The novels of Jane Austen have long provided material for some of the best-loved screen adaptations and period dramas of all time. One Austen expert, however, has taken issue with some major casting decisions, describing actresses Keira Knightley and Gwyneth Paltrow as too ‘nasal’ and ‘unlovable’ to play heroines like Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse.
Speaking at the Hay Literary Festival, Paula Byrne, author of The Genius Of Jane Austen: Her Love Of Theatre And Why She Is A Hit In Hollywood, was particularly critical of Keira Knightley’s casting as the lead in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, which also starred Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy and Rosamund Pike as Knightley’s on-screen sister, Jane.
‘I didn’t like Keira Knightley at all. I thought she was completely wrong for Elizabeth Bennet,’ Byrne said, admitting that she found the actress ‘quite wooden and she doesn’t articulate very well.’
The author also noted that Austen never describes Elizabeth Bennet as particularly beautiful, instead focusing on her sharp wit, intelligence and ‘fine eyes.’
‘She is way too beautiful for Elizabeth because the one thing we know about Elizabeth is that her sister is very beautiful but Elizabeth just has “fine eyes.” That’s all we know about Elizabeth,’ she said.
‘Elizabeth Bennet is a very interesting character for her vivacity. She is a very unusual character for the 18th century. But she is not beautiful. Jane Austen made it clear she was not writing heroines who were drop dead beautiful, she was writing about a new kind of heroine. Keira Knightley was not just right for the role,’ Byrne added.
Gwyneth Paltrow, who played the titular heroine in the 1996 film adaptation of Emma, also received criticism from the author for her ‘nasal whine.’
‘It just drives me mad! It’s like Keira Knightley – she’s got that nasal thing going on too,’ she said.
‘You don’t really want to feel like strangling Emma – you get annoyed with her, the character, because she’s such a horrible snob and gets things wrong. But we find her lovable as well and Gwyneth Paltrow was not lovable enough for me.’
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