Entertainment
First look at Olivia Colman’s eerie Miss Havisham revealed for BBC’s Great Expectations and she looks hauntingly perfect-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro
Charles Dickens’ novel has been adapted on screen several times.
Olivia takes on the iconic Charles Dickens role (Picture: BBC/FX Networks/Miya Mizuno)
There’s been no shortage of actresses who’ve played Miss Havisham in Great Expectations over the years, from Gillian Anderson to Helena Bonham Carter.
Oscar winner Olivia Colman is now the latest to take on the role of the character created by Charles Dickens in an upcoming BBC adaptation – and if the first look is anything to go by, she’s captured the essence of the eerie spinster to a tee.
The Favourite star has been revealed in character in two newly-released pictures, showing her acting opposite Pip actor Fionn Whitehead and Estella actress Shalom Brune-Franklin.
In the photo of Olivia and Fionn, Miss Havisham is holding Pip by the chin, her hair turned grey and her wedding veil still adorned on her head after she was jilted at the altar years previously.
Miss Havisham gazes directly at Pip’s face, as he looks back at her, seemingly bemused by the woman standing before him in her wedding gown.
In the second image, Miss Havisham is standing up in an ornate, cobwebbed room, leaning on her walking stick to keep her upright while a shocked or fatigued expression dawns on her face.
Miss Havisham appraises the young Pip (Picture: BBC/FX Networks/Miya Mizuno)
Line of Duty’s Shalom Brune-Franklin plays Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter Estella (Picture: BBC/FX Networks/Miya Mizuno)
Estella is sitting down nearby, seemingly unperturbed by her companion as she reads something on a piece of parchment.
In the novel Great Expectations, which was first published between 1860 and 1861 in serialised form, Miss Havisham welcomes Pip into her home as a companion, to join her and her adopted daughter Estella.
Filming on the limited series is currently underway (Picture: David M. Benett/Getty Images)
While Pip falls in love with Estella, Estella is taught from a young age by Miss Havisham not to love men, which results in there being a roadblock in their relationship.
The latest adaptation of the story, by the BBC and FX, will be a six-part limited series.
Fionn Whitehead played the lead role in Dunkirk (Picture: Jim Spellman/WireImage)
Shalom’s Line of Duty character Chloë is a fan favourite (Picture: BBC/World Productions/Steffan Hill)
The cast also boasts actors including Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle, Rudi Dharmalingam and Matt Berry.
Fionn previously starred in Dunkirk and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, earning a nomination for the Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer for the former.
Shalom has starred in a variety of dramas including Our Girl, Doctor Doctor and War of the Worlds, as well as The Tourist alongside Jamie Dornan and Line of Duty as DC Chloë Bishop.
Great Expectations will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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