Matthew Macfadyen’s role as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice has gone down in cinematic history – but the actor has now shared doubts about the role.
The Emmy winning actor, 49, starred as one of Jane Austen’s most adored characters, Mr. Darcy, opposite Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Bennett in the acclaimed 2005 adaptation.
His embodiment of the aloof but ultimately tender-hearted aristocrat – following in the footsteps of Colin Firth’s stint in the 1995 BBC drama – won over fans and critics alike.
The film comfortably sits at an impressive 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes score and has secured its status as a must-watch period drama to this day. In particular, certain scenes still regularly go viral on social media for perfectly encapsulating the allure of fictional men.
This includes the moment his hand flexes while helping Lizzie into her carriage and, of course, Darcy’s endlessly quotable confession of love to Lizzie in the pouring rain.
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Despite the outpouring of adoration for his character, in a recent interview the Succession star admitted he ‘didn’t really enjoy’ filming it.
‘I feel bad saying that. There were moments I had a good time, but I wish I enjoyed it more. I wish I was less worried about it. I felt a bit miscast, like, “I’m not dishy enough.” But it worked out.’
Although, he added to CBS Mornings, that he was delighted to still be recognised as Mr. Darcy so many years on.
‘The most flattering thing that happens to me now is people say, “Were you Mr. Darcy?” It’s a good 20 years later. So I think, “I can’t be ageing that badly.”‘
If anything, the Deadpool & Wolverine actor easily proved he was the perfect fit for the role after beating out the competition.
Fellow actor Tom Hardy, 46, once admitted that he also auditioned for the Joe Wright movie but was brutally rejected by ex-head of Universal Pictures Stacey Snider.
He recalled her telling him: ‘”Babe, every woman in the world has an impression of who Darcy is and you’re just not it.”‘.
The Mad Max star added to the Telegraph: ‘That hurt, that really hurt.
‘I’d worn a blue shirt and jeans and a blue blazer and been doing my best Hugh Grant impression. But now I was back to playing the wonky skewiff-teeth kid with the bow legs.’
At the time the director explained that casting superstar Keira, 39, had allowed him to choose the lesser-known Matthew.
In the interview with Movie Freak he praised Matthew as ‘one of the best actors of his generation in England.
‘But, also, I knew he would approach the role like any good actor should, and that’s from the point-of-view of trying to understand the character,’ he added.
And he wasn’t wrong. In fact, his interpretation was so captivating that Golden Globe winner Ayo Edebiri recently admitted she was once grounded for her obsession with him.
‘She [told me she] was grounded, because she had a screensaver of me as Mr. Darcy on her laptop. Good parenting. I haven’t heard that [before],’ he recalled about meeting the actor.