The first glimpse of the cast of Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice, led by Olivia Colman. Photo / Daily Telegraph UK
The first glimpse of the cast of Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice, led by Olivia Colman. Photo / Daily Telegraph UK
Netflix’s new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice will have a diverse cast.
The streaming giant has become known for efforts to increase ethnic representation on-screen, particularly demonstrated in its hit period drama Bridgerton, and has now turned its attention to a British classic.
A new series based on Jane Austen’s1813 novel will feature Mr Bingley and his sister Caroline played by mixed-race stars.
The Bingleys are the social betters of the principal Bennet family, and Mr Bingley’s wealth and status are a key part of what makes him a good catch in the Regency society in which he moves.
Netflix’s Bridgerton depicted mixed-race families at the top of Regency high society to ensure the cast was as diverse as possible.
The show “really emphasised black”, according to Verna Myers, the company’s diversity lead.
It was criticised by some for its inaccurate depiction of Regency England as a diverse and post-racial society, and also for glossing over the social struggles of black people at the time.
Irish actor Daryl McCormack will play Charles Bingley. Photo / Daily Telegraph UK
Austen herself did not spend much time on describing what her characters looked like, and Mr Bingley is said to be “wonderfully handsome”, while the snobbish Caroline is “one of the handsomest women” known to the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet.
Mr Bingley will be played by Irish actor Daryl McCormack, who has spoken in the past about his own experience of racism in Ireland, while Caroline will be played by Black Mirror star Siena Kelly.
The newly announced casting choices will appear alongside Rufus Sewell, who has been unveiled as the genial Mr Bennet, and the previously announced Olivia Colman as Mrs Bennet and The Crown star Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet.
Jack Lowden, best-known for Slow Horses, will play Mr Darcy.
Siena Kelly will play Caroline Bingley. Photo / Daily Telegraph UK
Dolly Alderton, writer and executive producer on the series, said earlier in the year that the Pride and Prejudice adaptation would offer an opportunity to “find both familiar and fresh ways of bringing this beloved book to life”.
Myers said in 2021 that Netflix’s emphasis on diversity while “exciting” can lead to “some controversy”.
In 2023, a Netflix series portrayed Cleopatra as black, after producer Jada Pinkett Smith – the wife of actor Will Smith – cited the importance of telling “stories about black queens”.
Dr Zahi Hawass, a leading Egyptian archaeologist, reacted by saying, “Cleopatra was not black”.
It was pointed out that Cleopatra was descended from Ptolemy, a general of Alexander the Great, making the queen of “light-skinned” Macedonian Greek heritage.
The BBC has also sought to increase diversity in casting for its period dramas, including Wolf Hall, which returned for a second series with a diverse cast of Tudor courtiers, including real historical figures known to be white.
This diversity was evident within families, and the mother and sister of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, were portrayed as being of different ethnic backgrounds from Jane herself.
This approach has also been with the forthcoming drama King and Conqueror about the Norman invasion of 1066, with historical Anglo-Saxon noblemen as being from diverse backgrounds.
King and Conqueror is a CBS Studios co-production series acquired by the BBC.
