Netflix's Pride & Prejudice Just Dropped a First Look — and Rufus Sewell's Here to Fix It
Netflix has released the first official image from its upcoming Pride and Prejudice series — and it's not just another Austen retread.
Production is underway in the U.K., and the cast is stacked with British talent, led by Rufus Sewell as Mr. Bennet.
For those unfamiliar: Sewell's had a career full of scene-stealing villains and sardonic charmers. He recently played a scheming prince in The Diplomat, a slimy news exec in Scoop, and even went toe-to-toe with John Adams as Alexander Hamilton. In other words — he knows how to carry a room, and probably how to carry a Bennet family.
The six-part series is being billed as a "faithful, classic adaptation" of Jane Austen's novel, but with Dolly Alderton (Everything I Know About Love) writing and Heartstopper's Euros Lyn directing, it's clear Netflix is going for prestige and watchability.
Alongside Sewell, the cast includes:
- Louis Partridge (Enola Holmes, Disclaimer) as Mr. Wickham
- Daryl McCormack (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) as Mr. Bingley
- Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter, Killing Eve) as Lady Catherine de Bourgh
- Jamie Demetriou (Barbie, Stath Lets Flats) as Mr. Collins
- Freya Mavor (Industry) as Jane Bennet
- Rhea Norwood (Heartstopper) as Lydia Bennet
- Siena Killy (Black Mirror) as Caroline Bingley
- Hollie Avery and Hopey Parish in their screen debuts as Kitty and Mary Bennet
The project also features Olivia Colman, Jack Lowden, and Emma Corrin — though their roles haven't been specified yet.
Additional supporting cast includes:
Anjana Vasan as Mrs. Gardiner, Sebastian Armesto as Mr. Gardiner, Rosie Cavaliero as Lady Lucas, Saffron Coomber as Mrs. Hurst, James Dryden as Mr. Hurst, Justin Edwards as Sir William Lucas, James Northcote as Colonel Forster, Eloise Webb as Harriet Forster, and Isabella Sermon as Georgiana Darcy.
Series writer Dolly Alderton said:
"Once in a generation, a group of people get to retell this wonderful story and I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of it. Pride and Prejudice is the blueprint for romantic comedy — it has been a joy to delve back into its pages to find both familiar and fresh ways of bringing this beloved book to life."
She added that she's excited to reintroduce the characters "to those who count Pride and Prejudice as their favourite book, and those who are yet to meet their Lizzie and Mr. Darcy."
The series is being produced by Lookout Point, a BBC Studios company, and will stream globally on Netflix. No premiere date has been announced yet, but the tone is already clear: this is Pride and Prejudice with serious pedigree — and maybe, finally, a Mr. Bennet who doesn't feel like a background prop.