I didn't recognize her in The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Every role she looks different, and she disappears into the character. Plus, she looks gorgeous whether she has long blonde hair, a black bob, or a frizzy mop. Just amazing in her acting abilities!
shareI've only seen Essie Davis in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries thus far, but am very eager to watch her in other things (starting with Game of Thrones Season 2, which'll be out here on DVD/Blu-ray next month and I'll finally get to see her in it. From the comments here, sounds like she made quite the impression despite being in only a few episodes).
I hadn't read the Miss Fisher books when I started watching the series on TV. I had actually missed the first two episodes, but quickly caught up (and managed to eventually see the eps I'd missed on DVD). I know there are those who have issue with the Phryne character, but I think she's a rarity when it comes to female characters on TV these days. She's fun, she's saucy, she's smart, she's brave, loyal, can handle herself and has such a great wit about her, but it's thanks to Essie Davis that the character comes across so likeable (I know there's a few who'd disagree on the character's "likeableness", but really, how many male leads in shows are there who act the way Phryne does, having numerous lovers, being smarter than the police/those whose jobs it is to do the detective work, being all 'action hero' whilst delivering one-liners? Answer: plenty! Yet hardly anyone takes issue with them, but have a woman do all of the above and suddenly the lead character is getting labelled all sorts of not-very-nice things).
Well, I personally find Phryne manages to remain on the side of 'likeable' and not cross over into 'insufferably smug' territory. She has 'sass' about her, but it's not dialed up to 100 and it's not on display 100% of the time. Phryne has her quieter/more serious moments, she does make mistakes on occasion and sometimes her actions get her into trouble, so she's not some 'perfect' character which I often see is a complaint made against female characters in shows/movies (despite the fact that male equivalents get labelled "badasses" instead).
Essie Davis is incredibly gorgeous, and I can't understand anyone complaining about her age versus the book character. So what if there's an age difference, it's far from the *only* thing changed from the books, from what I've heard. What matters is her portrayal of the character, and I think most would agree that she's perfect in the role as it is written for TV. There's not many characters like Miss Fisher in shows, and that's a shame, as she - and the show as a whole - is so fun to watch. I look forward to watching Essie Davis' other work, and hope there's much more to come, as she definitely deserves it.
Jack Sparrow: "Look." [shoots the monkey] "An undead monkey! Top that!"