Fans of Joe Wright’s 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice have Emma Thompson to thank for one of its most memorable lines.
The big screen version of Jane Austen’s classic novel, which starred Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy, is about to return to cinemas to mark its 20th anniversary.
To celebrate the film’s milestone birthday, Wright, who has since directed films such as Atonement, Anna Karenina and Darkest Hour, revealed how Thompson played a key role in creating one of the most loved moments in the script.
Midway through the film, Elizabeth discovers that her close friend Charlotte Lucas (Claudie Blakley) has accepted a marriage proposal from Mr Collins (Tom Hollander), the cringe-worthy curate who Elizabeth has previously rejected herself.
Defending her decision, Charlotte tells Elizabeth: “I’m 27 years old. I’ve no money and no prospects. I’m already a burden to my parents, and I’m frightened.”
She then warns Elizabeth not to judge her for opting for a stable, albeit loveless, marriage rather than chasing romance.
In the years since the film’s release, the line has become a meme for fans of the adaptation, with many suggesting that it inadvertently captures the sense of dislocation felt by some millennial and Gen Z viewers.
In an interview with Mashable, Wright revealed that he and screenwriter Deborah Moggach approached Thompson, who had previously won an Oscar for her adaptation of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, for some assistance with “a little bit of the dialogue”.
“Deborah Moggach wrote the screenplay and did an amazing, amazing job, and then we asked Emma Thompson to help with a little bit of the dialogue,” Wright explained.
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“And I went round to her house, very nervous, with my little briefcase, and we walked up onto Hampstead Heath onto a hill. And she said, ‘Sit down, take out your notebook and take notes.’”
Then, Wright said, “as she improvised scenes, [he] wrote them down”. One of those scenes was Charlotte’s speech.
“And I remember her just coming out with those lines and me scribbling them down,” he said. “And her ending with, ‘Don’t judge me, Lizzy, don’t you dare judge me.’”
Wright revealed that he ended up “almost crying” at what Thompson had “just miraculously” come up with, and said that the scene continues to resonate with viewers because “there’s a truth to it all”.
Pride and Prejudice will return to UK cinemas next week.
