Any Human Heart Features A Number of Jane Austen Character Actors

Any Human Heart, the new mini-series that will be shown on Masterpiece Classic for the next three Sundays, features a variety of actors who have starred in Jane Austen film adaptations.

Matthew MacFadyen

as Logan Mountstuart in Any Human Heart

as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice 2005

The man with the deep sexy voice, as I think of Matthew, gave Colin Firth's portrayal of Mr. Darcy a run for his money. Many young fans prefer Matthew's interpretation as the iconic Jane Austen hero. I, for one, like them both. As Logan Mountstuart, Matthew once again delivers a shaded performance. While I could not like his character (who can respect a man who abandons a son for his lover?), Matthew's sensitive portrayal of Mounstuart tugged at my heartstrings.

Haley Atwell

Haley Atwell as Freya Deverell

as Mary Crawford, Mansfield Park 2007

Haley Atwell looks absolutely stunning in 1930's costume. Jane Austen fans will recall her portrayal of Mary Crawford in the unfortunate 2007 version of Mansfield Park. I say unfortunate, for I found that particular film adaptation particularly lacking (especially Billy Piper tomboyish representation of Fanny). I did, however, like Haley, who was perfect for the part of the sophisticated woman that Fanny Price could not like. Unfortunately, Haley's lines were few and far between, largely because the film was too short. Thankfully, she is given a much larger role in Any Human Heart as Matthew MacFadyen's love interest. When those two actors are together, magic happens onscreen.

Jim Broadbent

as an older Logan Mountstuart

as Colin Jones (with Gemma Jones and Renee Zelwegger) in Bridget Jones's Diary

Any Human Heart revolves around the character of the older Logan Mountstuart, played by Jim Broadbent, one of my favorite character actors. Jim's connection to Jane Austen is peripheral. He portrayed Bridget Jones's father and has acted opposite a score of actors who starred in Jane Austen film adaptations. I have always thought that he would make an excellent Mr. Woodhouse or Mr. Bennet, but I doubt we will see another version of Emma or Pride and Prejudice soon. Any film that features Mr. Broadbent is worth watching, and his role, while largely quiet, is extensive and he appears in all the episodes from start to finish.

Charity Wakefield

as Land Forthergill

as Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility, 2008

Charity had the unenviable task of following Kate Winslet in playing Marianne Dashwood, the histrionic sister, in the 2008 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. While she is not classically beautiful, the camera's lens loves Charity's large eyes and dramatic features. She also looks fabulous in a classic 20's bob. Charity appears in only one episode of Any Human Heart, but her character is important in forcing Logan to think more seriously about his writing career and giving him his first major heartbreak.

Tom Hollander

as the Duke of Windsor after his abdication as King Edward VIII

as Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice, 2005

Tom Hollander's role as the Duke of Windsor comes at a propitious time for viewers who have seen (or who intend to see) The King's Speech. In this mini-series he is shown after his abdication as King Edward VIII, and he plays the former king as a petty, self-centered, and self-serving man. While I think he was perfect for the part of David, I had a small problem with his casting as Mr. Collins. Oh, he played that part to a tee and his proposal to Lizzy Bennet was unforgettable, but Jane Austen described Mr. Collins as tall, which Mr. Holland most certainly is not. However, his lack of height added comic relief to his dance scenes with Keira Knightley's Elizabeth, and so I have decided in the future to overlook this casting faux pas.

Samuel West 

Samuel West as Peter Scabius

Samuel West as William Elliot in Persuasion 1996

In Any Human Heart Samuel West plays Peter Scabalius, one of Logan's two childhood friends, and a successful author. Jane Austen fans will remember Samuel as William Elliot, Anne's unsuccessful suitor, who was less than a gentleman towards the Elliots and in particular towards Mrs. Smith.

PBS Masterpiece Classic will feature Any Human Heart on February 13, 20 & 27, 2011 at 9pm. Click here for details. 

On a different note, I urge anyone who is as addicted to PBS as I am, to contact your representatives and request them not to cut their funding. 

Jane Austen Movie Throwdown

Dear voters: In this week's throwdown we ask you to contemplate the actor who best captured that most comic of all clergymen: Mr. Collins. Before making up your mind, please read these wonderful descriptions of him by Jane Austen. In this week's throwdown we ask:

Which actor played the part of Mr. Collins best?

Description: Mr. Collins was a tall, heavy looking young man of five and twenty. His air was grave and stately, and his manners were very formal.

Elizabeth to Jane: "My dear Jane, Mr. Collins is a conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly man; you know he is, as well as I do; and you must feel, as well as I do, that the woman who marries him, cannot have a proper way of thinking."

David Bamber, 1995 & Tom Hollander, 2005

Mr. Collins proposes to Lizzy: "You can hardly doubt the purport of my discourse, however your natural delicacy may lead you to dissemble; my attentions have been too marked to be mistaken. Almost as soon as I entered the house I singled you out as the companion of my future life. But before I am run away with by my feelings on this subject, perhaps it will be advisable for me to state my reasons for marrying -- and moreover for coming into Hertfordshire with the design of selecting a wife, as I certainly did.''

The idea of Mr. Collins, with all his solemn composure, being run away with by his feelings, made Elizabeth so near laughing that she could not use the short pause he allowed in any attempt to stop him farther..."

Guy Henry, Lost in Austen (above) & Malcolm Rennie, P&P 1980 (below)

Mr. Collins' letter of condolence to the Bennets after Lydia's elopement.
"No arguments shall be wanting on my part that can alleviate so severe a misfortune; or that may comfort you, under a circumstance that must be of all others most afflicting to a parent's mind. The death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of this. And it is the more to be lamented, because there is reason to suppose, as my dear Charlotte informs me, that this licentiousness of behaviour in your daughter has proceeded from a faulty degree of indulgence, though at the same time, for the consolation of yourself and Mrs. Bennet, I am inclined to think that her own disposition must be naturally bad, or she could not be guilty of such an enormity at so early an age. Howsoever that may be, you are grievously to be pitied, in which opinion I am not only joined by Mrs. Collins, but likewise by Lady Catherine and her daughter, to whom I have related the affair. They agree with me in apprehending that this false step in one daughter will be injurious to the fortunes of all the others; for who, as Lady Catherine herself condescendingly says, will connect themselves with such a family."

Which actor plays Mr. Collins best?
	Malcolm Rennie, 1980
	David Bamber, 1995
	Tom Hollander, 2005
	Guy Henry, 2008
pollcode.com free polls