Want to play one of Jane Austen’s male romantic heroes in the movies? Don’t bother to audition unless you’re at least 6 feet tall. (Well, maybe you can squeak by at just a shade under.) Consider the evidence:
- Colin Firth (Mr. Darcy, “Pride and Prejudice”), 6’1”
- Jeremy Northam (Mr. Knightley, “Emma”), 6’2”
- JJ Feild (Mr. Tilney, “Northanger Abbey”), 6’1”
- Matthew McFadyen (Mr. Darcy, “Pride and Prejudice”), 6’3”
- Mark Strong (Mr. Knightley, “Emma”), 6’2”
- Ciaran Hinds (Captain Wentworth, “Persuasion”), 6’1”
- Rupert Penry-Jones (Captain Wentworth, “Persuasion”), 6’2”
- Alan Rickman (Col. Brandon, “Sense and Sensibility”), 6’1”
- David Rintoul (Mr. Darcy, “Pride and Prejudice”), height unknown but it’s obvious that he’s pretty tall
- Elliot Cowan (Mr. Darcy, “Lost in Austen”), 6’2″
Exceptions that prove the rule:
- Laurence Olivier, (Mr. Darcy, “Pride and Prejudice”), 5’10”. But then, if you can act like Olivier, who cares how tall you are?
- Hugh Grant (Edward Ferrars, “Sense and Sensibility”), who stands a mere 5’11.” It’s hard to imagine not casting one of England’s hugely popular romantic leads in at least one Austen flick, though, so he squeaks in.
- Jonny Lee Miller (Edmund Bertram, “Mansfield Park”), 5’11”
I’ll take Alan Rickman, Matthew McFadyen, and Ciaran Hinds (in that order). . .18 feet and counting 🙂
Not Colin Firth? Traitor! 😉