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Friday, January 16

Charlotte Riley adds a Spirited and Complex Cathy to Wuthering Heights this Sunday on Masterpiece Classic

Meet British actress Charlotte Riley who will be starring as Catherine Earnshaw this Sunday, January 18 in the Masterpiece Classic miniseries presentation of Emily Bronte’s chilling novel Wuthering Heights which concludes on January 25th.

Since graduating in 2006 from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), this Thorpe Thewles native has had a bright beginning appearing on stage with Diana Rigg (previous host of Masterpiece Mystery) and Jemma Redgrave (Lady Bertram in Mansfield Park 2007) in The Cherry Orchard at Chichester Festival Theater last summer and in the new movie adaptation of Noel Coward’s Easy Virtue, with Colin Firth (Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice 1995), Kimberley Nixon (Sophie Hutton in Cranford), Kirsten Scott Thomas and Pip Torrens (Edward Austen-Knight in Miss Austen Regrets 2008).

Lauded as one of Britain’s most exciting young actresses, Ms. Riley’s portrayal of the wild and impetuous Cathy Earnshaw is both spirited and complex. Her very large and expressive eyes and strong resolute jaw reveal a character tormented over her one true love and her choice of comfort and earthly riches.

Be sure to catch the premiere of Wuthering Heights at 9:00 pm EST on Sunday on PBS. Our very own Vic (Ms Place) has written an excellent review of it for Remotely Connected the PBS blog asking “Is Heathcliff a man?" Good question, which not only the characters in the movie ponder, but viewers will puzzle over too.

Posted by Laurel Ann, Austenprose

3 comments:

Nonna said...

I read the book "Wuthering Heights" years ago and it tortured me for days after, just like "Tess" did when I first read it. The both impacted me deeply and are still with me today.

The first movie version I saw of the story was with Timothy Dalton and Ann Calder-Marshall ( if I remember correctly) as Heathcliff and Cathy at a sneak preview in West Hollywood ( while I was in High School) I had the same reaction to that as some people are having to the "Twilight" books and movie.( I'm reading that now,to give it a fair chance and have a leg to stand on when I finally critique it) only a surface impact, not lasting at all)

My favorite is with Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff. Don't ask me why because I still haven't figured out myself !

I look forward to this new version too !

ChaChaneen said...

Looking forward to Sunday! As always, thanks for the reminder!

Anonymous said...

I read the book Wuthering Heights and watched the 2009 version of the movie! I guess Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley are the most suitable people who match the characters of Heathcliff and Catherine respectively!!