“I am cruelly used, nobody feels for my poor nerves.”
Anne Hathaway apparently is concerned that Janeites do not find her acceptable in the role of Jane Austen in BECOMING JANE.
She explains, “I’m even horrified that I’m playing Jane Austen! I’m like, ‘Really? Me? Kate Winslet isn’t available?’ Jane Austen’s been one of my favorite authors since I was 14 years old and I’ve always kind of felt a connection to her, so I couldn’t be more thrilled. And I’m sure I couldn’t have disappointed more people.”
Well, sweetie, actually it’s the Made Up Story that we’re exercised about. But thanks for playing!
Oh, and listen to Ang Lee. You couldn’t do better.
To the World Entertainment News Network, which syndicated this tidbit: once again, Jane Austen has no direct descendants. Collateral descendants, yes, but she had no children and therefore no descendants. Sheesh.
June 10th, 2006 at 10:23 pm
*rolls eyes*
Ugh! Successful Hollywood actresses who go around making foolish self-deprecating remarks aggravate me! If she’s really that unsure of herself, she needs to find a new career. If not, she needs to shut her mouth. She obviously wasn’t so “horrified” that she couldn’t audition!
So, plot concerns aside, who do we think should be playing Jane? (apologies if this has already been discussed here!) Amanda Root springs to mind…
June 10th, 2006 at 11:02 pm
You’re right, there is a rather self-serving Me Me Me aspect to this article, isn’t there? I guess that’s why the quote I chose for the title seemed appropriate!
I’ve always wanted Anna Chancellor, actually! But she’s not the right age for this particular role.
I don’t know, I’m willing to give AH a chance, especially since it’s a Made Up Story anyway. I honestly can’t think of any other young actress who would be right.
June 11th, 2006 at 2:06 am
I don’t know if it seems like this to anyone else, but this sounds like EXACTLY the same thing that Keira Knightly said about playing Lizzy in P&P3… that she was “terrified,” and afraid people would hate her, etc. Sheeesh. Be orginal Anne!
June 11th, 2006 at 4:21 am
JaneFan, Amanda Root springs in my mind as well when I think of an actress who would be a good Jane. She’s a bit too old perhaps, but I imagine Jane to look more like her (Amanda) than like Anne Hathaway…
There are (probably) so many great, not very well known yet, English actresses out there who would be perfect for the part. But no, they chose a well-known Hollywood actress… :S *Sigh*
Anyway, I give Anne the benefit of the doubt. Who knows how good she’ll be?
June 11th, 2006 at 8:55 am
Hey Anne Hathaway is horrified and thrilled that she’s playing Jane Austen!! WHY ANNE? Dont be we hope u do the best! Why do you think did Anne Hathaway say that she is thrilled and says that she will disappointed her fans? Do you think she didnt do well while filming or what?
June 11th, 2006 at 11:23 am
I’d rather they use Kate Winslet any day, over Anne. :/
I’ve seen most of Anne’s movies and wasn’t at all impressed with her acting.
June 11th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
There is always a certain amount of pressure on actors when they are portraying real life figures and for her to play someone as famous as Jane Austen, its no wonder the girl has some nerves ringing.
To topple it all off alot of ppl especially on this board havent really been to keen on her playing Jane Austen.
But its better to let someone fresh and new play Jane Austen than the usual run-of-the-mill-actresses out there.
We need to see the movie for ourselves to decide whether she was successful or not.
June 11th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
yes ur right Hiba, Hiba I know you from Annie-Hathaway.com!! hehe
June 11th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
To the Anne Hathaway fans and apologists: please remember that this is AustenBlog, not HathawayBlog. The first interest in this film for the proprietors and most of the posters will always be Jane Austen. If you don’t like that or can’t handle it, best to stay away. If you insist on hanging around, you might want to make friends with your shift key and refrain from using textspeak, or risk looking not only out of place but ignorant.
June 11th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
ok
June 11th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
I expected a reply like that from you Mags.
It just so happens that an actor I like is portraying Jane Austen and this board no doubt made for Jane Austen is primarily made for the movie ( all the posts are regarding that ) so its kind of obvious we are going to talk about the movie and talk about the actress portraying Jane Austen and whether or not the cast is right and the director etc etc…..
If you want us to talk about Jane Austen we will and we have but MOST of the main posts are about the movie so sorry we arent discussing the worlds poltitics or the weather here. Its a Jane Austen board and the topics talked about here are about her including the made-up story being made about her.
June 11th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
It’s just a piece of advice.
And “all the posts” on this blog are not about the film, not by a long shot. I agree that it will be a main topic of discussion, even more so once the film comes out. Just don’t be distressed if we are not cheerleaders for the film by default. That’s all. And PLEEEEEASE don’t use textspeak, it makes me crazy.
June 11th, 2006 at 6:19 pm
I was wondering what happened to the board it had been so quiet for a looooooooooooong time.
HMMM…. This Becoming Jane melodrama seems to be getting messier month by month.Kareem is right for Pride and Prejudice we had Keira Knightley stating her distress about playing Lizzie and now Anne Hathaway. tsk tsk!!
It almost as if she has been to a few boards like this or someone told her she wasn’t good enough or some issue like that.And to top it all off the rite of passage of being an American playing an English role and why couldn’t they have found a British actress.I for one thought they had wrapped up with the filming but I guess they are still shooting it somewhere.I am looking forward for the movie even more now that this whole Oh-my-God-I-am-playing-Jane-Austen-someone-pinch-me drama has surfaced. Lets see what people are whinning about.
June 11th, 2006 at 6:21 pm
*Oh I am sorry that was Katharine not Kareem my apologies.
June 11th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
Textspeak? What is textspeak? Or would we rather not discuss that?
Excuse me, but would anyone on this blog pass up the opportunity for such a role as Keira and Anne were offered? Similarly, would anyone here not feel some trepidation at playing a beloved figure (real or literary) who is so very well known?
There are some people who, though imminently talented, lack that level of cocky self-assurance that is normally associated with performance occupations. That doesn’t mean they should “find another job.”
I’m sure glad no one follows me with a microphone and prints everything I say.
I’ll have to see the movie before I decided for or against it, or the cast.
Not being well-informed about young British actresses, I will refrain from suggesting anyone for the role.
‘Night all.
June 12th, 2006 at 12:39 am
If you don’t know what textspeak is, don’t worry about it.
I’m just tired of being told I don’t know what I’m talking about by people who have never read one of Jane Austen’s novels, know nothing about her, and can’t be arsed to use their shift key.
June 12th, 2006 at 4:40 am
WHAO!!!
Will you relax Mags.
And fine I won’t use textspeak from now on, SHEESH!!
June 12th, 2006 at 7:55 am
I haven’t heard of Anne Hathaway before. Who is she?
June 12th, 2006 at 10:38 am
She is the actress who is playing Jane Austen. She did some movies like Brokeback Mountain and The Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted. She is a very talent actress!!
June 12th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Yes, she is talented. She’s also in “The Devil Wears Prada” which should be interesting. It will be good to see a wider range, of which I think she is quite capable. She was also in one version of “Nicholas Nickleby” with Christopher Plummer, and Romola Garai, among others. It might be said that Anne Hathaway is the American Keira Knightley, though Keira has been able to display a much wider range thus far.
June 12th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
I would hate to judge the sincerity or insincerity of her modesty based on this snippet. I have some very small experience of how the press quotes people out of context. It’s possible the reporter even asked her something like “Ms. Hathaway, how would you respond to people saying you’re not right to play Jane Austen?” The quote sounds like a response, to me. This is quite possible considering the article even mentions Anna Chancellor’s criticism. In that context, her response seems quite graceful, actually.
In short, I make no judgements, and I await the film.
June 12th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
If I had to choose a Hollywood star (for financing reasons) I would choose Claire Danes. She can look plain but also look radient. She’s intelligent, witty and does a convincing English accent.
By the way, has anyone heard about the new drama series they’re doing in the UK? It’s called “Miss Austen Regrets” and I only know about because I’m working on JANE the musical (see May 22 blog) and some of my cast members saw a casting notice!
Geetika
June 14th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
I must support Mags in her declaration that this is an Austen blog, hence the name. If a movie happens to be in the making, then we will discuss it. But the movie is not the focus; the subject of the movie is the focus. I have no feelings about Miss Hathaway one way or another. I was, however, hoping for Natalie Portman to play the role before it went to Miss H.
June 14th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
I am so GLAD Natalie Portman didnt get the role eventhough I have heard she was considered.
No hard feelings I love her as an actress but her accent in V for Vendetta made me cringe everytime.
June 15th, 2006 at 10:21 am
Claire Danes - indeed, she would have been good, I think.
June 19th, 2006 at 10:43 pm
Anne Hathaway is a very nice girl—and perhaps, on occasion, a good actress, though I don’t see it—but I have grave misgivings about her playing Jane Austen, and really, the film “Becoming Jane” as a whole. This isn’t so much on account of that exercise in futility, the Knightley version of “Pride and Prejudice,” or even Hollywood’s penchant for the maudlin (though both certainly play some part), but rather because I saw Hathaway, in a little known Milne adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice,” assume the mantle of Elizabeth Bennet and she was dreadful. The show itself wasn’t great, mind you, but her performance I found particularly bad. I am no actor myself—and certainly no expert on dramatic craft—but I do know Lizzie, and that was not her!
I will say one specific thing about the acting, however: even to a layman such as myself, it was clear she hadn’t mastered the basic elements of her craft—namely, elocution, projection, enunciation. Three quarters of the way through what proved to be a long show, an audience member from the front row, with typical New York aggravation, shouted: “Speak up already.” He was not alone in his displeasure either; several people complained during intermission.
Becoming Jane, of course, is a film while this—aside from an Off-Broadway play—was only a one-night performance, so perhaps the comparison isn’t entirely just, but I thought everyone with a vested interest in Austen’s latest cinematic outing deserved to know. In full disclosure, I should also say I made an unsuccessful romantic overture (if one could even call it that) to Miss Hathaway when we attended college together.
Alright, there’s my dime.
June 27th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Anne Hathaway might be able to pull it off. I think most people have only seen her in things like Princess Diaries, and Ella Enchanted, but she was good in Nicholas Nickelby, she even had a fairly decent British accent.
Of course, if the ruin (completely) Jane Austen herself, then it wouldn’t matter who they had playing the part.
June 27th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Of course, if the ruin (completely) Jane Austen herself, then it wouldn’t matter who they had playing the part.
Agreed! I think that’s why I’m not as concerned about her as some of the posters here–I’d rather they got the story right.
June 27th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
But who they have playing the part, in my mind, suggests they don’t have any idea who Jane is, and thus, have written her badly.
Which, if the latest post is any indication, is certainly the case.
Who knows? Perhaps it will be a fine film.
My apologies for flogging a dead horse—I’m hoping for the best!
June 27th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Indeed–who knows?
I’ll be the first to say if it’s any good! (And yes, eat public crow! I won’t mind if it’s a good movie!)