FANCY PANTS
Bret’s Austen-tatious outing
WELLINGTON’S Bret McKenzie as Mr Darcy? Some would question the possibility that one half of Flight of the Conchords would make the cut as one of literature’s great romantic figures, although the female following that turned McKenzie’s brief appearance in The Fellowship of the Ring into a cult following would disagree.
But McKenzie, now in Los Angeles working on Muppets Most Wanted, seems the right choice to play the Darcy-like Martin in the Jane Austen send-up Austenland opening today.
McKenzie is cast along with veterans, including Jane Seymour and the likes of Keri Russell – best known for television’s Felicity and most recently The Americans, and a few comic additions like Jennifer Coolidge (‘‘Stifler’s Mom’’ in American Pie).
McKenzie joked to Britain’s The Independent last month that he was more of a Bronte fan himself. ‘‘There weren’t enough moors in the Austen books. I thought Wuthering Heights was miles better than Jane Austen, certainly a lot less repressed.’’
Austenland was produced by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer and directed by Jerusha Hess. Hess is the wife of Jared Hess, best known for Napoleon Dynamite and directed Flight of the Conchords cohort Jemaine Clement in Gentlemen Broncos.
Austenland was filmed in Bath in Britain. McKenzie told The Independent he was initially a little scared of Seymour, whom he learned owns a castle in Bath. ‘‘I was intimidated to meet her because she’s so famous, and is almost like royalty. She’s real old school – from a whole other generation of Hollywood and she’s got great stories and anecdotes. She was a trip, man.’’
McKenzie won an Oscar for the song Man or Muppet in The Muppets. Clement has a part in the sequel. But McKenzie, who is composing the songs again, told The Independent he doesn’t like spending a lot of time in LA and prefers Wellington. ‘‘I find LA very business-obsessed and New Zealand is not, so that’s really refreshing. In LA everyone is constantly talking about films and if you go to a cafe in LA people are sitting there writing screenplays, so it’s healthy to get out of LA.’’
Wuthering Heights
Austenland is screening now