Jane’s Leading Men

Dianne Boardman shares her favourite screen portrayals of Jane Austen’s handsome heroes.

JANE AUSTEN’S novels have been popular ever since they were written two centuries ago. The themes of falling in love and overcoming obstacles and misunderstandings to get to happy endings will never go out of fashion, but portraying them on film presents a different challenge.

Even with a period setting and the same narrative, the characters must appeal to viewers of their time and the actors must adapt accordingly.

This is especially important for the heroes.

They may be acting in a story set long ago, but they have to be attractive to their current audience to be believed, even if it means taking liberties with the original.

Subtle changes to the plot and personalities, and even the addition of extra scenes, have had to happen over time to seduce the audience, along with the heroine, with tales that have been retold on large and small screens ever since the first TV production in 1938.

Every decade has seen several of the novels filmed, so the challenge for actors is to be fresh and, they hope, memorable. When it succeeds they become iconic moments in Austen performance history.

While it is always fun to watch the latest production and see our heroes newly portrayed, we return to our enduring favourites time and time again and so, on the bicentenary of the writer’s death, here’s a selection of our own beloved leading men and a look at how they’ve made the roles their own.