There is no enjoyment like reading? Miss Austen must not have heard the news: Pride and Prejudice is coming to Netflix.
In this, the 250th anniversary of the author’s birth, the British author and screenwriter Dolly Alderton has announced that she’s writing a Netflix series adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. Rumors regarding the cast started circulating faster than a marriage plot at a regency masquerade ball, but now our leads have been revealed: Emma Corrin, star of The Crown and Nosferatu, will play Elizabeth Bennet, while Slow Horses alumnus (and husband to Saoirse Ronan) Jack Lowden will step into the high-throated pumps of Mr. Darcy. Joining them as Mrs. Bennet? None other than Oscar winner Olivia Colman.
On July 29, Netflix revealed a first look at the production:
Here’s everything we know about the latest Pride and Prejudice adaptation on Netflix.
Who’s working on the project?
Alderton, who has become a chronicler of modern-day romance in her own right with her books Everything I Know About Love, Ghosts, and Good Material, told Netflix how excited she was to create a “familiar and fresh” take on the novel alongside Heartstopper director Euros Lyn.
“Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story, and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it,” said the author, whose six-episode adaptation is said to be faithful to the period. “Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is the blueprint for romantic comedy—it has been a joy to delve back into its pages to find both familiar and fresh ways of bringing this beloved book to life.”
“The book is a gift to adapt—packed with drama and depth as well as comedy and charm. In it lies the opportunity to examine the complexities of love, family, friendship, and society while aspiring to Austen’s delightfully observational voice.”
“With Euros Lyn directing our stellar cast, I am so excited to reintroduce these hilarious and complicated characters to those who count Pride and Prejudice as their favorite book, and those who are yet to meet their Lizzie and Mr. Darcy.”
Who’s in the cast?
It has long been whispered that Corrin was among the favorites to play Austen’s heroine, following in the footsteps of Keira Knightley and Lily James. The actor, who is also making their debut as executive producer for the project, has already proven their period drama credentials in a string of roles, including a young Princess Diana in The Crown, a sexually frustrated aristocrat in the 2022 adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and an ill-fated German housewife in Robert Eggers’s vampire horror Nosferatu.
“Playing Elizabeth Bennet is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Corrin told Netflix after their casting was announced. “To be able to bring this iconic character to life, alongside Olivia and Jack, with Dolly’s phenomenal scripts, is truly the greatest honor. I can’t wait for a new generation to fall in love with this story all over again.”
Pride and Prejudice will be a reunion for Corrin and Colman. The pair have already shared the screen on season four of The Crown, with Colman starring as Queen Elizabeth II. Both actors won a Golden Globe for their portrayal of the British royals, and Colman was also awarded an Emmy for the role. Indeed, sovereigns seem to suit the actor, who overnight became one of the biggest names in Hollywood after she bagged the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Anne in The Favourite. She has since been nominated twice for the Academy Award, for performances in The Lost Daughter and The Father.
Lowden is no stranger to a period drama himself, having delivered turns in War & Peace (2016) and Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. Indeed, the Scottish actor met his now wife, Saoirse Ronan, on the set of Mary, Queen of Scots, which saw him play Lord Darnley to Ronan’s Mary Stuart—now, the acting It couple often work together on projects, coproducing The Outrun in 2024. Lowden is perhaps best known for his portrayal of up-and-coming MI5 operative River Cartwright in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses alongside Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Rounding out the main cast will be:
- Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat, Scoop) as Mr Bennet
- Freya Mavor (Industry, La Dame Dans L’Auto) as Jane Bennet
- Jamie Demetriou (Stath Lets Flats, Barbie, Fleabag) as Mr Collins
- Daryl McCormack (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery; Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) as Mr Bingley
- Louis Partridge (House of Guinness, Disclaimer) as Mr Wickham
- Rhea Norwood (Heartstopper, Cabaret) as Lydia Bennet
- Siena Kelly (Black Mirror, Domino Day) as Caroline Bingley
- Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) as Lady Catherine de Bourg
- Hopey Parish will make her screen debut as Mary Bennet
- Hollie Avery will make her screen debut as Kitty Bennet
According to a press release from Netflix, the rest of the cast includes Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts, A Streetcar Named Desire) as Mrs Gardiner, Sebastian Armesto (Gangs of London, A Small Light) as Mr Gardiner, Rosie Cavaliero (KAOS, Bookish) as Lady Lucas, Saffron Coomber (Three Little Birds and Die Zweiflers) as Mrs Hurst, James Dryden (Deadpool, Time Bandits) as Mr Hurst, Justin Edwards (The Thick Of It, The Franchise) as Sir William Lucas, James Northcote (The Last Kingdom, Fool Me Once) as Colonel Forster, Eloise Webb (The Queen’s Gambit, Sanditon) as Harriet Forster, and Isabella Sermon (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic World: Dominion) as Georgiana Darcy.
When will the series be released?
As for the release date? Netflix confirms that production is now underway in the UK, which means Alderton’s Pride and Prejudice is likely slated for late 2025 or early 2026. A fairly long time to wait for fans eager to settle in for a Jane Austen binge-watch, but as a wise woman once said: “The distance is nothing when one has a motive.”
A version of this article first appeared on Tatler.
The post ‘Pride and Prejudice’ on Netflix: Cast, Release Date, and Latest News appeared first on Glamour.
