Photos from BECOMING JANE set
Alert Janeite Hiba posted this link in comments for another post with photos from the first couple of days of shooting for BECOMING JANE. The costumes pass the initial sniff test. Let the games begin! 
Edit 8:40 p.m. EST: Also thanks to Alert Janeites Vanya_Elda and Cinthia for sending in the news–we were not home and didn’t check e-mail last night or it would have been posted then! Thanks to all who send us news–we could not do without you.
March 29th, 2006 at 9:57 am
More photos have been added here:
WENN
McAvoy has a silly hat and pimp cane now
March 29th, 2006 at 10:02 am
That’s a helluva red coat. She looks good, even if it’s not how I picture Jane.
March 29th, 2006 at 10:09 am
silly hat and pimp cane
Shades of Not!Henry Tilney in NA1…
Her hair is a bit senior-promish for my taste, but since it will be under a bonnet for the scene being filmed it’s hard to complain.
Where the heck are they supposed to be, anyway? Basingstoke, maybe?
March 29th, 2006 at 10:12 am
I like the hat and cane, McAvoy looks dashing with both. And Anne looks lovely in her dress. Mags i agree we will wait to see what happens with the hair.
~R
March 29th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Ooh! I absolutely love Anne/Jane’s ‘frock’. Lovely
March 29th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Shades of Not!Henry Tilney in NA1 …
Ewww … visualizing overly drooly kisses …
Speaking of which, I anticipate a stellar performance from that handsome pug dog. Perhaps Jane’s visits with Pug inspired her to write Mansfield Park?
March 29th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Speaking of which, I anticipate a stellar performance from that handsome pug dog.
Of course! He is, afterall, marvelous at whatever he does. Brilliant with accents and dialects. As for an Irish one, been there and done that, see ‘Inside I’m Dancing’/'Rory O’Shea Was Here’. Wonderful film.
March 29th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Wow. The Pictures are lovely. Cant wait till the movie. Annes looks lovely. What is wrong with her hair? I dont see anything wrong?
March 29th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
What is wrong with her hair?
It’s not correct for the period. Those long bangs with the big airy forward curl are 2006 senior prom, not 1795 assembly ball. Shorter, curlier pieces around her face would be better.
Basically, it should look like it was set with curl papers, not a great big metal round brush and blow dryer. And yes, I can tell the difference.
March 29th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
Mags, I think the architecture looks a little too sumptuous for Basingstoke!!
March 29th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
Okay, but I was expecting countryside sets, so I’m startled at seeing something that appears quite grand. It’s certainly not meant to be Steventon, or at least one hopes not! Nor Deane House. Maybe one of the grand houses, like the Vyne? Would Jane have met Lefroy at such a place? Isn’t there something in one of her letters where she says he is laughed at about her at Ashe? And I think there was a grand house there. Or perhaps it’s meant to be the older Steventon manor house that has since been razed.
March 29th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
Well, they don’t care about biographical accurance, why should they care about period hair or dress?
March 29th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
In one of her letters, Jane mentions the Hurstbourne ball - presumably at Hurstbourne Park, still a large privately owned house near Hurstbourne Priors, which is not too far from Steventon, so she could have met Lefroy there, maybe?
March 29th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
I wont’ complain about the bangs as long as she keeps her bonnet on.
March 29th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
Hmmm? With all that white stone in the background, I would have said Bath… even though I know Jane didn’t go to Bath just then. I wouldn’t put it past the production company to set the story in Bath.
(just being picky, now)
Are the two older people supposed to be Mr & Mrs Austen? Mrs Austen, yes–Mr. Austen, no. And didn’t Cassandra and Jane prefer nankin boots. And I thought Tom Lefoy would have lighter hair. Hmmm?
March 29th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
Then again, perhaps that gentleman is Henry Austen. He doesn’t look very old now that I’ve look closer.
March 29th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
The guy doesn’t look to me like McAvoy. I dislike his hat. A lot. Otherwise his clothes aren’t bad. Anne’s dress is okay. Pretty cute. But is the coat accurate?
March 29th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
The guy doesn’t look to me like McAvoy.
Oh, it is McAvoy, trust me. I’m obsessed enough to know.
March 29th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
Okay, Vanya_Elda!
March 30th, 2006 at 3:45 am
Thank you SO much for posting these pictures! It looks like it’s going to be a lovely film, accurate or not!
At first I didn’t recognize James McAvoy either. But I think he looks good, though… LoL!
Oh, and Anne doesn’t look like Jane. At least not Jane as I picture her.
March 30th, 2006 at 6:19 am
There are more pics up now, but these look more like papparazzi shots taken from off the sets while the crew takes a break.
Speaking of which who is Lucy Coho?????
The link is :
http://photo.wenn.com/index.php?ref=anne%hathaway%20290306&session_id=fc41f92c8b1656559d362ce055b120c1
March 30th, 2006 at 9:33 am
Vanya_Elda: Nice to have an expert to hand.
Elizabeth: Judging by the hairdo, I’m guessing that is the actress playing Eliza de Feuillide or however you spell it.
P.S. to Elizabeth: You use the same e-mail address (I can see it) as Hiba. Do me a favor? Stick to one name. I’m letting it go right now since your identities have not begun to have conversations, so I am chalking it up to an oversight.
March 30th, 2006 at 10:01 am
Has anyone actually read the book that this film is based on? Is it good and authentic?
March 30th, 2006 at 11:10 am
I don’t think it’s “based on” a book per se. I gather that the screenwriter took some stuff from a couple of bios and ran with it. Anything to do with that time of Jane Austen’s life HAS to be mostly speculation, because Jane Austen’s siblings carefully protected her privacy and the next generation heard the story second-hand from prejudiced observers (and how wonderfully, ironically Austenian is THAT?). That’s not a problem in itself; the problem comes when the speculation ignores the few little factoids that actually exist and when it flat-out defies logic.
For instance, the idea that the Austen/Lefroy flirtation somehow inspired P&P. How in the world does that story have anything to do with the story of P&P? Persuasion, maybe, but not P&P. But P&P is the “sexy” story, the one that the Middle Aged Austen Whores are obsessed with, the one that everyone’s heard of and most likely to have read or at least be familiar with, so they use P&P to attract a bigger audience. Unfortunately, IT MAKES NO BALLY SENSE.
March 30th, 2006 at 11:16 am
I just realized that Lucy Cohu in costume looks exactly like the images I’ve seen of Madam Lefroy. There’s a painting in which (I think, need to go home and look in my books) she has the same hairstyle.
March 30th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Mags do you know where I can see some of the images you’ve seen of Madame Lefroy?
March 30th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
And for trivia, Lucy Cohu has already appeared in another JA bio, she was Cassandra, JA’s sister, in the BBC dramatized documentary “The real Jane Austen” (2002).
March 30th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
A portrait of Madame Lefroy is in the JA Pitkin guide. Mags I have a scan of it, would you like me to e-mail it to you so everybody can see it?
March 30th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Cinthia, that would be great.
I think the one I have is either in the Austen Papers or the Tomalin bio, not sure which. But yes, if you send one to me I’ll post it. (And I hope it’s the one I’m thinking of!)
March 30th, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Sylvia, I have a feeling that the film is based on Jon Spence’s biography “Becoming Jane Austen.” I found this summary on the Jane Austen Society of Australia page and from we what we know of the film so far, it kind of fits:
“Spence’s principal argument is that (apart from her family) the two great loves of her life were Eliza de Feuillide and Tom Lefroy, both of whom she met and was fascinated by during her adolescence and young womanhood. These two people – the one ‘a sophisticated, worldly and charming woman’, the other a delightful but somewhat feckless young man – form the basis of characters and situations in several of the juvenilia, and retain their power in the writings of her maturity.
“Spence believes that Jane was in love with Tom Lefroy and was waiting for him to finish his law studies and then claim her in marriage. As he points out, it was Tom Lefroy’s family that provided the basic situation that begins Pride and Prejudice, the novel whose first version Austen wrote while waiting for Tom: five daughters arrived before Tom was born – and both fictional and real families are the children of a Miss Gardiner. Spence suggests, intriguingly, that Elizabeth has Tom’s character while Austen herself had the qualities of the reserved but warm-hearted Darcy. The novel is the world’s finest wish-fulfilment romance. But devastatingly, Tom did not visit Jane when he returned to Ashe over two years later; he was in fact already engaged to a suitable young woman in Ireland. He had probably been dissuaded by his family from continuing the acquaintance with the penniless Miss Austen, since he had heavy responsibilities to his large family of siblings. There is, perhaps, the germ of both Willoughby and Anne Elliot here.”
Source: http://www.jasa.net.au/books/spence2.htm
March 31st, 2006 at 12:47 am
Obviously I have to read that book.
Jon Spence is a plenary speaker at this year’s JASNA AGM, incidentally. I’m sure he’ll have some, erm, questions to answer.
Cinthia sent me the scan of Madame Lefroy, and it was the one I was thinking of–here ’tis. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version.
Though after reading Marybeth’s post above, I’m thinking that my first impression (heh) was correct, and Lucy Cohu is playing Cousin Eliza. I think that’s her with the pug, and the fellow with the blond hair might be Henry or James Austen. And I could be completely full of crap.
March 31st, 2006 at 6:30 am
‘Becoming Jane’ is actually quite good and well-researched. What Spence has done is taken what little known, confirmed information there is about Jane along with excerpts from her letters and interpreted them in (quite plausible) ways that no one ever has before. Even more interesting than the Tom Lefroy aspect, in my opinion, was his take on her relationship with Cousin Eliza: that her back-and-forth flirtations between the older Austen brothers made Jane end up becoming disallusioned with and rather bitter about her.
March 31st, 2006 at 7:07 am
Me again… I found this review of ‘Becoming Jane’ on the JASNA website, and although Wiesenforth (IMO) gushings are a wee bit over the top, it’s not too far off the mark of my own impressions after reading the book. I didn’t agree with all of Spence’s interpretations (which he has the tendency to present as fact), but they’re all well-grounded and definitely opened my eyes in some places to possibilities about Jane’s life, work and character that I’d never come across before. Try it Mags - I think you’ll like it.
http://www.jasna.org/bookrev/br193p23.html
March 31st, 2006 at 10:33 am
More Photos
In this one there is actual full shots of Anne’s dress sans coat.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:34 am
In this one there is actual full shots of Anne’s dress sans coat.
More Photos
March 31st, 2006 at 11:35 am
Well I haven’t actually read Becoming Jane so I can’t comment on who is who but I think that actress Lucy Coho or whatever her name is played Princess Margaret in ITV’s production called The Queen’s Sister.
The costumes look amazing though and I do think Anne will be able to pull it off.
March 31st, 2006 at 4:50 pm
These photos are from Dublin, which is a gorgeous Georgian city. I think their costumes are dashing, and why shouldnn’t we have a flattering portrayal of Jane Austen, instead of some plain dreary spinster Jane. This is so much more fun, and they are making a MOVIE. I have the Spence book, and it is scholarly. It is amazing how many names in Pride and Prejudice, Bennet and Bingley and so on, came from Tom Lefroy’s family names. The book is worth reading.
March 31st, 2006 at 5:01 pm
I dunno…she knew Tom Lefroy for what, two weeks? And she knew the names of all his relatives? But, I haven’t read the book so I should probably shut up.
These photos are from Dublin, which is a gorgeous Georgian city.
I’m still trying to figure out what it is supposed to represent in the story of Jane and Tom Lefroy, though. None of it, to my knowledge, took place in any grand town. My Basingstoke theory has been shot down by the natives.
why shouldnn’t we have a flattering portrayal of Jane Austen, instead of some plain dreary spinster Jane
Why must it be one or the other? As Jane Austen’s novels continuously teach us, should we trouble to pay attention, the truth–and the best stories–usually lie somewhere in the middle of two extremes.
March 31st, 2006 at 5:16 pm
In this one there is actual full shots of Anne’s dress sans coat.
And the Uggs just make the outfit.
Sort of like Keira Knightley wearing rubber wellies under her gown at Pemberley (watch when she’s running down the stairs if you don’t believe me…I noticed it on the big-screen and it has since been confirmed via pause and zoom with the DVD).
I still don’t like her hair. The weather’s not helping much, either.
March 31st, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Mags, I thought Knightley’s boots looked like rubber wellies also, BUT…my mother gets the British magazine, The English Home, and the Dec. 2005 edition had a behind the scenes look at the homes used in the movie. One picture shows Knightley running down the stairs (so lady like
). In this picture, the boots are “bagging” around her ankles–like sagging stockings–and don’t look rubber at all. In fact, I can’t imagine rubber boots bagging like this. They really look like leather riding boots here. (But, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t wearing wellies in other scenes!)
The article is really interesting. For example, according to the article, the Sculpture Gallery in Chatsworth had red velvet drapes on the walls. The production team got permission to remove the drapes for filming, but the family ended up liking the look and didn’t put the drapes back up.
March 31st, 2006 at 5:56 pm
I dunno…she knew Tom Lefroy for what, two weeks? And she knew the names of all his relatives?
She may only have known Tom Lefroy for a few weeks, but his aunt, Anne Lefroy, was one of her most beloved mentors and friends from the time Jane was 8 until she was 29, when Anne was killed in a riding accident. I dunno either, but it seems to me they *might* have spoken about Mrs Lefroy’s family once or twice in the 20+ years they knew each other.
March 31st, 2006 at 6:21 pm
Since, at least from the few elements we have gathered, the film’s plot doesn’t seem to be following precise facts and could be more like interpretations and fiction, I think Dublin might be well be representing London or even maybe Bath.
I agree with the idea that Lucy Cohu is playing Eliza, and that the man with the hat might be Henry (the images are not very clear, but all reminded me of Ewan Macgregor’s costume and dreadful wig in Emma2).
BTW, Rose, you are right, Lucy Cohu appeared as the late Princess Margaret in The Queen’s sister, and she has just been BAFTA nominated for that role.
Mags, let us hope those boots are for between takes, they are the same Anne is wearing them also in the photos where she appears in jeans. Lucy is wearing period shoes, so maybe, there are also some for Anne.
Vanya, thanks for these new link, more so because these photos can be enlarged without watermark and now we can appreciate McAvoy more clearly in full regalia
April 1st, 2006 at 10:03 am
They filmed in Dublin because it is a small Georgian city, with houses and squares as they were in 1800, unchanged. So, it is supposed to be Hampshire,
but if they filmed in Hampshire it would not look like an 1800 scene. I was just in Dublin in February, and it is preserved and beautiful, although the economy is booming now that Ireland is the Celtic Tiger.
April 1st, 2006 at 10:09 am
Anne’s dress is kinda cute, I think. Not sure if I like the design running down the front. The neck scarf reminds me of the S+S2 costumes. The guy looks pretty good too, but I’m not sure about ruffled cuffs.
April 1st, 2006 at 12:41 pm
In Spence’s book, he proposes that aside from the short period that Jane and Tom met and got to know each other in Hampshire, they met once again afterwards in London; when Jane and one of her brothers broke their journey to Godmersham, and stayed at the house of Tom’s uncle, who the young man was living with during his studies there. On the other hand, Jane also went to relatively ‘grand’ houses in Hampshire for visits and balls. The Briggs residence, for example. So no telling, unfortunately, where it’s supposed to be.
April 1st, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Hopefully it’s supposed to be London. Basingstoke was only a small market town in the early 1800’s and Overton, which is nearer to Steventon, is even today really just a village. Winchester would have been grander, but a bit of a trek.
April 1st, 2006 at 4:56 pm
From Karenlee’s comment above looks like it is supposed to be London. As Julie pointed out, it’s much to grand to be anywhere in “Jane Austen Country” (as the signposts along the highway in Hampshire call it). I thought of London when I first saw it but dismissed it as none of the story, as I knew it, took place there; but it seems as though part of the story will be set there.
This really adds on to the known facts tremendously. Time for a reminder: MADE UP STORY!
April 1st, 2006 at 4:59 pm
Oh, and Missy, if you pause and zoom in the movie, there appear to be stripes at the top of the boots, like there are on those green rubber wellies.
One hopes Anne’s Uggs are just for comfort and warmth between shots, or for use during closeups that won’t show her feet!
April 1st, 2006 at 8:37 pm
I am actually concerned about the director Julian Jarrold, I know he has done period films before ( apparently he did a drama series for television ) and he made Kinky Boots for which I have heard good things.
But in movies like this you need a director who can capture the essence of the era perfectly like Joe Wright did for Pride & Prejudice.
Does anyone know anything about him??????
I hope he does a good job.
April 2nd, 2006 at 12:52 am
Mags, not to be argumentative, but this is an important issue and we must get to the sole of it! (ha-ha!!) The stripes above the boots, I’m sad to say, are Knightley’s stockings. Here’s an interview where she talks about her “stripe-y” stockings http://www.blackfilm.com/20051104/features/kieraknightly2.shtml (about half way down the page). Somewhere I’ve seen a really clear picture of the striped stockings, but I don’t know where. But there is a picture here http://solitudeblog.free.fr/Photos/Films/PricePrejudice/Promos/080.jpg, that when enlarged, you can see the difference between the thickness of the boot and the stockings (it’s a bit hard to see because the boot ends over a dark stripe).
But whether they are rubber or leather, the real question is: Why, why, why is she wearing tall boots in SOOOOOO many scenes? Inside, outside, wet, dry, boots, boots, boots. Yeah, right.
And, while we’re on the topic, why is there a boat in the Bennet’s animal dwelling courtyard? On my own blog I’ve posted a still snip/shot from the movie showing the boat. http://missyisms.typepad.com/missyisms/2006/03/a_little_censur.html. It’s a snip from Elizabeth’s dizzying swing scene.
(I hope the links work; if not I left the full address so the copy/paste method should work.)
April 2nd, 2006 at 3:13 am
Riding boots are still weird. Not as weird as wellies, I admit, but not something a lady would have worn.
Let’s stick to the topic at hand, though–I shouldn’t have started it.
(bad Mags!)
April 2nd, 2006 at 2:30 pm
I am actually concerned about the director Julian Jarrold… But in movies like this you need a director who can capture the essence of the era perfectly like Joe Wright did for Pride & Prejudice.
I’m afraid that last statement is subject of debate. I would not want to have Wright in any other JA related film, precisely because I hold an opposite opinion than yours, Rose. I think he is the principal responsible why P&P3 is awful as an adaptation.
As for our subject here, I am willing to give Jarrold a chance.
April 2nd, 2006 at 2:32 pm
Clarification: I must have done something wrong, the first paragraph in my post are not my words, they are a quote from Rose’s.
April 2nd, 2006 at 4:12 pm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2091400,00.html
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:11 pm
More pictures with new dresses and more shots of the guys who apparently don’t get to change clothes as often. Also, shots of a new actor in calf-length overcoat.
WENN Photos
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:18 pm
I am not worried about Julian Jarrold making Becoming Jane.
I have seen his version of Great Expectations ( the one with Ioan Gruffud) and its a masterpiece.
If there is anyone out there who could do this movie justice its Jarrold, his a very good up-and-coming director who does have a flare for doing period dramas and is actually very good at it.
I agree with Cynthia though that statemen is a topic of debate and as far as Joe Wright doing a good job is concerned or not………..
I dont think he did, and for me Knightley completely butchered Lizzie Bennet and now hearing the news that both Wright AND Knightley are set to star in another one of my favourites Atonement….. one can only scream and holler as to how they will mess it up!!!!!
Julian will do a good job.
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:22 pm
that is a good artical Kareem
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:34 pm
More pictures~ can anyone tell what book she is holding??
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:35 pm
I am not worried about Julian Jarrold doing Becoming Jane, I have seen his directed version of Great Expectations ( the one with Ioan Gruffudd ) and its very very good.
He knows what he is doing and he does have a flare for doing period dramas, as he did a couple of episodes of Hornblower as well.
I do agree with Cynthia above that the statement of Wright capturing the ”essence” of P&P is concerned, lets just say for me he didn’t do a good job.
In my opinion both Wright and Knightley butchered what was left of P&P and Lizzie Bennet and know hearing news that both are to collaborate again for another one of my favourites Atonement just adds to my misery and makes me want to scream and holler.
But Julian is our man for directing Becoming Jnae.
April 3rd, 2006 at 5:37 pm
Right, Hiba, GE is a reference that can vouch for Jarrold’s work. I feel for you on the Atonement affair.
Once again, thanks for Vanya for the newest link, more so since now we can suppose Ian Richardson is playing Rev. George Austen, JA’s father. Excellent cast choice IMHO. But still we do not know who is that other young actor in the photos.
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:40 pm
Hey, the new guy actor walking with the other one is pretty cute looking from what I can see!
Lucy Cohu, who is playing Eliza(?), seems to be wearing an older-styled dress; more Georgian than Regency.
April 4th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
And still more pictures…
WENN
You can see (the side of) Anne’s non-Ugg shoes for once!
April 5th, 2006 at 9:03 am
There are more pics up and my, my ,my, Anne is getting a good taste of the papparazzi there.
the link is :
http://photo.wenn.com/index.php?ref=becoming%20jane%20040406&session_id=82b6104307414304da25f8347f6ec6ad
As for the blonde guy my first reaction on seeing him was that he looks alot like Charlie Hunnam in Nicholas Nickleby ( another movie with Anne in it ) but then I thought maybe not.
Its someone else, but he is very cute though.
April 5th, 2006 at 6:07 pm
Let’s give Anne a chance. I saw her in Brokeback Mt. last night, and she is a good actress. I am going to be open minded abou this film, and it is a work of art, a film creation, not the PC biography of Jane found in Claire Tomalin’s book. So, we can expect some elaboration on facts. Films do this. Why is this so upsetting?
April 5th, 2006 at 7:23 pm
Linda, I don’t see anything in this thread that indicates Anne is not being “given a chance.” Also, I’ve pointed out REPEATEDLY that any film about the relationship, for lack of a better word, between Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy will have to include a great deal of speculation. The concern is whether the MADE UP STORY (because that’s what it is) will be presented as fact and whether it will sacrifice Jane Austen’s genius on the altar of Hollywood’s perception of what theatregoers want to see.
I suggest you read the thread a few posts above this one called “Why We Care.” It explains a lot.
April 6th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
I think the blonde actor in the photos is Joe Anderson. His agent says he has a role in the movie.
http://www.pfd.co.uk/clients/andersoj/a-act.html