The scene in which Mr. Darcy indulges
an impetuous fancy and dives into a lake was more complicated than expected.
First, screenwriter Andrew Davies intended Darcy to dive in completely
undressed. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC), however, wanted to preserve
its reputation for family-friendly programming and suggested that Darcy
wear undergarments. Unfortunately, men in the Regency period did not wear undergarments appropriate for swimming. So costume designers created knee-length
pantaloons, hoping to fake the Regency period style. Actor Colin Firth
was fitted for the counterfeit undergarments but looked so uncomfortable in them that everyone decided that Darcy should dive in fully clothed instead!
Firth recalls: "Originally I was supposed to take all my clothes off and jump into the pool naked.
The moment where the man... is a man, instead of a stuffed shirt. He's riding on a sweaty horse, and then
he's at one with the elements. But the BBC wasn't going to allow nudity, so an alternative had to be found." The
alternative was that Darcy would dive in "via underpants, which, actually, were not historical. He would never
have worn underpants. They would have looked ridiculous anyway." In the end, the inevitable decision was reached: "If you can't take them all off, just jump in."
20
In addition, the underwater sequence was filmed in a large tank. Firth slammed his nose on a steel girder in
the tank during the first take. Firth's nose was so bloody and swollen that the crew had to shut down filming for a day. Firth was not allowed to jump into the pond because, "there's a thing called
Wiles disease, which means you can't be insured to jump into a pond, because you can get sick from rat's [urine]. So we got a stuntman to do the actual dive.
Everything is me, except there's a very, very brief shot of the stuntman in midair. Everything else is me."
21
As Elizabeth Bennet, actress Jennifer Ehle especially enjoyed donning the Regency costumes. Ehle remarks that
the costumes for the Bennet girls, who were supposed to be of modest means, were quite simple and comfortable: "Anna Chancellor (Miss Bingley) [had]
some marvelously rich things to wear, but I didn't envy her having to put all those things on in the heat of the midsummer, when we did most of the
filming. The wardrobe people were wonderful to me, and gave me a wide-ranging selection of dresses to choose from... You don't often get the chance to
have a choice like that, and I was very grateful. They were also very comfortable to wear. Often in costume drama you're really constricted and pulled in.
But the dresses were light, and the corsets not tight at all. My daily mix-and-match became part of the pleasure of making the series."
22
Susannah Harker, who played Jane Bennet, also loved wearing the Regency dresses: "I loved all the costumes. Doing
a series like this is always wonderful because you get to dress up, which is what every actor really wants to do!"
23
Actress Julia Sawalha (Lydia Bennet)
adds: "Of course all those wonderful costumes helped. As I said, I'd just
[another BBC miniseries], where the period is about thirty years after
'Pride and Prejudice,' and the women's costumes in early Victorian times
were very constricting--corsets, tight dresses, bonnet right to the side
of the head, impairing vision. In Jane Austen's day, there was a totally
opposite fashion movement. The dresses were flowing, very free.”
24
Actor Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet)
enjoyed the locations of the film: "One of the delights of making a series
like 'Pride and Prejudice' is that you get out to some absolutely breathtaking
locations. Luckington Court, the 'home' of the Bennets, for example is
a completely unspoilt gem...the lady who has lived there for some forty
or more years has preserved it like the treasure it is."
25
Whitrow recalls a particular day of
shooting which wasn't quite as pleasant: “I remember one sequence, which
was a sort of party scene, with a lot of food on the table. It may have
looked pretty wonderful, but under the lights, when we finished shooting
on the third day, no-one wanted to go near the stuff, it was getting pretty
high!"
26
Actor Crispin Bonham-Carter cherished
his experiences filming "Pride and Prejudice": " 'Pride and Prejudice'
[was] the first major television I've done, and I really don't think I
could have enjoyed myself more. It was such a wonderful group of people
to be around... 'Pride and Prejudice' is, after all, very much a quality
production, with amazingly high standards and values to it. But it is also
interesting and accessible. And a lot of fun.”
27
Bonham-Carter also admits that he was swept away by the glamour and romance of the Regency period: “And an actor's
dream is to put on a good period costume and some sideburns...you've got the character straight away! Seriously, when you're surrounded by such
total realism in the sets and the clothes, it would be very hard indeed not to have some of the naturalism rub off on you. And that Regency period
was such a time of style that you do indeed stand and move in a different way. You almost feel ashamed to climb out of it all at the end of a day
and put your jeans and T-shirt back on. What Bingley would have thought of today's casual dress would be anyone's guess. I think he'd have been
horrified!"
28
Sawalha remarks: “ 'Pride and Prejudice'
was a unique experience in every way, from the sets to the locations, from the casting to the locations, and the script. It was one of the most relaxed
and rewarding experiences I've ever had, and I look back on it with great affection. I think, by the way, that I was one of the few people involved
who hadn't read the book before the script arrived!"
29
Although the actors all agreed that the atmosphere on location for "Pride and Prejudice" made for some of the
happiest times of their careers, director Simon Langton often worried about the proximity of their sets to military bases: "I'm delighted that [our
actors were happy] and I always believe that you get the very best from your cast and crew when everyone is relaxed. But every director will tell
you that when you're working on a major project like this, every single morning you wake up and wonder what the hazards are going to be. Is it
going to be rain, will the sun shine for you? Has anyone got a cold or the flu? And when we were making Pride and Prejudice, were the RAF going
to do a close formation exercise bombing raid right over the top of us just as Elizabeth Bennet has something important to say to Darcy? The locations
we used were absolutely stunning, but fate decreed that the main ones were almost invariably near the RAF or NATO base, and we had to do a bit of
persuading of the various commanders that they wouldn't overfly at certain times and places. When we explained the situation they were consideration
itself."
30
Relationships On and Off the Set
Actress Julia Sawalha (Lydia Bennet) remarks: "Looking back, I think the nicest thing about 'Pride and Prejudice'
was that, as the Bennet Family, we really did feel like a family. We all got on really well together, and ate out together in the local restaurants
after a day's work was finished. That's not always the case. There are times when you definitely DON'T want to see someone you've been working
with!"
31
Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet) agrees: “One of the chief pleasures of doing 'Pride and Prejudice' was the wonderful
actors the BBC assembled. It genuinely was like having your own family around you on the set.”
32
While Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet courted on screen, actors Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle also began dating
early during the filming. By the time the actors performed the final wedding kiss, however, Firth and Ehle had parted amicably after one year together.
Firth admits that having a relationship with Ehle during the filming made the acting process a greater challenge: "I actually find that if you're involved with an actress that you're having to tell a love story with,
it's more difficult. I don't find it easy to draw on it. Your relationship, your feelings aren't the same as those of the characters. She's not that
person. And you're not telling your own story. So I think you have to put all your own stuff aside completely and reconceive your relationship as
other people. So I think it stands in the way, to be honest."
33
In addition, the media's interest in Firth and Ehle's relationship proved to be a headache, as the actor recalls: "They only discovered it after it was over... They get your number and
phone up, pretending to be BT, then ask, 'Are you and your leading lady in love?' You let them write about it, and all
this invented stuff comes out. It's astounding, breathtaking, what gets invented."
34
Producer Sue Birtwistle was extremely fond of Firth: "[In Firth,] we have the definitive Darcy. He's just perfect
in every regard."
35
The Actors on Their Roles
All in all, Firth thinks that "Pride and Prejudice" was "an intoxicating story. The language is wonderful. I think it's very romantic, beautifully structured, and the actors do a good job."
36
In spite of the unexpected fame that Mr. Darcy brought to actor Colin Firth, he sheepishly admits that he doesn't share much in common with the proper Regency gentleman: "There's this other person called Mr. Darcy who I have very little
to do with. He's like a bizarre doppelganger that I've spawned who walks around doing things without me. I've not really allowed myself to get hung up about it. Life has gone on perfectly satisfactorily. It hasn't held me back. It dominates what
gets written about me, but it doesn't affect me any closer than that... It's not going to bring anyone any closer to Mr. Darcy to find out more about me."
37
Firth adds, "I felt as if I'd lost my whole personality [after 'Pride']. It's been very strange, this idea of Mr. Darcy appealing so much to women. Because obviously,
as you can see, I don't carry that around with me. I'm not so Mr. Darcy every day of my life. If people expect to see
a saturnine, dark, smouldering tall aristocrat, they are going to be disappointed." Firth
is widely known to be "completely unassuming, friendly, and funny."
38
Firth remarks of his character: "Colin Firth of the twentieth century would not be happy in this period, but as
an actor I adore exploring Jane Austen's strict social conventions... And Mr. Darcy has a few absurd aspects to him. But playing him, you can't try
to be funny. Darcy himself says, 'It's been my study to avoid ridicule.' He's definitely not a man to be laughed at, which of course causes the
comedy."
39
Although Firth initially wanted to play Darcy differently from his predecessors, he decided to remain faithful
to the character: "I reasoned: 'To make myself different...I will have to do an awful lot.' But doing anything is the last thing that is right
for playing Darcy. The only way for it to work is to be Darcy." Firth's commitment to play Darcy as Jane Austen's enigmatic and quiet hero was
more exhausting than Firth expected: "In the first [ballroom] scene, I had to go in and be hurt, angry, intimidated, annoyed, irritated, amused,
horrified, appalled and keep all these reactions within this very narrow framework of being inscrutable because nobody ever knows quite what Darcy's
thinking... The physical dimention is essential. He's basically a taciturn person, and what he doesn't say is much more important than what he does
a lot of the time. I've played some far more physically energetic parts, but I don't think I've ever been as physically exhausted at the end of
a take as I have with Darcy."
40
Of course, Firth confesses that playing a taciturn character like Darcy was difficult also because of the vibrant
cast of characters about him: “[Darcy] used to keeping his emotions in check. He certainly never really lets on to others what his innermost thoughts
are. So the immediate thought I had as the [filming] progressed was... 'I'm rather dull,' especially when you remember that this is Austen's wittiest
novel, and all the rest of my colleagues were making everyone laugh with their characterizations." Firth admits that Darcy's brooding nature actually
made it easier at times to finish a shoot: "I've always believed, somehow, that the more 'miserable' a character you play is, the more interesting
they become. I'd rather play someone like Darcy, who is very uptight and proper and controlled, and leave him at the end of the day to go 'up' to
my normal self, than be relentlessly cheerful in a comedy part day after day, and have to come 'down' to normality afterwards! At least when the
director shouts 'Cut!' you can return to some semblance of being yourself."
41
On understanding Darcy's essence, Firth remarks: "I remember reading a very helpful saying: 'A man who is eligible
needs to entertain no one.' For me that was a great key to understand Darcy. I thought that if he was charming as well, life would be intolerable for
him. So out of both shyness and lack of necessity he remained aloof." Firth adds: “One of the key moments in the relationship between Elizabeth and
Darcy is when she rejects his first proposal of marriage. I don't think that he can actually believe that someone would turn him down. He's certainly
guilty of social snobbery, and that's something he realizes as the book ends. He makes assumptions about other people, and basically, that's ignorance."
42
On the unfolding of Darcy's character,
Firth remarks: "Jane Austen is rather vague in her description of Darcy
[when he meets Elizabeth at Pemberley], and I found myself foraging for
clues about how he is supposed to come across. There are contradictions.
People often ask whether Darcy changes in the course of the story or whether
we find out what he is really like. I think it is a mixture of the two.
His housekeeper talks affectionately of him and reveals that he has always
looked after his sister and taken care of his household in a very kindly
way. He hasn't suddenly turned into a good man; I think he has always been
a good man underneath that stiff exterior."
43
At the same time, Firth believes that
Darcy's character changes after meeting Elizabeth: "[Darcy] learns his
lesson when he falls in love with one of those barbarians and realizes
that she's at least his equal, if not his superior, in terms of wit, intellectual
agility and sense of personal dignity. He is so profoundly challenged by
her that his old prejudices cannot be upheld..... His real crime, I think,
is silliness. I know that's a terribly undignified way to look at him,
but I believe his failing is foolish, superficial, social snobbery, and
that's the bitter lesson he has to learn. And I think in that sense he does change."
44
On the future of Darcy and Elizabeth's
marriage, Firth speculates: “[Darcy] makes a tremendous journey throughout
the book. He finally comes to realize that Elizabeth is at least his equal [so] I think the marriage is going to be an interesting one. I don't think
that he's quite learned not to take himself too seriously, although that
might come with time. Whether or not he ever learns to fully tolerate Mrs.
Bennet as a mother-in-law, is another question entirely!"
45
On Elizabeth, Firth remarks: "Lizzy
is a most extraordinary character. In every way. She sort of predates a
whole list of very individual, free thinking ladies. She has so many different
aspects and so many layers. I think she got a giddy side and a solemn side.
She is pertinent and cheeky, but she is also extremely sensible and judicious.
Although she clearly despises [Darcy], she also seems to be very much preoccupied
with him, and very concerned with his opinion, which is not quite consistent
with the feelings towards someone you despise. So one will have to make
of that what one will: ascertain when her feelings towards him start to
change. But I think it's their similarities that bring them to clash. I
think it's the pride in both of them that does so. Also she is clearly
blinded to his... to huge elements of his true nature."
46
Jennifer Ehle, who played Elizabeth Bennet, first read Pride and Prejudice when she was twelve years
old, and "fell in love with it, right from the very first page." Ehle remarks:
"I still love it now -- even after working intensely on the television
adaptation... That really is the test of something -- that you still admire
and enjoy it after being so very close to it. As soon as I get a little
time to myself, I'll be back with Jane Austen, one of my favorite authors.
[Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park] are the only two I
haven't read as yet, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them."
47
Ehle always admired Elizabeth Bennet
"very much indeed, she's such a likable person, I never dreamed that I'd
get to play her. She has such an incredible sense of humor, it's a fundamental
part of her make-up. That comes out in the book I think, and it certainly
is there in Andrew Davies' marvelous screenplay."
48
On understanding Elizabeth, Ehle remarks:
"I see Elizabeth as independent and very strong minded... witty with a
wonderful sense of humor... great intelligence. And she thinks her integrity
is perfect. She does have integrity, she's just a bit misguided on the
prejudice bit." Ehle also approves of the match between Elizabeth and Darcy:
"I think Elizabeth Bennet is perfectly matched with Mr. Darcy! They fit
perfectly... You sort of feel that the characters are not quite whole 'till
they've met... till they've come together."
49
On the story itself, Ehle remarks:
"The book was originally going to be called First Impressions, I
believe, and that's really what it is all about...[Elizabeth's] first impressions
of Darcy as a bit stuck-up, her first impression of Wickham as an agreeable
companion instead of a bounder. Then both Elizabeth and Darcy's pride lead
them to inevitable prejudices. Even though it is nearly 200 years old,
it's still a very modern novel -- the emotions of today are the same, or
nearly the same, as the emotions then. People don't change that much."
50
In order to prepare for her role as
the headstrong Elizabeth, Ehle "re-read the book carefully, and then I
read a couple of very interesting biographies of Jane Austen herself. And
I also looked at a lot of pictures to get the 'feel' of the time and the
way people looked. I think that's very important."
51
Crispin Bonham-Carter loved playing
the affable Mr. Bingley: "It was really like a dream come true, because
while [Bingley] seems to come across as a perpetual 'Mr. Nice Guy,' he
really does make a journey of his own. At first, he's totally in thrall
to his older friend Darcy. He's completely influenced by the older man,
who he perhaps sees as a sort of social mentor. After all it's Darcy who
tells him not to marry Jane Bennet, and at first he does completely what
he says. But then he does a bit of growing up, and has opinions of his
own. He grows and becomes his own man. And, of course, he changes his mind,
independently, about Jane."
52
On Bingley, Bonham-Carter remarks:
"People tend to forget that Jane Austen had a sense of humor, and Bingley
wasn't a total stuffed shirt. I loved playing him... I tried to make him
natural and friendly, he's a very genuine sort of chap... Being the 'nice
guy' is so much harder than being the Mr. Nasty, so that's why I was grateful
to Andrew Davies for letting Bingley make his own journey to self-fulfillment."
53
Actress Susannah Harker, who played
Jane Bennet, fell in love with Jane Austen's literature when she read Northanger
Abbey as a required book in school: "Far from making me shun Austen
forever, [reading Northanger Abbey] turned the key in the lock for
me and opened the door to the rest of her work."
54
On playing the sweet-tempered Jane,
Harker remarks: "When I found I'd been cast as Jane, I was more pleased
than I can say. I think she's a charming young girl, accomplished, quiet,
very dutiful -- a typical product of her time and upbringing. The difficult
part was getting that over on the screen. Playing nice people is always
far harder than playing the nasties. You want to make people pleasant and
agreeable, without turning them into... goody-goodies. Jane is one of Austen's perfect heroines, very romantic. But there's also a lot of humor and irony
in the book, and sometimes that's difficult to inject, although Andrew
Davies' script and adaptation is a delight to work from. He captures the
vivacity of the writing, which I always think must be the hardest task
of all."
55
Actor Adrian Lukis, who has been consistently
cast as the bad guy, says of his role as Wickham: “I love playing cads.
They're more interesting and so many of them seem to have a special kind
of power and aura about them... Playing Wickham was a bit daunting because
Pride and Prejudice is so well-known and everyone has their own
ideas about the characters. I tried to present him as appearing to be a
gentle man and a good listener whom people feel they want to confide in.
It would have been wrong to make Wickham too overtly caddish. It doesn't
give the audience anything to guess at and, also, Elizabeth is an extremely
observant and intelligent woman who's taken in by Wickham, so he can't
be too obvious." Lukis gives credit to his wife, a former actress, for
his success as Wickham: “She's great for bouncing ideas off. She's got
a great theatrical instinct... [but]I'm certainly not a cad, I'm a happily
married man!"
56
Actress Alison Steadman (Mrs. Bennet)
confesses that truly understanding her character was challenging: “I thought
a great deal about her character, building up layers of her unique personality.
I can certainly relate her to people I actually know now, in the way she
behaves--but I'd better not tell you who I'm thinking of!"
57
On Mrs. Bennet's behavior toward her
youngest daughter, Steadman remarks: “I think one of the reasons why she's
so forgiving towards Lydia is that she can see herself doing exactly the
same thing when she was younger. But she, too, is admiring of handsome
men, and Lydia has not only managed to find herself a good-looking partner,
she's also married him. So that's also a bonus--a daughter off Mrs. Bennet's
hands."
58
Of the Bennets' marriage, Steadman
remarks: “In a lot of ways, I thinks [Mrs. Bennet]'s the perfect balance
for Mr. Bennet, because he's very down-to-earth and quite serious with
his books, and she's all over the place, getting excited, forever changing
her mind and having attacks of the vapors. Mr. Bennet's one job in life
is to tease and vex her, but when the chips are down, he'd defend her to
the last. She may drive him wild, but then a lot of relationships are like
that - it doesn't mean that you loathe someone. I rather fancy that she
was a bit anarchic and wild as a girl and Mr. Bennet fancied her because
of that. And Lydia's just like that too, so she welcomes her back with
open arms.”
59
Steadman adds: “I loved playing [Mrs. Bennet], there are so many facets to her that I discovered. I don't honestly
think that she's all that bright really...she backtracks all the time, she's forever changing her mind and her opinions, she blows hot and cold
and she goes with the wind. Look at the way she thinks Darcy is absolutely wonderful when she first sees him and then, only a short time later, she
can't stand the sight of him... Mrs. Bennet is a silly old thing, but you can't help being fond of her."
60
Actor Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet) remarks that the chief joy of Mr. Bennet's life "is making his wife cross!
He sits there, listening to all that idle chatter from the girls, all the giggling and silliness, and he's terrifically patient with Mrs. Bennet,
who's a bit of a daft old goose, and then he drops in a comment which throws them all...he's a delightful character to play, and I was overjoyed to
be offered the role."
61
Whitrow adds: “Secretly, I rather think [Mr. Bennet] wishes that he'd been given at least one child who was a boy,
so that he could escape from that house, and go out shooting or fishing with his sons. I rather fancy he'll be looking forward to Lizzie and Jane
getting married, because then he can get off with his sons-in-law. In the meantime, he just retreats into his library with his books and his newspapers."
62
On Mrs. Bennet, Whitrow remarks: “I think she was a very... fun and attractive girl when he met her, and that she just swept him off his rather staid feet. He loves her dearly still
but now he teases her just for the sheer fun of it. I think Alison Steadman has her to a tee, don't you?"
63
Whitrow is full of praise of Andrew Davies' adaptation: “I've read quite a bit of Jane Austen, and I rather
like her work. But Andrew has caught the tone and nuances of it all precisely. I don't think there's a sentence he's invented - it all features in the
original. The dialogue is faithfully reproduced and since it's the sort of English that we don't speak any more, that makes it terribly hard for
an actor to learn.” Whitrow adds: “The odd thing about Austen, that not many people realize, is that nowhere in her novels does she have two men
alone together, talking to each other. I think the only book of Austen's I haven't completely read is Emma, which also has a nice strong male part
in it--Mr. Woodhouse--which I could quite cheerfully play, if I were lucky enough to be asked. But the thing is, you get cast in something as good
as this series, a really excellent costume drama, and you're not asked to do anything like it again for another ten years. That's the way this
business goes."
64
Applause, Awards and the Aftermath
Before the series premiered, actor Benjamin Whitrow (Mr. Bennet) remarked: “Because I shall be working [on
another production] in the evenings, I shall probably have to tape the series, and I'll watch it alone later on. Why alone? Because I just hate
watching myself when I'm in company!"
65
Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle both received nominations in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories for
the prestigious Bafta Award (the British equivalent of an Emmy). Ehle won in her category.
Firth was completely surprised by the attention he received for his role as Mr. Darcy: “There's me working my
socks off for ten or so years and the response is fairly modest... Then [a film in which] I hardly open my mouth gets me noticed. I have to start
thinking it's to do with things other than me. I don't have Mr. Darcy's money, I don't have his castle and I don't own Derbyshire. You can't overestimate
that part of his appeal for women and Jane Austen doesn't. Elizabeth [Bennet] wouldn't have married me."
66
In addition, Firth remarks that Ehle should have received the fame from the
miniseries instead: "She won a Bafta for it. Darcy is the romantic destiny. She's the one you're meant to identify with."
67
Firth first heard of his sudden fame
among British women in particular (which has since been called "Darcymania"),
while he was filming "The English Patient." Firth recalls: "I thought my
mum was having me on. She would ring me up every so often and say, '['Pride
and Prejudice'] is popular. People like it.' Then she'd ring again and
say, 'Actually, they're going a bit mad about it.' Then, 'This seems to
be getting out of control.' My initial reaction was, 'Yeah, right, Mum.'"
68
As it turned out, Mrs. Firth was being a little understated with her
son, because more than ten million viewers tuned in every week, and the
BBC video series instantly sold out.
On "Darcymania", Firth remarks: "It
seems obvious that what happened with the Darcy character was very special,
not just to me but to a lot of other people, and I feel that I must look
at it all again, absorb it, understand this bewildering golden moment...
I'm not Mr. Darcy, though I sometimes wished I were. Certain tabloid newspapers
have suggested I'm sick of the image and loathed all the publicity. Nonsense,
I never said that. The great thing about Darcymania was that it had no
down side; it was great even though it all seemed so unreal, as if it was
happening to someone else. But it wasn't really me that everyone went crazy
about -- it was the character, who'd been around for a couple of centuries...
And that's just a simple fact of life."
69
With the 2001 release of "Bridget Jones' Diary," a film in which Firth
plays Mark Darcy, a character based upon Mr. Darcy, Firth admits that he is reluctant to keep
rehashing what he refers to as "the Darcy business." He remarks: "I do feel that I am talking
about something which I know nothing about. It honestly doesn't mean anything to me. I don't have anything
to do with anything I did six years ago. I don't know if you remember how you spent your summer of '94, but
that's how I spent my summer of '94, and that's about it... If I spent 20 years training to be an astronaut, the headlines
would still say Darcy Lands On Mars!... 'Pride And Prejudice' wasn't the most rigorous or challenging thing I've done."
70
In fact, Firth is not sure that he would do the miniseries again. "I'd be bored... [Darcy] was somebody else's party.
I'm still trying to think it all through."
71
Film Stills
