We Janeites may love Austen’s heroes and heroines, but it’s her secondary characters who make us laugh out loud. Fanny Dashwood’s selfishness, Mr. Collins’ sycophancy, Isabella Thorpe’s insincerity, and [insert your favorite here] never fail to divert us.
So it’s encouraging to hear that the gifted character actress Bebe Neuwirth, whom some of us remember fondly as the toxic ex-wife in Frasier, has a part in the upcoming movie Modern Persuasion, which recently completed filming. (It’s – wait for it -- a modern version of Persuasion. Bet you didn’t see that coming.)
Alas, the movie’s IMDB entry, which lists characters with names like “Wren Cosgrove” and “Grayson Keller,” provides no clues to which Austen-inspired part, if any, Neuwirth (“Vanessa Perry”) will be playing. Is she Elizabeth Elliot? Penelope Clay? Lady Russell? Mrs. Croft? Each one offers promising scope for Neuwirth’s genius, assuming the script is any good, so I am all anticipation. With no release date yet announced, I’ll just have to be patient.
Meanwhile, however, another Jane Austen vehicle that does have a release date promises similar pleasures. The new feature film of Emma will arrive on U.S. screens on February 21, and although its star, Anya Taylor-Joy, is an interesting actress, I’m more excited about two of her co-stars. The hilarious Miranda Hart has the potential to be the Miss Bates of our dreams, and the chameleonic Bill Nighy should make a wonderful Mr. Woodhouse.
And of course January will bring us, via PBS, Anne Reid as the imperious Lady Denham in the controversial UK TV version of Sanditon. It should be a great year for Austen sidekicks.
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