By Leonie Corcoran
20th Jun 2019
20th Jun 2019
We’ve been looking forward to the new adaptation of ‘Little Women’ and after seeing the first stills, we are even more excited
Saoirse Ronan and Emma Watson are the picture of sisterhood in newly released photographs from Greta Gerwig’s upcoming adaptation of Little Women.
Greta shared photos of the March sisters in the new edition of Vanity Fair. It’s a tale we love from childhood – and a must-read or watch if you haven’t had the joy yet. In this version, it is a cast to love – Ronan plays Jo, Emma features as Meg, Florence Pugh as Amy and Eliza Scanlen as Beth. And if that’s not enough to make you want to call the girls and plan a movie night, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep play family matriarchs Marmee and Aunt March.
Lady Bird
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is one of the most popular books in history. Back in 1868, the first volume sold out its initial run of 2,000 copies and the novel has never been out of print since. Saoirse’s character Jo is a determined, stubborn tomboy with a flair for writing. Katharine Hepburn and Winona Ryder have both played her in the past, so Saoirse is joining some good company.
Greta’s critically acclaimed directorial debut was Lady Bird, which also featured Saoirse alongside Timothée Chalamet, who is back here as boy-next-door Theodore “Laurie” Laurence.
In Little Women, Laurie develops an “intense friendship” with Jo, but it doesn’t become romantic. If you don’t know the story (and you really should), Laurie’s marriage proposal is denied, which is a nice twist on what took place when Chalamet played boyfriend Kyle Scheible in Lady Bird.
Saoirse told Vanity Fair, “I loved that in Lady Bird, (Chalamet) was the one that broke my heart, but I got to break his heart in Little Women.”
Clothes swap
In this adaptation, Greta looks at their relationship in new ways, even having the pair swap clothes on set.
“Jo is a girl with a boy’s name, Laurie is a boy with a girl’s name,” she says. “In some ways, they are each other’s twins.”
Leaning into this, costume director Jacqueline Durran had the two actors subtly exchange items of clothing throughout the film, further blurring the lines between where Jo begins and Laurie ends.
“They find each other before they’ve committed to a gender,” Greta told Vanity Fair. “It wouldn’t be wrong to call Saoirse handsome and Timothée beautiful. Both have a slightly androgynous quality that makes them perfect for these characters.”
Sisters
Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 version of Little Women, starring Winona alongside Susan Sarandon and Christian Bale, was nominated for three Oscars in 1995 for actress, costume design and original score. It was released the year Saoirse was born and filming the story gave her a special opportunity, she told Vanity Fair. “I got to have sisters,” she told the US magazine.
It was also an opportunity to work with Greta again – something both women speak passionately about.
“I’m so blessed to work with (Saoirse) twice,” Greta says. “She’s such a filmmaker as an actor. She’s like a barometer of… that truth that rings true.”
Over to Saoirse: “In the truest sense of the word, I just idolise her,” she says about the director.
And with all that positive chat, now we really can’t wait to celebrate our sisters and friends and watch this when it’s out at the end of the year.
Photographs: Vanity Fair Instagram, Wilson Webb
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