Can you see Ellen Page as Jane Eyre? Of corset.
Wise-cracking "Juno" star Ellen Page to play "Jane Eyre?" In a BBC production?
Not everyone in the blogosphere is thrilled with the latest casting news announced this week.
It is somewhat hard to imagine the sarcastic "Smart People" star as the lead in this swooning Gothic romance penned by Charlotte Brontë, one of the most filmed novels in movie history.
Playing the love-struck governess will be Page's first period part. Right now, she's busy filming Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" and wearing full-on roller derby gear.
Wonder how she's gonna like those period whale-bone corsets?
The Oscar-nominated actress never looked particularly comfortable wearing dresses -- period -- during the 2008 awards season.
Brontë fans throughout the blogosphere are praying they don't ask Diablo Cody to write the screenplay....
Photos: WireImage
Do we really need another JANE EYRE no matter who is doing it. Besides umpteen movie and television versions, we also have had a musical. I think its time for Hollywood and London to let Jane Austin rest for awhile. Don't get me wrong, I love her stories, but rest time has arrived
Posted by: Douglas Meny | May 08, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Wouldn't James McAvoy make a great Mr. Rochester?
Posted by: jerry jeff | May 08, 2008 at 06:49 PM
douglas meny, charlotte bronte wrote 'jane eyre', not jane austen, 'jane eyre' is nothing like an austen novel in that it is very dark.
Posted by: nunya | May 08, 2008 at 07:14 PM
To Nunya, thanks for correcting Douglas Meny!
I don't think I will like Ellen Page as Jane. She doesn't strike me as having the necessary vulnerability and feminity yet strength to play the role with justice to the character.
Posted by: Literary snob | May 08, 2008 at 07:47 PM
I think she'll be fabulous. I think she has the talent to pull it off. Personally im glad there making the movie... I love to read but have never read that book Which is cool i can watch this movie without comparing it. Im going to see it in theater's for sure.
Posted by: Crispy | May 09, 2008 at 01:22 AM
The point is to make a film profitable, Hollywood has to cast as broad an net as possible to fill seats. Which is the worst thing you can do with Brontë.
nunya is right, Brontë is NOTHING like Austen. However the BBC seems to be taking great pains (if not disgusting liberties) to pass off it's 18th century female-driven dramas as if they were Austen. If the recent JANE EYRE miniseries -- complete with smiley face ending -- is any indication. Effectively robbing it of it's dark edgy tone, underplaying weightier themes and totally misrepresenting the relationship (the only thing they actually focus on) and characters themselves.
On top of that, movies are never very good. The story is way too complicated, even whittled down to three hours. For instance, you can't fully understand why Rochester is written the way he is, without fully exploring Brocklehurst, Burns and Rivers. Mass-marketing also means you can kiss the language goodbye.
So even Page is terrific (and I still think a British actress has a better shot at nailing it), so what? Wilson was very good, but the story just wasn't there and her character was limited.
So the issue is not do we need another version of JANE EYRE. It's will there EVER be a honest adaptation of Brontë's novel. There have been more than enough "In-The-Spirit-Of-Jane-Eyres" (which is code for Not-Really-Jane-Eyre, but I really didn't like the book that much) to last through to the next century.
I say to these scribes, write your own damn story and leave this one alone.
Posted by: puck | May 11, 2008 at 03:25 PM
Ellen Page as Jane Eyre? Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic if you ask me. She's no period actress. I didn't think she was even that good as a contemporary film actress why she is being considered to portray a swooning gothic girl is beyond Page's abilities. She is simply overrated.
Posted by: JoJo | May 26, 2008 at 05:19 PM