Sense and Sensibility Dream Cast

This is the project, darkly hinted at in my last post, that I have spent so much time and effort on: a Sense and Sensibility dream cast. I know, I know, we already have two good versions of S&S, and there are other Jane Austen stories which could use a dream cast more. (Mansfield Park springs to mind…) But this is where inspiration struck, so here we are.

(I’m not bothering to include here minor characters like Miss Grey, Thomas the servant, etc., but I did cast them. If you want to see the full and complete dream cast, take a look at my Sense and Sensibility Dream Cast Pinterest board.)

Also, by-the-by, this is truly a dream cast in every sense of the word, since I’ve cast actors from all through film history – some of whom are no longer living. So, no need to ring up the BBC. Unless anyone’s got that time machine up and running yet, that is.

The Dashwood family seems like the logical place to start, and since Elinor is really the heroine of S&S, she will lead us off. For Elinor, I have cast

Claire Foy

I must confess that I have yet to actually see Claire Foy in anything. (Sorry. I will some day. Probably.) But from what I have seen and heard of her, I think she would make an excellent Elinor. Looks-wise, she is pretty in a luminous sort of way, which works well for Elinor (who is supposed to be pretty, but overshadowed by Marianne), and I could totally see her pulling off the quiet, introverted, only-sane-person-in-the-house vibe Elinor should have. (Rather similar to her role in Little Dorrit in some ways, no?) She also (as of the time of LD, anyway), looked young enough for Elinor – who is supposed to be only nineteen, after all.

For Marianne, I have cast

Audrey Hepburn

First of all, Audrey Hepburn looks very much like how Marianne is described in the book. The book describes Marianne as being tall, having a lovely face (so much so that “when in the common cant of praise she was called a beautiful girl, truth was less violently outraged than usually happens,” as Jane Austen put it), sweet smile, and dark expressive eyes – all of which is certainly true of Audrey Hepburn. Also, she and Claire Foy could plausibly be sisters, which is nice.

All that aside, I could also see Audrey completely pegging Marianne’s Marianne-ishness – combining just the right blend of thoughtlessness, warmth, and romanticism with refinement and elegance. None of the previous screen Mariannes have quite captured the Marianne of the book, in my opinion, but I think Audrey Hepburn could be perfect at it.

Mrs. Dashwood is

Greer Garson

(An older-ish Greer Garson, obviously.) Mrs. Dashwood should pretty much be a grown-up Marianne – warm, romantic, emotional, but with dignity and gravitas. I feel like 95’s Mrs. Dashwood lacked dignity, and ’08’s Mrs. Dashwood lacked some of the Marianne-ish romanticism. I could see Greer Garson having a good mix of both.

Margaret is

Julie Andrews (as a child)

Really just because why not. And Julie Andrews was a cute child.

For John Dashwood, I have cast

Stephen Mackintosh

Stephen Mackintosh is the only member of the cast besides Elinor who I have yet to actually see in action, so I’m sort of basing this only on looks. He looks like he’d make a good John Dashwood, and although his role in Our Mutual Friend is a very different character, I feel like they are actually similar in some ways – both easily persuadable sorts, for instance. (Although his character in OMF is a much nicer person than John Dashwood.)

Fanny Dashwood is

Anya Taylor-Joy

Whatever your opinion of the 2020 Emma, one thing it showed is that Anya Taylor-Joy can do snooty. Fanny should be snooty, but petty; I think she is sometimes played up as being downright villainous, but she’s more just cold and selfish and snobby than villainous. (Come to think of it, there’s no reason why a villain shouldn’t be cold and selfish and snobby…I suppose you could say Fanny is a villain, but not a deep or complex one.)

But I digress. My point is that Fanny is honestly not that different from Emma as she is portrayed in the 2020 movie, and therefore I think Anya could be a really good Fanny.

And now, on to Edward. For Edward, I have cast

Hugh Laurie

Although I liked Hugh Grant’s Edward and very much liked Dan Stevens’ Edward, I think neither of their Edwards were quite right. It seems to me that the film-makers felt that to make Edward lovable, they had to change his character to make him seem immediately charming. Edward isn’t supposed to be immediately charming. The book says, “…his manners required intimacy to make them pleasing. He was too diffident to do justice to himself; but when his natural shyness was overcome, his behaviour gave every indication of an open, affectionate heart.”

I could see Hugh Laurie doing a fantastic job of making Edward lovable in the deeper, more subtle way he’s supposed to be. He should seem un-endearing at first glance, because, as Jane Austen puts it, he doesn’t do justice to himself. The viewers should find themselves, like the Dashwoods, warming up to him more as they see more of him, and realizing over time just how endearing he is.

(Of course, it is true that Hugh Laurie is really too good-looking for Edward, who, the book explicitly states, is not handsome. But since Hugh isn’t so much handsome in the traditional “classical” way (like, well, Dan Stevens, for instance), I think it is at least conceivable that he could pass for not handsome in the Regency era.)

If I were doing this in an orderly fashion I would finish the Ferrarses now, but I don’t want to leave Colonel Brandon out for so long…so I’ll slip him in here. Colonel Brandon is

Matthew Macfadyen

Now, I love David Morrissey’s Colonel Brandon. BUT. I would love to see a Colonel Brandon played by someone who is actually the age Colonel Brandon is supposed to be. I think part of the reason that some people can never reconcile themselves to Marianne marrying Colonel Brandon is that Colonel Brandon is consistently portrayed as just plain too old. Colonel Brandon isn’t supposed to be that old. He’s younger than Mr. Knightley, for goodness’ sake.

Also, I think Matthew Macfadyen excels at playing the quiet, sweet type – in a word, the Colonel Brandon type.

Okay. Back to Ferrarses.

For Robert Ferrars I have

Michael Denison

The only role I’ve seen him in is as Algernon Montcrieff, which is not that different a role from Robert Ferrars, so I can definitely see him making a good Robert. He also sort of looks like he could be Hugh Laurie’s annoying little brother, which is a plus.

For Mrs. Ferrars I have

Charlotte Rampling

I waffled considerably on Mrs. Ferrars. I went back and forth between Tilda Swinton and Charlotte Rampling a couple times, and I think I’ve finally settled on Charlotte Rampling. I could see Tilda Swinton’s Mrs. Ferrars potentially being too over-the-top; Mrs. Ferrars is just a normal, if annoying, human being. I think Charlotte Rampling’s Mrs. Ferrars could highlight the fact that Mrs. Ferrars is a well-bred, refined society woman (though a selfish, proud, haughty one).

Now that the Ferrarses are done, let’s move on to Willoughby. Willoughby is

Hadley Fraser

So, I actually don’t know if Hadley Fraser does film acting or if he just does musical theater. But if he doesn’t do film acting…well, he could always start. : )

My one concern is that Hadley did overact a wee bit in The Phantom of the Opera, but other than that, I think he would be perfect for Willoughby. Willoughby is supposed to be charming, handsome, energetic, and boyish, which all fits Hadley to a T. You want someone charming enough that it’s plausible that all the Dashwoods – Elinor included – succumb to his charm at least to an extent. Willoughby also needs to have a careless, thoughtless element to him – some of Jane Austen’s villains are cold and calculating, but Willoughby’s villainy just comes from drifting through life trying to have a good time. I think Hadley could get that across beautifully.

For Lucy Steele we have

Jean Arthur

One thing we can say with certainty is that Jean Arthur has experience playing snide and snippy people…and is she GOOD at it. She would make such a sneaky, subtle, infuriating Lucy Steele. It would be awesome. (And extremely annoying.)

And for her more well-meaning (if not quite as bright) sister Anne, we have

Glynis Johns

Once again, the issue is that Anne Steele is described as being unattractive, and Glynis Johns is not. However, if you overlook that, I can see her making such a fun, ditzy, oblivious Anne. (And again, she and Jean Arthur actually do look somewhat similar, which is nice.)

For Mrs. Jennings I have

Sophie Thompson

Although Mrs. Jennings is a bit of a different vibe from Miss Bates, we do know from the 1996 Emma that Sophie Thompson is good at playing ditzy but well-meaning Austen ladies. I think Sophie would do a good job at making Mrs. Jennings sympathetic along with her annoyingness – something I always like to see in a Mrs. Jennings.

Sir John Middleton is

Michael Ball

Sir John should be buoyant, expansive, welcoming, fun-loving – in a word, Michael Ball-ish. Sir John is often portrayed as being older than pictured here, I know, but the book says that he is “a good-looking man about forty” – which means he should be no older than Mrs. Dashwood.

Again, I’m not sure if Michael Ball does anything outside of musical theater, but he can start, you know.

Lady Middleton is

Morfydd Clark

Morfydd Clark looks right for Lady Middleton, and I could see her being cold and insipid enough. (Why my mind is blanking and I cannot think of anything else of substance to say about this woman I do not know. But I think she’d make a good Lady Middleton.)

Mr. Palmer is

Simon Woods

Now, Mr. Palmer is sometimes played as almost a tragic character, which isn’t quite right. As Elinor (rather cynically) points out, the event of a man realizing too late that he has married a silly woman is too common for it to be an adequate excuse for Mr. Palmer’s bad behavior. As it turns out, “It was rather a wish of distinction…which produced his contemptuous treatment of everybody… It was the desire of appearing superior to other people.” So pretty much, Mr. Palmer is a drama queen. Not a super malicious one – he does help out as much as he can when Marianne is sick, for instance – but I think he’s too self-centered to be considered a tragic figure.

All that to say, although Mr. Bingley is no Mr. Palmer, from Simon Woods’ performance in Pride and Prejudice I think he’d do a good job of Mr. Palmer. He looks very much like a Mr. Palmer to me, too.

And finally, Mrs. Palmer is

Joyce Bulifant

I don’t think it hurts that the first role I saw Joyce Bulifant in (in the strange little 1978 version of Little Women) pretty much was Mrs. Palmer, but I think Joyce would be absolutely perfect as the pretty, completely un-malicious air-head Mrs. Palmer is.

Well, that’s that!

Do you agree with my choices? Who would be in your Sense and Sensibility dream cast?