About Douglas Booth, Who Plays Pip in Great Expectations

Douglas Booth as Pip

Who has ever seen a lovelier Pip than Douglas Booth, who stars in PBS's Great Expectations, starting tonight at 9 PM local time? My main problem with the series was that Pip is more beautiful than Estella, played by Vanessa Kirby. Her quieter features are eclipsed by Booth's more striking ones.

Vanessa Kirby as Estella and Douglas Booth as Pip

The coloring of Booth's face is youthfully fresh and of the sort that women try to emulate with makeup- dark brows, rosy lips and cheeks, striking contrast between eyelashes and skin.

Douglas Booth, second from left, and a Burberry ad with Emma Watson, right

It is no wonder that Booth spent his years as a male model before becoming an actor. With this role, Booth has become a member of the "corset" crew, which is made up of young, attractive socialite actors who have performed in a costume drama.

Kirby and Booth in modern dress at a fashion show

Booth was born in 1992  in Greenwich, south-east London. His dad works Citigroup and his half-Spanish, half-Dutch mother is an artist. He went to top schools in Kent and acted with the National Youth Theatre.

Booth as Boy George, second from left

In  2010 he landed the meaty role of Boy George in the TV movie, Worried About the Boy and he hasn't looked back since. Douglas has recently completed filming a new production of Romeo and Julie. Let's hope he's not prettier than his co-star again.

Pip receives an important document from Miss Havisham (Gillian Anderson)

You can watch Booth mainly in the 2nd half of the 1st installment and the 2nd installment of Great Expectations, which premiers on PBS tonight

The Cast
Abel Magwitch, by Ray Winstone
Miss Havisham, by Gillian Anderson
Jaggers, by David Suchet
Pip by Douglas Booth
Anxious Man, by Michael Colgan
Mike, by Steve Lately
Wemmick, by Paul Ritter
Herbert Pocket, by Harry Lloyd
Compeyson, by Paul Rhys
Joe Gargery, by Shaun Dooley
Clara, by Perdita Weeks
Molly, by Susan Lynch
Bentley Drummle, by Tom Burke
Dolge Orlick, by Jack Roth
Estella, by Vanessa Kirby
Mrs Brandley, by Frances Barber
Estella's Admirer, by Will Tudor
Mrs Joe, by Claire Rushbrook
Pumblechook, by Mark Addy

Director - Brian Kirk
Producer - George Ormond
Writer - Sarah Phelps

Fanny Price a Tart?

Well, I don’t think so … not in the wildest stretch of the imagination could Jane Austen’s most prim and proprietous heroine be considered a woman of loose morals, yet Billie Piper the actress who portrayed Fanny in the 2007 adaptation of Mansfield Park is being tagged a tart by her elderly country neighbors in Midhurst, West Sussex where she lives with her husband, actor Laurence Fox (Mr. Wisley in Becoming Jane) and their young son Winston.

Mail Online is reporting that in an interview for the February issue of Marie Claire magazine, the 27-year old actress revealed that "A few of the older locals actually believe I'm a whore," because of her role in ITV’s and Showtime’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl based on the exploits of a real-life call girl Belle de Jour.

"They love Laurence because he's in Lewis (Inspector Lewis in the US), and his fan club are basically in their mid-sixties and upwards. (Ouch – that made his fans who are not senior citizens feel rather ancient). They love him. It's sickening. They follow him around, they want to mother him. I mean, there are places he can't go - like Mecca Bingo or the bowling green - but he loves it. Then they look at me and are like, "That slag! How could you dirty yourself with her? She's corrupted you.""

I guess Billie needs to send her neighbors the DVD of Mansfield Park to redeem her reputation. Fanny Price has been accused of being a prig, but never a tart!

Cheers, Laurel Ann, Austenprose

JJ Feild Charms in The Shadow in the North on PBS

Did anyone catch the Masterpiece Mystery presentation of The Shadow in the North last week on PBS? If so, you might have recognized a few Austen actors from The Complete Jane Austen which aired on Masterpiece Classic from January – April this year. Reprising their roles in the previous Philip Pullman adaptation of The Ruby in the Smoke (2006) were Billie Piper (Fanny Price in Mansfield Park) as Sally Lockhart, JJ Field (Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey) as Frederick Garland, and Hayley Atwell (Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park) as Rose Garland. This new adaptation of the Philip Pullman novel from the Sally Lockhart series was directed John Alexander (Sense and Sensibility 2008).

If you missed it, here is a plot summary from the PBS (WGBH) web site.

The year is 1878, and Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper, Mansfield Park) has started her own financial consulting business. When her client, Miss Walsh, loses a fortune from the unexpected collapse of the Anglo-Baltic shipping line, Sally is determined to find out why so many of their ships have mysteriously vanished without trace. Hoping to recover her client’s money, she turns for help to her friends, Frederick (JJ Feild, Northanger Abbey) and Jim, who have started up their own detective agency.

While pursuing their enquiries into the disappearance of the steamship Ingrid Linde, the three sleuths find themselves investigating stage magician Alistair MacKinnon who is being threatened by mysterious thugs, and a psychic medium who seems to be tapping into shady business secrets – all of which draws them unwittingly into a dark and sinister plot fuelled by the dealings of the cruel and heartless industrialist Axel Bellmann, whose business is built on a horrifying secret.

The DVD's of both The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North are available for purchase, and well worth it just to for the pleasure of actor JJ Feild, who continues to choose roles that show off this debonair charm and good looks! This young actor might just be our next Cary Grant.

Posted by Laurel Ann, Austenprose

Austen Actors Highlight New Masterpiece Mystery Season

Reserve your summer Sunday evenings for the newly redesigned Masterpiece Mystery hosted by none other than Mr. Elton (Alan Cumming) as master of ceremonies introducing each of the four new series starting on June 22 and continuing through September 28.

Fans of Masterpiece Classic and The Complete Jane Austen series on PBS will recognize several familiar faces throughout the Mystery season. The new host of the series is Tony Award winning British actor Alan Cumming, who stared as Mr. Elton in the 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma, directed by Douglas McGrath and co-staring Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma Woodhouse. It will be interesting to see what direction he takes hosting each of the series in comparison to his predecessors Gene Shalit 1980, Vincent Price 1981-1989, and Diana Rigg 1990 -2003. The series began airing without a host in the 2004 season, so this return to its original hosted format is a traditional move by executive producer Rebecca Eaton.

Alan Cumming as Mr. Elton and Juliet Stevenson as Mrs. Elton in Emma (1996)

This season’s Mystery lineup includes The Men of Mystery beginning on June 22 with three episodes each of the return of Inspector Lewis and Foyle’s War starting on July 13, and six episodes of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries on August 10. The series concludes with a reprieve of two episodes of Sally Lockhart staring Billie Piper (Fanny Price in Mansfield Park 2007) and JJ Feild (Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey 2007).

Laurence Fox as DS James Hathaway and Kevin Whatley as DI Robbie Lewis in Inspector Lewis

Inspector Lewis opens the season on Sunday June 22 with three new episodes staring Kevin Whatley (The English Patient) who returns as Detective Inspector Robbie Lewis in this spin-off to the popular Inspector Morris series. Also returning is his younger sidekick, the cool, cerebral Detective Sergeant James Hathaway played by Austen actor Laurence Fox. Janeites will remember his performance as Jane Austen’s (Ann Hathaway) unsuccessful suitor Mr. Wilsey in last summers movie Becoming Jane, whose amorous pursuits had him in more than one embarrassing situation and uttering such great lines as “Sometimes affection is a shy flower that takes time to blossom.”

Ann Hathaway as Jane Austen and Laurence Fox as Mr. Wisley in Becoming Jane (2007)

Mr. Fox comes from an accomplished acting family. He is the son of British actor James Fox, nephew to actors Edward Fox, Joann David (Mrs. Gardiner in Pride and Prejudice 1995 and Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility 1971) and producer Robert Fox, and cousin to fellow Austen actor Emilia Fox (Georgiana Darcy in Pride and Prejudice 1995). He married British actress Billie Piper (Fanny Price in Mansfield Park 2007) on New Years Eve in 2007. If he had anymore Austen connections, he would have to be related!!!

Laurence Fox and his wife Billie Piper

The Inspector Lewis series includes three episodes and features additional actors that share Jane Austen connections; 1.) Whom the Gods Would Destroy – June 22, Anna Madeley (Lucy Steele in Sensibility 2007), and Anna Massey (Aunt Norris in Mansfield Park 1983); 2.) Old School Friends – June 29, David Glover (Foot the butler in Sense and Sensibility 2008); and 3.) Expiation - July 6, Lucy Robinson (Louisa Hurst in Pride and Prejudice 1995, Mrs. Elton in Emma 1996 and Janey in Bridget Jones the Edge of Reason 2004), Julia Joyce (Young Fanny Price in Mansfield Park 2007), Pip Torrens (Edward Austen-Knight in Miss Austen Regrets 2008 and a Netherfield butler in Pride and Prejudice 2005), and Phoebe Nicholls (Elizabeth Elliot in Persuasion 1995).

Anna Massey as Aunt Norris in Mansfield Park (1983)

I have always enjoyed the Masterpiece Mystery series, and am glad to see so many Austen actors finding work with such a venerable series. I hope that you enjoy the opening episode!

Posted by Laurel Ann, Austenprose

Mini Austenpalooza Headed Down Under

Janeites in Australia will soon enjoy the delights of four of Jane Austen’s cannon adapted for the screen. According to this advance interview of Actress Sally Hawkins who portrayed Anne Elliot in the ITV production of Persuasion (2007), it looks like the month of June has been dedicated as a mini Austenpalooza down under. Starting with Emma (Kate Beckinsale version 1996), the weekly Sunday evening airings will also include the new (2007) versions of Persuasion on June 8, Northanger Abbey on June 15, and Mansfield Park on June 22.

What no Pride and Prejudice (1995), Sense and Sensibility (2008) and Miss Austen Regrets (2008) to ‘complete’ the ensemble that North American audiences enjoyed this past winter with The Complete Jane Austen on PBS? Let’s hope that they head that way soon, for what else do Janeites live for but total emersion, right?



Actress Sally Hawkins has some interesting comments to add about her take on Austen and her motives for writing.

"I think Jane is echoed in all her heroines, in all her novels," Hawkins says. "If you look at them as a set of complete works, you can see a real woman growing up. Her wit is there, apparent through all her heroines, and that is very much at the core."

Australian audiences have the double advantage of previous airing of these adaptations in the UK and North America, and many reviews are about. To prep yourself for each production (spoilers afoot), here are some reviews of the high and low points of each production.


Emma

• JANE AUSTEN MOVIE CLUB: Emma (1996/TV)
• The Complete Jane Austen "Emma" by Jessica Emerson
• Emma Review: By the Vacuous and Vulgar Mrs. Elton
• Fun Friday–Emma, by Kaye Dacus

Persuasion

• Review: Madcap PBS 'Persuasion' sacrifices nuance
• Persuasion Review: “almost too good for me”?
• The Complete Jane Austen "Persuasion" by Victoire Sanborn

Northanger Abbey

• Northanger Abbey: A Review
• 'Northanger Abbey' is lighthearted Austen
• Northanger Abbey Review: An Austen Adventure

Mansfield Park

• Mansfield Park Review: No Hope of a Cure
• The Dummification of Mansfield Park
• The Complete Jane Austen "Mansfield Park" by Lori Smith
• Mansfield Park–My Reaction, Kaye Ducas

Posted by Laurel Ann, Austenprose

Fanny Price as Rosie Cotton?

Has anyone else noticed how much Billie Piper as Fanny Price resembles a female hobbit? In this photo she could be Rosie Cotton, Samwise Gamgee's bride. The blowsy hair, the in-your-face cleavage, the corseted waist, and slatternly look all would have suited her for a part in The Lord of the Rings much better than Mansfield Park. Just add some pointy ears and furry feet, et voila!

Illustration: Ted Nasmith.com Posted by Ms. Place

Mansfield Park's Blake Ritson

Try as I might, I am having a hard time finding solid information on Blake Ritson. This leads me to the conclusion that this young actor's turn as the staid Edmund Bertram was highly successful, and that people are mistaking him for Edmund.

Since the movie was shown in England and Canada, no fan clubs for him have sprouted up; no websites devoted to everything that Blake did, ate, or breathed exist. He is still, well, largely unknown.

• Tara Fleur does offer a number of Blake Ritson icons.

• Find Blake as Edmund Bertram icons here.
  

• And here is a Blake Ritson ITV interview for A Touch of Frost

• A little while back I found a link to Blake as a voice over actor.

• And this feeder site collects information on all things Blake Ritson.

• Blake Ritson as Justin Smart in The League of Gentlemen

• Scandal and Schooling at the Old Vic
  

As we wait or tonight's viewing of Mansfield Park with Blake Ritson and Billie Piper, I would like to direct you to these links:

An excellent review and discussion about the movie on Palimpsest. I can't quibble with any of Colynbourne's observations. In the review, she quotes Blake as saying about Edmund:

He doesn't wear well by modern standards...we've made him more playful, he's sillier, he drinks more - he's a lot less priggish and self-righteous than the original. All of us were keen not to be corseted by the decorum of the time.

Erm, isn't the novel supposed to be set in the "decorum of the time?"

Here's a recent opinion about the movie offered by Matthew Gilbert of Boston.com

Most of the reviews for Mansfield Park are negative, and yet the movie as a stand alone, without a connection to Jane Austen, is light and engaging. I think we will see a huge division of opinion about this adaptation between those who know Mansfield Park backwards and forwards, and those who are introduced to the novel for the first time via this production.

Below is a scene from a short 12-minute film that Blake and his brother Dylan directed, Out of Time. The film's plot is: "Charlie is in trouble -- he has woken up to discover that his mouth is moving out of sync with his words. We follow his race to find a cure, attend a meeting, and patch up things with his girlfriend - all whilst trying to hide the bizzare affliction. A surreal, modern allegory about love, lies, and the dangers of false advertising.

Posted by Ms. Place

Seen on the Blogosphere: Billie Piper as Fanny Price

To prepare Jane Austen Masterpiece Classic fans for the critiques and reviews that will shortly arrive after Mansfield Park has aired tomorrow night on PBS, Ive collected a few quotes about Billie Piper as Fanny Price, including a few pithy comments from Billie herself.


Billie on Playing Fanny Price:

One of the things she says she has learnt playing Fanny Price, the redoubtable heroine of Austen's Mansfield Park, is that life in the early 19th-century wouldn't have suited her one bit. "You realise the pace of life was so slow - everything takes so much longer. Our natural pace these days is so quick. If you wanted to travel anywhere it would take you two days. If you wanted to write to people, the same. Everyone would walk slower, just simple things like that."

Billie says that as a result, she finds period dramas can often be a little plodding. "I've always had an issue with period dramas. I love the language but sometimes it's just a bit too slow or stuffy and sometimes, frankly, it's a bit boring. That's my experience." This adaptation of Mansfield Park, she says, will offer just a little more pizzazz. Clicking her fingers to give an idea of what she means, she says, "This one moves like that and it feels very real. It's a real family with real dynamics." One of the things that Billie has learnt is that life wasn't just slower: it was harder too.

"It would have been a nightmare to have been a young woman then. They must have had stomach ulcers from having their internal organs squished up inside them, and women didn't really get to say anything - they just had to get on with it and shut the f**k up." As, indeed, did Billie, when it came to wearing period dress. "I had 12-hour days in this thing," she says. "Sometimes they'd loosen you off for lunch, but basically you were tied in to it at the beginning of the day and then you'd have to negotiate everything - when you pee'd, what you consumed. I started drinking isotonic drinks - they rehydrate you but you don't have to go to the loo." And, though it pains us to ask, what happens when you do? "I've got a technique. I straddle the loo, I sit facing the wall and let my dresses fall behind me." - Radio Times


More Billie on Fanny

Billie Piper was all nerves filming a new costume drama for ITV1 in case her boobs fell out of her corset. Curvy Billie, 24, Fanny Price in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, said: “When you bend over you worry they’ll pop out.” She has now vowed to take a break from corsets for the time being.- The Sun


Ginnia Belafante on Billie as Fanny Price:

Fanny Price of “Mansfield Park” is an innocent of a less giddy and more melancholy kind, and the actress Billie Piper plays her looking wrecked. Her hair is a mess, blond and unkempt, and her eyebrows entirely a different color, which seems to suggest that even in the English countryside of the very early 19th century, a good dye job wasn’t an easy get. - Ginnia Belafante, The New York Times


A Blogger on Billie as Fanny Price:

Immediately, she jarred my eye. She looked all wrong. She looked too present day. I sat pondering for a minute or two as to why that was; she was of course in full costume along with everyone else, so why did she look so out of place? I quickly realised I was entirely distracted from the storyline, and indeed the entire programme, by her appearance. It took me some moments to realise that it was her eyebrows that were causing my dismay; they were as incongruous as two monstrous futuristic cyber-caterpillars in the early 19th century setting. They were a completely different colour to her hair. That, of course, was because her hair was very obviously bleached, in a very 21st century manner. This train of thought then prodded me to notice that she actually had dark roots creeping ominously through. - Tales from the Canal Side
Historical Romance UK on Billie as Fanny Price:

Billie Piper's acting and casting have come in for a variety of opinions, with some people thinking she was excellent and some thinking she was miscast, but overall, here on the blog, we liked her. "I think it is one of JA's better books and enjoyed the tv adaptation," says Wendy. "It's very easy to criticise the costumes and such but shouldn't we stop worrying about details and simply enjoy being entertained? When all's said and done, isn't that what every tv programme and books strives to do? Having said all that, I did think that anyone unfamiliar with the book would wonder what Mrs Norris was all about. The adverse effect she had on Fanny's upbringing wasn't apparent from tv. I hated Fanny's hair and agree that she ran around too much - she was supposed to be the ultimate poor relation, after all - but I still sat spellbound for two hours" - Historical Romance UK

• Click here for a recent Boston.com review by Matthew Gilbert

Posted by Ms. Place
Technorati Tags: Mansfield Park 2007, Billie Piper, Masterpiece Classic, Jane Austen

Spotlight on Billie Piper

Although Billie Piper is not a household name in America, we Yanks might be interested to know that she's a popular, well-known celebrity in England - a singer turned actress turned author. At fifteen, she became the youngest singer with a number one hit record. She's appeared in popular British television series, and was given the choice to play one of Jane Austen's three heroines. Billie chose Fanny Price. Are Billie and Fanny a good fit? You'll soon find out this Sunday night.


Something Deep Inside, Billie Piper

• Interview with Billie Piper

• Billie Piper Biography

• Billie Piper Book, Growing Pains

• J.J.Feild and Billie Piper in Ruby in the Smoke