Entertainment
Persuasion star Lydia Rose Bewley on working with Richard E Grant, doomed corset dreams and ‘utter magic’ of The Inbetweeners-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
The Inbetweeners actress is fulfilling her acting dream by starring in a Jane Austen period drama.
Bewley appears with Richard E Grant, Dakota Johnson and Henry Golding in the latest Austen adaptation (Picture: Netflix/Getty)
Netflix’s new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, with Dakota Johnson in the lead, arrives on the platform on Friday.
There was a lot of loud reaction to the trailer when it was released back in June as fans saw Anne Elliot interpreted in a new, bold way by Johnson, with comedy being more overtly central to the character and the story as she struggles with the heartbreak of a broken engagement seven years prior.
Alongside Johnson, the cast is rounded out by the likes of Cosmo Jarvis as leading man Captain Wentworth, Henry Golding, Richard E Grant, Yolanda Kettle, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ben Bailey Smith (aka rapper Doc Brown) and Lydia Rose Bewley.
Bewley, perhaps best known for her role as Jane in the two Inbetweeners movies, plays Mrs Penelope Clay, a ‘manipulative’ widow looking to secure an advantageous match.
Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, Bewley added: ‘I would almost say that she is like a baddie in a way, but she gets away with it because she’s charming in a ridiculous, comedic way. She is after money: she’s a gold-digger and very flirtatious but in a really gross, out there kind of way [and] very obvious about it!’
The actress, who describes herself as ‘an Austen lover’, admitted that she had previously always wanted to play classic Austen heroine Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice but found this role ‘so much fun’.
(L-R) Bewley as Mrs Penelope Clay, Richard E Grant as Sir Walter Elliot, Dakota Johnson as Anne Elliot and Yolanda Kettle as Elizabeth Elliot (Picture: Netflix/Nick Wall)
The actress recalled how Richard E Grant inspired her after four years away from the screen (Picture: Luca Teuchmann/WireImage)
‘I don’t think [Elizabeth] would suit me at all, whereas Mrs Clay in Persuasion is my cup of tea. She’s so funny – and then playing off Richard E Grant, who is brilliant. It was just wonderful to play her.’
Grant plays Anne’s father, Sir Walter Elliot, a vain and foolish man who Austen enjoys deliciously skewering with her narration in the 1817 novel.
Bewley confirms that the Withnail and I actor is just as lovely as everyone might hope, and also credited him with ‘really helping’ her during the making of the film.
‘He brought out the best in me because I haven’t worked for maybe four years on camera. I had my child, and then things happen and obviously lockdown happened. I was quite nervous, and Richard really, really helped me. He’s just so gregarious and goes for it. It’s almost like he doesn’t have that voice that stops you from going for it and sometimes I do. He was great fun.’
The Plebs star revealed that she had ‘one hell of a time’ during casting for the project as she found out she was pregnant with her second child just ahead of receiving the offer – and was also getting set to marry her partner.
‘Baddie’ Penelope Clay snakes her way into the Elliot household via her friendship with Anne’s sister Elizabeth (Picture: Netflix/Nick Wall)
However, the team were supportive and adaptable when it came to her pregnancy, although it did accidentally thwart one of her childhood ambitions.
‘I got my dream job in a period drama, and an Austen – because it was the 1995 Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice that I was obsessed with when I was 11 years old – and unfortunately because I was pregnant, I wasn’t allowed to wear a corset. I’m not joking when I say I was really gutted!
‘[The production team] did so well though, they got me a pregnancy corset, which was amazing. They had this thing made for me, which was just so kind and made me feel a little bit less first-trimester pregnant!’
Talking about the film’s new take on Austen, from a screenplay by Rain Man and Dangerous Minds veteran Ron Bass and newcomer Alice Victoria Winslow, and directed by theatre star Carrie Cracknell – making her directorial debut in cinema – Bewley spoke about how its differences will attract new viewers.
Bewley, a self-confessed ‘Austen lover’, didn’t get to realise her dreams of wearing a corset (Picture: Netflix/Nick Wall)
‘I love being true to the material, and the period and everything – and this does that, but it opens it up to new and younger audience, which is important,’ she explained. ‘And it tells it in a witty way, and comedy helps to do that. With the breaking of the fourth wall, that’s great. That’s something that will bring the audience along with Anne and it’s relatively new in Austen.’
Describing this take on the story as ‘very daring and entertaining’, she added: ‘Pride and Prejudice gets a lot of attention and Persuasion is now getting that attention, which is what it deserves because it’s a beautiful novel – and it’s my favourite. It’s a beautiful and actually very relatable story.’
Seeing Johnson’s Anne break the fourth wall and narrate her own story in the trailer provoked strong feelings in some Austen purists, who also objected to seeing Anne – previously portrayed as gentle, even meek – appear more bold, sarcastic and slightly clumsy.
Bewley was quite surprised to see the reaction from the public to Anne breaking the fourth wall – which led to quick Fleabag comparisons – because ‘as an actor, it’s just something thing that you do’.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
‘It’s a powerful thing to do, to break the fourth wall. It makes you feel as an audience member that you’re included in Anne Elliot’s journey and her story – and you are seeing more of her than you would do without it. It lets you in and that’s not what people are used to with Austen, unless you’re reading the book, of course. But I think it’s a very clever tool to use and I think Dakota does that it really well.’
She gushes over her co-star as ‘supremely talented and very good at what she does’.
The Fifty Shades actress might not be an immediately obvious casting choice for a British period drama, especially as an American, but Bewley is a big fan of what she brings to the part.
‘I think it’s very difficult [for Johnson] because when you’ve grown up around the culture of Austen, it’s there all the time isn’t it, so you just tap into that – but she’s done that very well. She’s also brought herself to the part. It’s new version of Anne Elliot and it’s Dakota Johnson’s version of Anne Elliot, and she does a cracking job and brings her quirks to it and makes it a really enjoyable character that’s very different to other Anne Elliots – and in a good way.’
The actress praised her co-star Dakota Johnson as having done ‘a cracking job’ with her version of heroine Anne Elliot (Picture: Netflix/Nick Wall)
Persuasion’s eligible bachelors are played by Henry Golding and Cosmo Jarvis (Picture: Netflix/Nick Wall)
‘The comedic side of Anne comes out, which I know is like “a thing” for people, but it is there in the writing,’ she added.
Bewley was also thrilled to work with Cracknell, a ‘fabulous director’.
‘She is so kind and so caring and so supportive. You never felt judged by Carrie; she just let you do what you want, she trusted you. That’s gold dust as an actor!’
Since her onscreen debut in The Inbetweeners, Bewley has appeared in several other successful projects including Roman comedy Plebs, The Royals with Dame Joan Collins and Elizabeth Hurley, and flat-sharing comedy Drifters with her Inbetweeners co-star Jessica Knappett.
However, Inbetweeners is still the project that garners her the most recognition, even more than a decade on from her first appearance – not that Bewley has any problem with that.
Bewley is ‘forever grateful’ for her role in The Inbetweeners (Picture: Film4)
‘It was my breakout role. Before that, I was a nanny, and I was dropped by my agent. So, when Inbetweeners came along, it was like utter magic. I will always be forever grateful for what happened with me getting that part.
‘I never saw myself in comedy. They saw me in comedy. That’s what kept happening. Every time I got another role, I was like, “Oh, they see me funny. Okay, I must be funny then.”’
More: Trending
Recounting a recent encounter in a Scarborough hotel with a fan called Tom, she recalled: ‘He was 20 years old, but he would have been nine when it came out – and he was such a big fan of The Inbetweeners. He couldn’t quite get that out enough, how much he loved The Inbetweeners! I’m very proud to be a part of it, and it gave me my career.’
Highlighting her friendship with its creators and stars, she added: ‘The whole thing felt like magic. It always does. When you land a part and think, “Gosh, I’ll be sitting in a green room with all these people that I’ve seen on telly.
‘It’s such a dream and The Inbetweeners is right there at the top.’
Persuasion is in select UK cinemas now and streams on Netflix from July 15.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Keke Palmer praises Nope director Jordan Peele for ‘normalising’ Black actors in lead roles
Entertainment – MetroRead More
