Meet the new Bennet sisters

Production has begun on a new six-episode Netflix adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The new series is written by Dolly Alderton, the creator of Everything I Know About Love, and directed by the excellently named Euros Lyn, an award-winning director who has worked on everything from Dr. Who (David Tennant era) to Sherlock to Happy Valley to Daredevil to Heartstopper. I’m definitely not worried about how the new P&P will look with Euros Lyn at the helm. The new series also stars Emma Corrin as Lizzie Bennet, and Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy. That is excellent casting.

The rest of the cast is really solid, too. Rufus Sewell and Olivia Colman will star as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet—I can practically HEAR Colman exclaiming, “My nerves!”; Industry’s Freya Mavor stars as Jane; Heartstopper’s Rhea Norwood stars as Lydia; and newcomers Hollie Avery and Hopey Parish round out the Bennet sisters as Kitty and Mary, respectively. Mr. Wickham is played by Louis Partridge—who dated Sydney Chandler when he was around 17/18 and she was like 25, interesting, interesting—and Fiona Shaw is taking on Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Here are the new Bennet ladies:

But the casting I am most excited about? Jamie Demetriou is playing Mr. Collins, one of Jane Austen’s silliest vicars. I LOVE Jamie Demetriou, he is a scene stealer and Fleabag’s “tooth man” and a brilliant comedian and the mind behind Stath Lets Flats, one of the most underappreciated-outside-the-UK sitcoms. (He’s also the brother of Natasia Demetriou, star of What We Do in the Shadows. Talented family!) Demetriou excels at strange characters and awkward humor, honestly, he’s BORN to play one of Austen’s silly vicars. I legit can’t wait to see what he does with Mr. Collins. 

People are prepared to be deeply not normal about the new P&P, though, because the casting is diverse. The new Bingleys are portrayed by Black actors Daryl McCormack as Mr. Bingley, and Siena Kelly as Caroline Bingley. McCormack starred with Emma Thompson in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, and Kelly stars in the latest batch of Black Mirror episodes. Mrs. Gardiner will be played by Anjana Vasan, a South Asian actress. Compared to other series like Bridgerton, the new P&P isn’t all that diverse, but you know that won’t matter to some people. They’re already mad.

Others, though, aren’t mad so much as cautious. After all, do we NEED another version of Pride and Prejudice? The BBC made what many consider to be the definitive version in 1995, with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth as Lizzie and Darcy, and then in 2005 came the excellent feature film version starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. But I remember a similar conversation about Joe Wright’s film back in 2005, with plenty of people wondering why re-do P&P when the BBC already nailed it? Well, why do people keep remaking Romeo & Juliet?

Some stories are just beloved! I will watch every version of P&P just as I’ve read every speculative spin-off and/or sequel book. (Janice Hadlow’s The Other Bennet Sister, about Mary Bennet, is really good.) I love Pride and Prejudice, I’ve read it at least a dozen times, I am the audience for any and all new iterations of the story. Especially when they star Jamie Demetriou as Mr. Collins, seriously, THAT is the casting we should be most excited about.