MovieChat Forums > Persuasion (2008) Discussion > I would like to see a big screen version...

I would like to see a big screen version of 'Persuasion'

posted 12 years ago by purple_lemon
13 replies | jump to latest

Do you think it would work commercially? I think if they got the right lead actors to generate interest it just might do well. My pick would be Carey Mulligan (27) for Anne Elliot and Ben Barnes (31) for Capt Wentworth. Carey has said she loves playing romantic roles and she is good at it too. I haven't seen much of Ben Barnes but he has the dashing looks and seems to have some spark as well as ease in front of the camera.

"It is life Jim, but not as we know it"

[–] supergran 12 years ago

I think Persuasion would translate very well to the big screen. The "action" would fit very nicely into two hours as the most recent TV adaptations testify, and the book's themes are still relevant. In fact, I wouldn't object to a modern-day setting - I think it would lend itself very well with a bit of tweaking.

Carey Mulligan would probably do well, but your Ben Barnes looks too pretty to be a sea captain! Lol. That was one of the problems with 2007 - RPJ is not rugged enough!

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[–] purple_lemon 12 years ago

Here we go! In the pampered world of movie stars I don't think that getting a good weather beating is high on the list of things to do. The thing is who would they be pitching the film to, the period drama devotees or the young American movie goer? The latter I suspect in which case they might have Jennifer Lawrence and Shia LaBeouf!

Who would your picks be for the leads? I like Carey Mulligan but I have to admit she is not as attractive now as she was a few years ago. As for the male lead Tom Hardy perhaps? He is a very good actor and is a little older but on the down side is only a few inches taller than Carey.

"It is life Jim, but not as we know it"

[–] kaskait 12 years ago

I absolutely loathe Carey Mulligan and want her nowhere near this story.

[–] purple_lemon 11 years ago

Ouch! What's the matter did she curse your laying hens? If not Carey Mulligan then who? Wheel out Ruth Wilson again perhaps, at 31 she's probably not too old. As a dark horse I could see the Canadian actress Alison Pill (27) in the role.

"The players of The Game are the scum of the earth"

[–] kaskait 11 years ago

Why is everyone so hung up on the age of the actors?

As long as they are not exceedingly old, it does not matter!

I dislike Mulligan because she cannot act. She has that same weepy, pained smile on her face in every film she does. I'm particularly angry that she forced herself into "The Great Gatsby" when she clearly was miscast in it.

Check out "I,Claudius" which was not a stickler for the age of its actors. The performance level from everyone was fantastic. Would they have gotten the same result if they forced younger actors into roles they were not ready for simply to be age correct?

[–] memingi 11 years ago

The first actors that came to my mind are:
Anne: Jessica Chastain.
Wentworth: Michael Fassbender or Nikolaj Coster Waldau.

[–] kaskait 11 years ago

I'm not a stickler for age.

Anne - Rachel Weisz

Wentworth - Michael Fassbender

[–] Paramita1 9 years ago

Anne should be able to go between "faded" look and elegant look easily. She must be plain enough for Captain Wentworth to claim that she "has altered so much that I can hardly recognize her", plain/old enough that people don't even take her into consideration when they are gossiping about matchmaking. Yet she has to be able to show that she was exceedingly beautiful when she was 19. She had to be "recovered" enough that Mr. Elliot glanced her admiringly even before he knows who she was. Her beauty must NOT be striking, but unassuming and very accessible.

I was looking for pictures of actresses and I think the Downton Abbey actreses Joanne Froggatt may fit the bill.

[–] byq 9 years ago

That would be an interesting casting. I'd pay to watch Joanne as Anne Wentworth.

[–] Julie-30 9 years ago

If Amanda Root at 31 was too old to play 28, then Joanne Froggatt, at 36, is definitely too old.

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[–] byq 9 years ago

I'd still pay to see it. ;) I love Joanne Froggatt's work.

[–] kaskait 9 years ago

Froggatt doesn't look high born. Which was why she was cast as a servant in Downtown Abbey.

Gemma Arterton could be a believable Anne.

[–] cagneychick182 9 years ago

I would absolutely love for Jonny Lee Miller to play Cpt Wentworth. On a sidenote, I wouldn't mind Ed Westwick trying his hand at Darcy.

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