<Li> Sinéad Cusack as Dr. Delia Surridge, the former head physician at the Larkhill Detention Centre, now a coroner . </Li> <Li> Natasha Wightman as Valerie Page, a lesbian imprisoned for her sexuality . Imogen Poots portrays Valerie as a child . </Li> <P> V for Vendetta sets the Gunpowder Plot as V's historical inspiration, contributing to his choice of timing, language, and appearance . For example, the names Rookwood, Percy and Keyes are used in the film, which are also the names of three of the Gunpowder conspirators . The film creates parallels to Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, by drawing direct comparisons between V and Edmond Dantès . (In both stories, the hero escapes an unjust and traumatic imprisonment and spends decades preparing to take vengeance on his oppressors under a new persona .) The film is also explicit in portraying V as the embodiment of an idea rather than an individual through V's dialogue and by depicting him without a past, identity or face . According to the official website, "V's use of the Guy Fawkes mask and persona functions as both practical and symbolic elements of the story . He wears the mask to hide his physical scars, and in obscuring his identity--he becomes the idea itself ." </P> <P> As noted by several critics and commentators, the film's story and style mirror elements from Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera . V and the Phantom both wear masks to hide their disfigurements, control others through the leverage of their imaginations, have tragic pasts, and are motivated by revenge . V and Evey's relationship also parallels many of the romantic elements of The Phantom of the Opera, where the masked Phantom takes Christine Daaé to his subterranean lair to re-educate her . </P>

Who plays guy fawkes in v for vendetta