More cast members posted for Persuasion 2007
Alert Janeite and Internet Hound SylviaM wrote to tell us that the cast list for PERSUASION 2007 at IMDB.com has been expanded. We should note that IMDB is not always correct and these roles are unconfirmed, but we have no conflicting data and have no reason to disbelieve this list. Along with the previously announced cast members (Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot, Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth, and Anthony Head as Sir Walter Elliot), the following parts are listed (and thanks to SylviaM for providing most of the photo links!)
Marion Bailey as Mrs. Croft (Photo)
Julia Davis as Elizabeth Elliot (Photo)
Sam Hazeldine as Charles Musgrove (Photo) (Ah, we love him already!)
Alice Krige as Lady Russell (Photo) (THE BORG QUEEN!!!! HOW TOTALLY FRAKKING AWESOME!!!!! </Star Trek Geek> Pray excuse our exclamation point abuse…but, dude.)
Joseph Mawle as Harry Harville (Photo) (HARRY?) (And, um, not bad!)
Tobias Menzies as William Elliot (Photo)
Finlay Robertson as James Benwick (We found this photo of a Finlay Robertson, but don’t know if it is this Finlay Robertson–and how come HE can do Robin Hood AND Persuasion and Richard Armitage couldn’t? Huh? Huh? *mumble grumble*)
Mary Stockley as Mrs. Clay (Photo–click on it to enlarge)
Peter Wight as Admiral Croft (Photo–he played Mr. Gardiner in P&P3)
Still waiting to learn (for any possibly lurking production folks…hint hint) Mary Musgrove, Louisa and Henrietta Musgrove, Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove, Mrs. Smith, Lady Dalrymple, Miss Carteret, Charles Hayter, Mr. Shepherd, Mrs. Harville, Nurse Rooke–can’t think of any other roles.
September 18th, 2006 at 12:05 am
Woo-hoo, Brutus from the Rome miniseries as Mr. Elliot! Excellent! He did such a great job on Rome, I’m sure he’ll be wonderful here as well.
September 18th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
I like Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones and Anthony Head in their roles but don’t understand some of the rest. I mean, isn’t for example Mrs. Croft in the book a rather pretty, _young_ woman? And what about Elisabeth? Ah well, these will never be exactly like we/I would like them to be…
September 18th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
On imdb there is no birthdate listed for the lady playing Mrs. Croft. It could be one of those mixups like with Ruth Wilson on the new Jane Eyre. They originally had her listed as a 48 year old. They just got two Ruth Wilsons mixed up. Then again, maybe not.
September 18th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Well I already love the actors they’ve cast as Anne, Frederick and Sir Walter and these castings (if they be true) should work out well!
Marion Bailey looks rather old to be Mrs. Croft, but she’s not supposed to be absolutely pretty and age 35 I think so I guess she’ll be fine. She reminds me of Mrs. Croft in P1 a bit. And Peter Wight as Admiral Croft, that’s perfect! Very sea-faring yet kind, he’ll be great!
Julia Davis as Elizabeth Elliot? Well, her beauty is rather showy and if that birth year is correct, too old. Sam Hazeldine as Charles Musgrove, he get’s my vote! And he’s the son of the wonderful Mr. Weston (James Hazeldine) from Emma3! He exhudes sportsman, guns, and a rat hunt in the barn!
Alice Krige as Lady Russell, works for me! Very correct, upright and proper to be sure.
Joseph Mawle as Harry Harville? Do they mean Captain Harville? I dearly hope Capt W. doesn’t call him Harry! He is very sea-faring and I could deffinately see him doing a limp and caring cruch or cane. Finlay Robertson as James Benwick, well if that is the guy I think he’d be alright. It is said that when compared to Captain Wentworth he is “a little man”, so shorter and thinner and pale will do the trick.
Tobias Menzies as William Elliot is perfect! He’s a looker alright! That added to fine persuasive manners will be very convincing when Mrs Clay runs away with him! Mary Stockley as Mrs. Clay, I hope they give her plenty of freckles and a buck tooth! lol!
Looks like a great cast!
September 20th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
I’m not at all sure I like Sally Hawkins as Anne.
Anne is my very favorite character and I am uneasy.
I hope they know what they are doing.
I get around the internet pretty well; but I can barely find any pictures of her. Why don’t they put some more on imdb; the one they have there is not flattering.
September 20th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Gloria, and anyone else not familiar with Sally Hawkins and her work thus far, go here:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/SallyHawkins/
You’ll find pictures galore and much more with regards to her work over the last few years (please excuse my not linking you properly to this, but you should be able to copy and paste it in any case). You’ll have to join the group to view the photos, links, and such, but it’s a simple enough process and won’t require much personal info on your part.
What’s striking is how very different Sally can look and quite literally *be* from one character to the next. She is extremely versatile, but she is well versed in period pieces and personally very literate, as much in the classics as with anything contemporary. In other words, she knows Jane Austen very well, and she knows Anne Elliot even better I think.
It is of course only in my-oh-so-humble-opinion, but I think if any actress today who even comes close to fitting the part of Anne Elliot could pull it off, Sally Hawkins would be first and foremost to do it. There are few who could do a really good Anne Elliot I think, at any given time. Hope this info helps a bit.
September 21st, 2006 at 7:47 pm
Thanks for the link to the Sally Hawkins yahoo group, Marcia. There is a shortage of information on her and I’ve never seen her work so have been curious to catch a ‘glimpse.’ I do hope she doesn’t disappoint. I was never a fan of Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root as Wentworth and Anne but the casting of Sally and Rupert looks very promising.
The new cast list (is this confirmed?) looks great, too. Thumbs up for the casting of Tobias Menzies (who was excellent in “Rome”), Alice Krige (she will add an elegance to Lady Russell) and Peter Wright.
One of my complaints about the 1995 adaptation was its shortage of decent looking actors/actresses. Even Henrietta and Elizabeth Eliott, who are supposed to be beautiful, were cast with rather plain-looking actresses. I’m not superficial but when Jane Austen describes someone as ‘handsome’ or ‘ pretty,’ then I think its fair for the audience to expect to see someone very much like it onscreen. I’m somewhat disappointed with Julia Davis as Elizabeth. She’s 40 and looks too old to play 30 yr old Elizabeth. Can’t the casting directors find any beautiful 30-something actresses? What about Keely Hawes, Anna Friel, Justine Waddell, Sienna Guillory, and so on…?
I have high hopes so far for this version. One of my hopes is that Sally Hawkins can accurately depict the physical change in Anne Eliott - from having her ‘youth and bloom destroyed’ in the beginning to pretty, elegant and blooming towards the end.
October 7th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Some photos from the filming today (Sat 7th Oct) in Bath can be found at flickr. I couldn’t stay for all the filming but I got a couple of Sally Hawkins and (I think) Rupert Penry-Jones. Funny seeing them use the same street (Bath Street) that was used in the previous version of Persuasion, though they’ve dressed it quite differently.