Looks like Michael Fassbender may have won the seventeenth century contest and RIGHTLY SO. Here, by popular demand is the Austen Hero Parade for us all to catcall and wolf whistle in a disorderly manner at. Who will win?
James McAvoy as Tom Lefroy in Becoming Jane.
Jeremy Northam as Mr Knightley in Emma.
Rupert Penry Jones as Captain Wentworth in Persuasion.
Colin Firth as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.
Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility.
Dominic Cooper as Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility.
David Morrissey as Captain Brandon in Sense and Sensibility.
Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.
Simon Woods as Mr Bingley in Pride and Prejudice.
Elliot Cowan as Mr Darcy in Lost In Austen.
Joseph Beattie as Henry Crawford in Mansfield Park.
James D’Arcy as Tom Bertram in Mansfield Park.
JJ Feild as Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey.
Ciaran Hinds as Captain Wentworth in Persuasion.
Phew! I couldn’t find any pictures of James Purefoy as Tom Bertram in the Mansfield Park film (cor) so here’s a bonus picture of him as Beau Brummell. He was nice in Vanity Fair as well, although again that’s not Austen so don’t shout at me.
I have to say that casting Jonathan Rhys Meyers as that toe rag George Osborne in Vanity Fair was a stroke of GENIUS.
What do you think? Who is your favourite? Anyone you’d like to add?
(Dear BBC, if you ever do get around to making your big Georgette Heyer series please can Aidan Turner be in it? Thanks!)
I found the casting of Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon just perfect. And Ciaran Hinds was very good as Captain Wentworth. I’m just loving your pictoral take on men in period film to be a delight.
Colin Firth!!!! Every time. Alan Rickman second.
I second this emotion!
I agree 100%!!!
Hear! Hear!
Yeah, it’s always going to be Colin Firth.
Oooh I love this post! For sheer aesthetic appeal I’d pick Rupert Penry-Jones, but he was a wee bit wooden in that version of Persuasion. For passion as well, it’d have to be Colin Firth as Darcy. That scene when Elizabeth is at the piano with Georgiana, and the look in Firth’s eyes…. *swoons*
Oh Alan Rickman, first. And then Colin Firth as Darcy. Was in the early stages of labour with my DD when the last episode of this was first aired, and WILLED my daughter to slow down so I didn’t miss it.
I am strangely drawn to Alan Rickman (never noticed this before!). Followed by Colin Firth as Mr Darcy. Yum.
For me it’s Rupert Penry Jones first, absolutely gorgeous in Persuasion. Then I’d have to say JJ Field, he was pretty good in Northanger Abbey.
And by the way, Jonathan Rhys Myers is always worth looking at! About time he was an Austen hero if you ask me!
Firth, Rickman, Hinds…in that order!
(I’m suddenly seeing a positive aspect to being off work with the plague!)
Hope you feel better soon! x
Thank you – your blog posts are helping! Could we have Romans next please? I’m sure it will help my recovery enormously!
I’m another Alan Rickman fan. But I need to go “off list” too, as Greg Wise as Willoughby is a close second. Mmm.
Colin Firth for me too! Sigh….
1. Colin Firth
2. Alan Rickman
3. Matthew MacFadyen
I am spending too much time drooling on my keyboard with these posts, you know!
Ok, everyone is going to vote for Colin Firth as Darcy, but I’m voting for James McAvoy as Tom Lefroy … oh yes. Yum, yum yum…
Where is Greg Wise as Willoughby? He was delicious in S&S!
Sorry about that – it was an oversight but I totally agree! :)
As for Aidan Turner, very good taste. I think he is an absolutely beautiful man!
What about Jonny Lee Miller in “Mansfield Park”?
You know, I meant to include him but then forgot! Sorry!
Life is full of difficult decisions, like which Mr. Darcy did I enjoy more, Elliot Cown, or Matthew Mcfadyen? I think I will choose Elliot Cowen. Only because its so much more pitiful looking.
*only because he’s so much more pitiful looking.
Haha, I was thinking ‘Cor, is he so pitiful that he’s no longer human?!’ ;)
I really like him – he was lovely in a recent Marple that I saw.
I am completely head over heels for James McAvoy, but I think Elliot Cowan has my vote. His performance won me over.
I agree – I think he’s lovely and woefully underused.
Ha. No longer human! Quite true.
I would have to put Greg Wise as Willoughby in the Ang Lee S&S, then Alan Rickman who was perfection as Colonel Brandon. Notice you didn’t include Hugh Grant as Edward Ferrars! Finally I would have to say it’s a tie between Matthew MacFadyen and Colin Firth who I adored for different reasons as Darcy.
I had Hugh Grant on the list but then had second thoughts! ;)
Romans are coming up tomorrow! ;)
**does a happy dance**!!
Alan Rickman for being Alan Rickman.
Colin Firth because he has never been anything else.
Alan Rickman !!!!!!!!!…:)
jRM by a country mile….corrrrrrr….and Vanity Fair rocks!
I love that film! :D
Not my favorite version of Persuasion but good God Rupert Penry Jones, I love him. And David Morrissey as Captain Brandon in Sense and Sensibility. I like him in anything and love his voice. Please keep the posts coming. Still hunting for Aidan Turner in white!
Haha, thank you! :D
xxx
Colin Firth!
Rupert Penry Jones as Wentworth- that scene where we first see him… and then that final scene when he’s smiling at Anne… There are no words! :D
It’s just beautiful isn’t it? He made a perfect Wentworth – the rest of the film was flawed but he was perfection.
He was perfect. I hope he gets the opportunity to do another one :)
OMG! Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy stumbling over his true confession of “I looove you” to Kiera Knightly’s Elizabeth was and is still one of my most favorite endings to a period drama! I wanted to keep reversing my DVD player to see his expression of total “bewitchment” by this young woman! Nothing he has done since has so enchanted me as this portrayal did!
Oh I LOVE him so much in that. He beats Colin Firth’s Darcy for me.
I’d have to say it’s a tie between Northam and Hinds (I like my men a little older and more experienced :-)
I love Matthew McFayden! That end scene of him walking across the meadow to Elizabeth gets me every time! But I also love Jeremy Northam:) He’s also wonderful!
I agree totally, Jonathon Rhys Meyers nailed the George Osborne role. But Im totally dippy over Matthew Macfadyen in Pride and Predjudice. God ! it ought to be illegal for men to be THAT sexy. Also, James McAvoy takes those front buttoning trousers to a new level for me !!!
Do I really have to choose just one?
What a nice post for a Monday lunchtime!
Alan Rickman as Col. Brandon edges out Colin Firth by a hair, but James Purefoy is pretty hot in any of those costume roles too. I must agree that JRM was perfect casting for that little snot, George Osborne.
Oh and i always loved Ciaran Hinds in Persuasion.
Am I the only one who like Simon Woods? I think he’s just gorgeous :)
Colin Firth *swoon*, Ciaran Hinds made a much more believable Captain Wentworth, Jones is just too pretty. No way I could believe that he had been in sea battles and won prizes, but I am reading “Master and Commander” by O’Brien. And whenever I see McAvoy, I see Mr. Tumnus. I also love Northam. The entire list is pretty much a win for us!
Ciaran Hinds grabbed my heart in Persuasion but Alan Rickman and Colin Firth are not too far behind!
Loved your post (as always!)!!! Jane Austen’s guys on tv are so hot! My favorite for sure is Rupert Penry Jones… But I like JJ Feild and Matthew Macfadyen (the best Mr. Darcy ever) too!!! These BBC movies are amazing!!!! I’ve downloaded all the new ones!
But I have to admit… After reading Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters I’m so hoping to see productions of this “new” crop of books about her stories!
Do you like them too?
Kisses!!