darkness. Whether or not he'd put it in these words, Jules Verne is always battling to save the future, and in the process, inventing it - which is what makes him a hero not only for his own times - but for ours. -Talisman Crest/Filmline International Presss Kit