I think I prefer Jane Eyre

We have some Jane Eyre (2006 BBC adaptation) news today. The BBC Drama Awards published yesterday have inspired some (quite angry) comments on the usual fronts: the C19 board, the Jane Eyre imdb board, etc... now united with the newly arrived Spanish aficionados: The Escape Stories forum or the Spanish Ruth Wilson fansite.

But, the upcoming broadcasting on PBS of this version also generates new headlines. As this interview with Ruth Wilson published in The Baltimore Sun:

"Sometimes she can come across a bit pious and you want to sort of kick her bum and just say, 'Get on with it,'" says the young British actress, not long out of drama school, whose portrayal can be seen in a new adaptation of the oft-filmed romance novel. (...)

"I think it's the first time a woman has ever done the adaptation and I think that's a central thing to this piece, because its heart is absolutely centered on Jane, whereas a lot of them might have been called 'Rochester,'" [Susanna] White [, the director,] says.

So casting someone with a feisty spirit in the title role was particularly important to White, who discovered Wilson, now 25, via the traditional audition process.

"One of the qualities I really liked about her was you look at her one way and she's very beautiful and then you look at her another way and she can look quite plain at times. That was something I felt was important to bring out, because I think one of the things people just love about the book is how Jane's a sort of Everywoman. Every young girl has been through that stage of life of feeling completely unattractive and no one is going to love them."

Wilson, meanwhile, sounded quite lovable and lively herself over the phone from London. She earned very favorable reviews when the Jane Eyre miniseries aired last year in England, and is in great demand. She was talking as she was riding in a car on her way back from rehearsals for the TV drama Capturing Mary, in which she plays the young version of a journalist portrayed by Maggie Smith.

She finds that amusing because it's Smith's son, Toby Stephens, who plays her sexy yet moody Rochester, who is haunted by his past love life.

"I called Toby and he went quiet when I told him I was playing his mom. He found that a bit weird," Wilson says, laughing. (...)

Wilson's only previous TV role was Jewel Diamond in the sitcom, Suburban Shootout, on Britain's Channel Five.

"She was a bit of a floozy really, a young teenager after anything in trousers," she says, describing Diamond's short skirts, fake tan, heavy makeup and big hair. "To go from that to Jane Eyre, which covers up every bit of flesh you've got and takes off all makeup, was a sort of fantastic switch. Both were really interesting characters to play, but I think I prefer Jane Eyre." (Bridget Byrne)

Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV