3 No./ The period drama inspired by Hamilton
How Mr. Malcolm’s List took a fresh approach to casting its Austen-era romance
PERIOD MOVIES CAN be tricky beasts. But Emma Holly Jones was determined to make Austen-like romantic comedy Mr. Malcolm’s List her debut feature, after making a prequel short film, set in the Regency-era world of Suzanne Allain’s novel — featuring a diverse cast inspired by a trip to Broadway. “Hamilton changed my perspective on period films,” Jones says. “I’m English, I’m white, and the ones I have loved I’ve seen myself in forever. I thought it was time that someone did [the Hamilton approach] to Jane Austen.”
That 2019 short, starring BAFTA nominee S. o. pé. Dìrísù, Gemma Chan, Oliver Jacksoncohen and Freida Pinto, who she had found through a casting agent, racked up nearly two million views on Youtube, setting up the main feature story about a young woman of polite society exacting revenge on the eponymous suitor who rejected her. It took a few years, and the companion pitch film, for Jones to secure financing, but once Universal and a few backers signed on, the director was able to start location-scouting in Ireland.
“I was seeing the same locations over and over again in English period dramas so it was nice to be able to discover new places that haven’t been seen much on camera before, or, at all,” Jones says, though Stanley Kubrick fans might recognise one spot. “We used a location from Barry Lyndon which was pretty cool because we had studied the film. It’s a masterclass in how to achieve light when there is no light.”
Most of the original cast were able to return and Jones credits their “unwavering support” for ensuring the movie happened. Zawe Ashton, however, was a last-minute replacement for Constance Wu, who was already replacing Chan as Julia but had dropped out a week before the shoot was meant to kick off in March. “It was a frightening moment,” Jones admits. “But I knew how smart and funny Zawe was already and I was struck by her interpretation of the character. She pushed me to think of Julia in a new way that has genuinely made this movie funnier, warmer and more hopeful.”
With that casting kink crossed off her list, she could focus on the rest of Mr. Malcolm’s. “My team worked some miracles during the six-week shoot,” Jones says. “To honour Suzanne’s literary world but also allowing S. o. pé. , Freida and Zawe to make choices with me.” The ball must go on!
MR. MALCOLMÕS LIST IS COMING SOON