Emma Spotlight: Romola Garai
In honor of the new BBC adaptation of Emma that's finally airing stateside, I thought my ever fun to do actor spotlights should be Austen centric, concentrating on some of the couples of Highbury. Without further ado I bring you the actress playing the mischievous matchmaker herself....
Name: Romola Garai
First Impression: As the heart-breaker, Gwendolen Harleth, who gets more then she bargained for from a domineering Hugh Bonneville in Daniel Deronda.
Lasting Impression: Vanity Fair with Reese Witherspoon. Now I'm not saying I'm endorsing this movie or even liking it, I just thought that Romola was magnificently cast and then the director didn't even get the point of the book... there is NO HEROINE! You can't make Becky redeemable because she's being played by Reese! Directors and their radical ideas... get the best cast possible and then ruin it. Just watch the Andrew Davies version, it's very close to perfection.
What else you've seen them in: From smaller roles in BBC productions she's been working her way up in the film world. Though I've loved her since first seeing Daniel Deronda she probably didn't get more well known till Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights or get the critical acclaim she deserved till Atonement, but she's always at the top of her game. I loved her in As You Like It and the new Emma adaptation.
Can't believe it's them: She has to dance with Mister Collins from P&P in I Capture the Castle... ewwww, David Bamber, creepy, icky. I actually felt slightly unclean after this scene.
Wish they hadn't: Atonement... I know, I know, people love it and she got lots of critical acclaim, I just couldn't stand it. I was either wanting to feed Keira Knightly or counting the holes on the ceiling. They stretched it out and made it an unbearable bore, plus overly predictable. Just panning shots of the beach do not a good WWII drama make, pick any episode of Foyle's War and it captured it better than this snooze fest.
Bio: Keep an eye on her, she's going to be huge one day... perhaps quite soon. Also I'm really looking forward to Glorious 39, the new Stephen Poliakoff film that she's starring in with a who's who of Brits, from David Tennant to Christopher Lee! Plus the last lead of a Poliakoff... could that be a little lady by the name of Emily Blunt? And as a total random aside... I want her archery dress from Daniel Deronda.
