James McAvoy cast in BECOMING JANE
Well, the title says it all. James McAvoy is now being included in cast lists for BECOMING JANE, though it is unclear which part he will have. We suppose it is safe to assume that he will be Tom Lefroy.
McAvoy has recently been in THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE and also has had parts in WIMBLEDON and the television films STATE OF PLAY and BAND OF BROTHERS.
Miramax Films, apparently having realized that The Jane Austen Phenomenon Is Not Quite Over Yet, will be distributing the film in the U.S.
We are slightly horrified by the description of the film being provided to the press:
The film centers on a love affair Austen began as a 20-year-old — with brilliant, roguish Irishman Tom Lefroy — that inspired her career as one of the world’s great romantic writers. The movie also looks at how the writer’s relationship with Lefroy helped create the male characters in “Pride & Prejudice.”
There are so many things wrong with that sentence that we are quite in despair. Dorothy, place an order for several gross of sporks, please.
March 1st, 2006 at 11:08 am
Well, I’m sort of glad there will be plenty occasions to supply delicious snark here in the future… after all, we can’t live on the last “Pride and Prejudice” movie version forever.
March 1st, 2006 at 11:21 am
Oh dear. Is it just me, or does that sentence imply that Jane’s genius is merely a result of a failed love affair? “She couldn’t live the love she wanted, so she wrote about it instead…” Oh dear. Need smelling salts.
March 1st, 2006 at 11:27 am
I’m so excited about this movie! I feel obligated to go rent one of his movies and see if he’s any good or not. He’s an inch shorter than Anne Hathaway, according to imdb, which might be a tad bit annoying ( well, to me at least…) but it will all be overlooked if he is a decent actor.
March 1st, 2006 at 11:55 am
James McAvoy is a Scottish Actor. I last saw him in Shakespeare’s “MacBeth” (a modern version) which incidentally also starred Keeley Hawes, Matthew’s wife. He is fantastic. He won Best Newcomer’s Award at the BAFTAs recently. He is not very tall, it is true.
March 1st, 2006 at 1:04 pm
I am very excited about this movie and now knowing the fact that James McAvoy has been cast in it makes it ten times more appealing.He is an astonishing actor and I am looking forward to this movie even more.
The cast looks great and the movie is being made by a very underrated and good director, there is no way they can screw it up ( they had better not ).
P.S James is shorter than Anne but I dont think it’ll be that big of a problem.
March 1st, 2006 at 1:04 pm
My goodness! Some of us at Pemperley were talking about the idea of James McAvoy playing Henry Tilney but this might be better! Tom LeFroy…I actually don’t know much about him. I think I’ve seen a picture though and Mr. McAvoy will do nicely.
That blurb is horrible! Jane didn’t have a “a love affair… with brilliant, roguish Irishman Tom Lefroy”! They had a bit of harmless flirtation, and he might have been a model for one or another of her characters but I’m sure he wasn’t the one totaly responsible “that inspired her career as one of the world’s great romantic writers”! Her own family (father, brothers, cousins) had more to do with “male characters in Pride & Prejudice” than LeFroy did! I hope this isn’t going to ruin Jane’s character in the eyes of the public forever! But I do have a felling that this movie will be the source of many lovely snarks!
March 1st, 2006 at 1:43 pm
I’m actually quite curious as to what will become of this film. Hmmmm..
Geez! Why is it that they always feel the need to dig for something that might have pushed them to write whatever it is? Did they never hear of ‘originality’?
March 1st, 2006 at 1:53 pm
Hollywood doesnt really go hand in hand with ‘orginality’ and the recent P&P prooves that.
It wasnt original yet it did do well, and from the looks of it this movie seems far more promising than P&P.They have two of Britain’s finest actresses there along with a rising Hollywood star and ofcourse McAvoy who is GREAT.
Give it a chance, it hasn’t even started shooting yet.And I dont think it will become the target of many snarks.
March 1st, 2006 at 4:30 pm
Well, I was not very interested in the movie to begin with (Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen?), but after the description of the plot, I am just appalled. It just shows how movie writers cannot come up with stories about famous women without attributing their success to men…and what a disservice to Jane Austen this movie is going to be.
I can’t wait for all the snarks!
March 1st, 2006 at 5:08 pm
I really dont know whats wrong with people who think Anne cant make a good Jane, I mean have U even seen Brokeback Mountain????????!!!!!!!
NO!
She was terrific in it, and if I may say so people had the same problem with Keira Knightley in the beginning when she was cast as Elizabeth in P&P but that turned out to be a nice surprise.And Anne is a far better actress than Knightley and for those who say she cant do a British accent well when she auditioned there must have been something there the casting directors saw that she got the part.
Besides the description of the plot is not entirely from a reliable source and I wouldnt really trust it .
Dont pass judgment on something U havent seen yet.
March 1st, 2006 at 6:07 pm
I’m not going to write it off as a failure or a sucess until I see it, but I do have more hope for this one than P&P3 (rolls eyes). James McAvoy is wonderful, as are Maggie Smith and Julie Walters, and despite some movies she’s been in, I’ve heard Anne Hathaway is a decent actor as well.
As for the height difference, camera angles can make up for that.
March 1st, 2006 at 6:13 pm
I thought Anne Hathaway was terrific in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. Not that she had much to do, but what she did was very, very good.
But you’re not going to give your argument much gravitas with folks of a literary bent (as Jane Austen fans tend to be) by posting in illiterate textspeak. Y-O-U. It’s two more keystrokes, for crying in a bucket.
March 1st, 2006 at 6:38 pm
Well, this time I am still keeping a positive expectation on this film (I hope it can prove I am not always as negative as I may seem), I agree with Elizabeth and Jen, it seems more promising that P&P3, I will keep faith that it is a good script and do not mind very much these earlier press-releases, from what I understand it doesn’t pretend to be a faithful bio-pic (which one is BTW?), maybe it could be in the tone of Shakespeare in Love (oops! that might not be a good argument since there are people who did not like that one either).
I am happy to know that James McAvoy has joined the cast and that probably he will be playing Tom Lefroy, but still not happy with their choice for JA, it is not that I have anything against Anne Hathaway, but I still cannot see her as Jane, my candidate for the role was Anna Paquin and now I have another reason to believe so, I think she and McAvoy could look well together. What a pity!
March 1st, 2006 at 7:41 pm
What “love affair” with Tom Lefroy? I would hardly call sitting down dances at balls to talk and flirt a love affair. And “Rougish?” Because he went back to Ireland to further his career? Please. History lessons in order.
March 1st, 2006 at 8:51 pm
Oh no. Reminds me of ‘Devotion’ where Charlotte and Emily fell in love with Arthur Nicholls, their father’s curate- Emily dying from a broken heart, after they were inspired by him to write Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre! Oh dear…
March 1st, 2006 at 10:37 pm
I grimace every time I hear the phrase “love affair” linking Jane and Tom Lefroy. Like others have posted before me (but I have to repeat myself):mild flirtation!! Does a girl love every guy she thinks is cute and has a little fun flirting with? No. Okay, just had to get that straight.
March 1st, 2006 at 10:54 pm
Oops. Forgot to say: awesome that McAvoy is playing (almost certainly) Lefroy! He seems like he’d be good for a cute, teasing flirt to have some fun at the ball with (which is why we thought about him for Henry, like Laurie said). But if we’re talking about a love affair here (like, love as in pass-me-the-poison-I-must-die-with-out-you love [just let you know, this line is plagarism]), then I should think another tall, brooding and dark bloke might be the order of the day (especially if he’s supposed to be the original Darcy).
All in all, I’m looking forward to this movie. My main hopes is that they: 1- don’t make it suffocatingly melodramatic, 2- even more importantly, keep sex out of it. But with Hollywood in on it, things aren’t looking good.
March 1st, 2006 at 11:45 pm
You know, if it is presented as a *fantasy* and an *embellishment* of the little that is known about Jane Austen’s romantic life, I could live with it. But if they try to shine us on about it being a “true story” I shall not be responsible for my actions (or my snark).
March 2nd, 2006 at 2:44 am
^ exactly!! the storyline itself is not bothering me at all, but the “jane austen”-tag on it does.
March 2nd, 2006 at 9:27 am
Right. After all, it’s not that much different from the Jane Austen Mysteries, which I like. But they never have been presented as anything else than the product of Stephanie Barron’s imagination (despite the conceit in the books themselves about their being Jane Austen’s lost diaries). Outside of the books, the author and publisher never pretend they are real. I’m sure some people are confused and think they *are* real, but she’s not trying to rewrite Jane Austen’s biography.
If they make it pretty clear that it’s a made-up thing, and the storyline is good, I actually will most likely enjoy it tremendously. But they need to do better than the description I quoted, which is in all the articles so it was probably taken from a press release.
March 2nd, 2006 at 9:32 am
Off-topic welcome to “Chuck Bingley”!!! Don’t suppose you’ve brought any tall dark handsome rich gentlemen friends with you?
March 2nd, 2006 at 9:52 am
Do you dance, sir?
LOL!
March 2nd, 2006 at 10:18 am
[...] An article in the TOMB (Time Out Movie Blog) headlines with information that is old news to most of us, but a little further reading provides us with some new tidbits. In addition to James McAvoy (about whom we heard about previously), the film will also star Maggie Smith and Julie Walters, both of whom have careers too extensive to go into detail here. [...]
March 3rd, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Mags, Hiba makes up in ????? what is left out in YOU, so it all comes out right in the end. I see the film is produced by Graham Broadbent. Related to Jim Broadbent? Ånd is Broadbent related to Brokeback? And is Brokeback related to my taking a work break to come up with this nonsense? Stop me before I out-Joyce Joyce. Oh, wrong site.
March 3rd, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Susan!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like you’ve had a stressful week and your mind is in overdrive. Take a chill pill and enjoy your weekend!
March 3rd, 2006 at 4:32 pm
Deb. R. Thanks Deb. I took a nap instead and I’m chilled now. No more hijinks from me. I was feeling lydia-giddy,and we know that leads to no good.
March 6th, 2006 at 1:26 am
I do dance with ladies with a sparkle in their eye and a smile about their lips. Tall, dark, handsome, rich, and a gentleman? How about 4 out of 5?
March 6th, 2006 at 10:16 am
4 out of 5, huh? As long as that doesn’t make you a “Charlene Bingley”, put me on your dance card!
March 6th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
The fifth element is “dark”. I am a blond, but not of the feminine half of the species. Care to dance?
March 6th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
Geez, get a room, you two.
March 8th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
I don’t know if Anne Hathaway will make a good JA she is a good actress but I can’t picture as playing that part. I want to see the movie when it comes out though.
March 8th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
Oops, I can’t picture her* as playing that part.
March 13th, 2006 at 8:34 am
I’ve just noticed that Anna Maxwell Martin, who recently played Esther Summerson in Bleak House, has also been cast for an unspecified part in this film. My guess would be Jane’s sister, Cassandra, who would have been aged about 22 at the time. Anna’s a bit older than this (28 I think) but is no stranger to playing younger parts.
March 13th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Alan, where did you hear this? I can’t find confirmation online.
She would have made a pretty good Jane, actually! She does look younger. I liked her in NORTH AND SOUTH and BLEAK HOUSE.
March 13th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Mags, here’s the link:
http://www.pfd.co.uk/clients/martina/a-act.html
You’re right she would have made a good Jane!
I haven’t seen North and South but she was brilliant in Bleak House.