Bonnets and Broomsticks: Where Harry Potter and Jane Austen Collide

I do have obsessions other than Austen, one of which is gearing up at the moment. It began a few weeks ago when I decided that a great project for all our planned summer driving would be to listen to the entire Harry Potter series on audio tape. My husband and I have both read the books several time, both together and on our own. It seems like once a year we can't help ourselves but devote at least a few weeks to Potter. Needless to say, instead of saving the audio books for long and tedious car rides, we spent most of our free time listening to the books as quickly as possible, once again unable to walk away from the tale. After finishing book seven, what else was there to do but rewatch all the films? Though I have anxiously awaited the release of each film, perhaps never before have I been as excited as now, with the first part of The Deathly Hallows coming out in November and the final installment next July. Two Harry Potter movies in less than a year is a worthy cause for massive elation in my world. Though the films are never quite up to the books, I continue to marvel at how well cast they are and how many of the actors have serious costume drama credentials. Daniel Radcliffe himself had his first role in the 1999 BBC adaptation of David Copperfield. Unfortunately, he has never been in an Austen adaptation. Neither has Emma Watson, despite tauntingly sharing her name with the heroine of Austen's unfinished novel, The Watsons, but so many of the other wonderful actors in these films have. So as to reprieve my husband from questioning each time we watch these movies (Do you know who he is? Do you recognize her?), I have compiled the following list. If there are any other Austen/Potter addicts out there who know of actors I have missed, please let me know, though I think I have been fairly thorough, providing images when I could find them.



Sam Beazley (who filled the small role of Everard in The Order of the Phoenix) is the vicar in the first episode of the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice.

Jim Broadbent (Professor Horace Slughorn) was Bridget's father in Bridget Jones's Diary.

Michael Gambon (Professor Albus Dumbledore in all but the first two films) played a particularly curmudgeonly Mr. Woodhouse in the 2009 production of Emma.

 

Genevieve Gaunt (Pansy Parkinson in The Prisoner of Askaban) was Georgiana Darcy in Lost in Austen.

Robert Hardy (Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge) was Sir John Middleton in the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility.

 

Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle) played Jude in Bridget Jones's Diary.

 Guy Henry (Pius Thicknesse in The Deathly Hallows: Part Two) played Mr. Collins in Lost in Austen and John Knightley in the 1996 TV version of Emma.

Gemma Jones (Madam Pomfrey) was Mrs. Dashwood in 1995's Sense and Sensibility and Bridget's mother in Bridget Jones's Diary. 

 

Alan Rickman (a perfect Professor Severeus Snape) was simply unforgettable as Colonel Brandon in the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility.

Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia Dursley) was Mrs. Croft in the 1995 version of Persuasion.

Though the amazing Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonagall) has for some curious reason never been in an Austen adaptation (I think she would be a phenomenal Mrs. Ferrars), she did play Lady Gresham in Becoming Jane.  

She was also Caro Eliza Bennett in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Just had to mention it.

Elizabeth Spriggs (The Fat Lady in The Sorceror's Stone) was Mrs. Jennings in Sense and Sensibility (1995).

Imelda Staunton (amazing as the vile Doloris Umbridge) played happy Charlotte Palmer in the 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. 

Emma Thompson (Professor Sybil Trelawney) is, of course, both Eleanor Dashwood in and the screenwriter of the 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.

Sophie Thompson (Mafalda Hopkirk in The Deathly Hallows: Part One) was Miss Bates in the 1996 Hollywood version of Emma and Mary Musgrove in the 1995 version of Persuasion. 

Julie Walters (Mrs. Molly Weasley) played Mrs. Austen in Becoming Jane.

Mark Williams (Mr. Arthur Weasley) was Sir Thomas Middleton in the 2008 production of Sense and Sensibility.

Images:
 

Jim Broadbent
http://movies.about.com/od/harrypotter6/ig/Harry-Potter-6-Photos/harrypotter6pic11.htm

Michael Gambon

http://interactive.wxxi.org/highlights/2009/12/masterpiece-classic-emma-part-1-3

 http://www.filmofilia.com/2009/03/26/brand-new-harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-character-posters/

Genevieve Gaunt

http://www.hotflick.net/pictures/big/008LIA_Genevieve_Gaunt_001.html

http://bloghogwarts.com/peliculas-de-harry-potter/genevieve-gaunt/ 

Robert Hardy

http://coffeenutt.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html

http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=7439

Shirley Henderson

http://www.monstersandcritics.de/artikel/200935/article_152109.php/Bridget-Jones-Schokolade-zum-Fr%C3%BChst%C3%BCck-02-10-2009-20-15-RTL-II

http://rdwf.org.uk/doctormeetspotter.htm

Guy Henry
http://janitesonthejames.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

http://austenefforts.bravehost.com/emma1997.html

Gemma Jones

http://enchantedserenityperiodfilms.blogspot.com/2010/05/victorian-impersonators-those-whove.html

http://floonetwork.co.uk/pages/about_madam_pomfrey.htm

Alan Rickman

http://exiledonline.com/harry-potter-and-the-blah-di-blah-blah                                                                                  

http://www.thevalueofone.com/?p=696

Fiona Shaw
http://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx?FilmID=26301

http://eachlittleworld.typepad.com/each_little_world/film/

Maggie Smith
http://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx?FilmID=28074

http://www.thecinemasource.com/blog/movies/becoming-jane/

Elizabeth Spriggs
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zCYl7FBnYL3Fba3_Zn9HSA

http://hubpages.com/hub/Mrs-Jennings-Guide-To-Love

Imelda Staunton

http://hermes.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/lctd/asp/works/350/study.htm

http://www.pictureshowpundits.com/index.php?target=article-detaile&article_id=81&column_id=38

Emma Thompson

 http://www.jimandellen.org/austen/janeausten.onfilm.html

http://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx?FilmID=26301

Sophie Thompson
http://www.jasna.org/info/bday-2009/ny-dec-recap.html

http://lacegrl130.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/another-emma/

Julie Walters
http://bloghogwarts.com/peliculas-de-harry-potter/julie-walters/

http://www.thecinemasource.com/blog/movies/becoming-jane/

Mark Williams
http://www.hotflick.net/pictures/big/004HPA_Mark_Williams_001.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/senseandsensibility/characters.html