I have seen three adaptations and to me the quintessential Darcy is Colin Firth. I also liked the way that film stayed close to the book, and the sets seemed more real. It showed the house, clothes, and possessions of the Bennets to be more typical of the "shabby genteel" class that they were becoming at that point.
shareMatthew Macfadyen in the 2005 film is my favorite so far.
Cheese fries...next time.
Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy has no equal. He is the best. Because he is such a superb actor, he was able to give Darcy more personality. Of course he is unbelievably handsome in the mini series.
shareI still adore David Rintoul as Darcy. When I read the book, I think of him. He's aloof and aristocratic, just as Austen tells us he is.
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Colin Firth is the best Darcy.
shareI agree.
shareAn absurd question which could have only been posited by a fan of the book, with no regard for film acting, films, or direction whatever. The only thing that matters for you Austen-heads is how well does an actor/actress match YOUR OWN conception of the character as you read it.
Meaningless.
A more apt question would be: which performance would you rather watch over and over and to that question there can only be one answer: that of Sir Laurence Olivier. Any other answer is just, well, silly, like all Austen novels.
Well then I should change my answer to Sir Laurence Olivier! I've only seen his version once and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. TCM will be showing it again this Monday, so I'll give it another shot.
I first viewed this version of P & P today and I thought that Garson and Olivier had no chemistry whatsoever.
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