By Jennifer Abella
Maybe it’s that the acting community is small. Or that Great Britain is small. Or that the world of Jane Austen adaptations is very, very small. But people are connected in unexpected ways. Take, for example, “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” — the theory that you can connect any actor to Kevin Bacon within six degrees. We ran several actors from three “Persuasion” adaptations through a web site called “The Oracle of Bacon” to see how they’re connected. This is what we found:
Ciarán Hinds (1995 “Persuasion) was in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” (2011) with Michael Gambon, who was in “Charlotte Gray” (2001) with Rupert Penry-Jones (2007 “Persuasion”). Gambon plays Mr. Woodhouse in the 2005 “Emma.”
Bryan Marshall (1971 “Persuasion”) was in “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” (1968) with Corin Redgrave, who was in “Persuasion” (1995) with Ciarán Hinds. Redgrave plays Sir Walter in the 1995 “Persuasion.”
Bryan Marshall was in “Persuasion” (1971) with Georgine Anderson, who was in “Whitechapel” (2009) with Rupert Penry-Jones. Anderson plays Mrs. Croft in the 1971 “Persuasion.”
Ann Firbank (1971 “Persuasion”) was in TV’s “Elizabeth I” (2005) with Anna Steel was in TV’s “Daniel Deronda” (2002) with Amanda Root (1995 “Persuasion”).
Ann Firbank was in TV’s “The Treasure Seekers” (1996) with Keira Knightley, who was in “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” (1999) with Sally Hawkins (2007 “Persuasion”). Knightley is Elizabeth Bennet in the 2005 “Pride & Prejudice.”
Sally Hawkins was in “Vera Drake” (2004) with Jim Broadbent, who was in “The Iron Lady” (2011) with Amanda Root.
Annes & Wentworths
Rupert Penry-Jones was in “Still Crazy” (1998) with Rachael Stirling, who was in “Their Finest” (2016) with Amanda Root.
Rupert Penry-Jones was in TV’s “Spooks” (2002) with Gemma Jones, who was in “An Evil Streak” (1999) with Ann Firbank. Jones was Mrs. Dashwood in Emma Thompson’s “Sense & Sensibility.”
Sally Hawkins was in “Godzilla” (2014) with Primo Allon, who was in “The Driftless Area” (2015) with Ciarán Hinds.
Sally Hawkins was in “Paddington” (2014) with Nicole Kidman, who was in “BMX Bandits” (1983) with Bryan Marshall.
Ciarán Hinds was in “Persuasion” with John Woodvine was in “Darling” (1965) with Ann Firbank.
Amanda Root was in “Jane Eyre” (1996) with Edward de Souza was in “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977) with Bryan Marshall.
David Savile (1971 “Persuasion”) was in TV’s “Cambridge Spies” (2003) with Samuel West (1995 “Persuasion”), who was in TV’s “Eternal Law” (2012) with Tobias Menzies (2007 “Persuasion”).