‘Emma’ cast news: ‘Durrells’ and ‘Call the Midwife’ stars join new Jane Austen movie

An all-star line-up of British period drama stars has been announced for Emma.

Based on Jane Austen’s classic 1815 novel, the new movie adaptation from the producers of Winston Churchill drama The Darkest Hour was announced last December.

Emma began filming in England last week, with The Miniaturist star Anya Taylor-Joy playing the iconic title character.

The 22-year-old American-born British-Argentine actress will also appear in the upcoming fifth season of Peaky Blinders, set to air this summer on BBC One in the UK.

She’ll be joined in Emma by Bill Nighy (Love Actually) as Emma’s father Mr. Woodhouse, comedian Miranda Hart (Call the Midwife) as Miss Bates, and Josh O’Connor (The Durrells) as Mr. Elton.

The cast also includes Johnny Flynn (Vanity Fair) as George Knightley, Mia Goth as Harriet Smith, Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts 2) as Frank Churchill, Rupert Graves (Sherlock) as Mr. Weston, Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones) as Mrs. Weston, Amber Anderson as Jane Fairfax, and Tanya Reynolds as Mrs. Elton.

The script for Emma has been written by The Luminaries author Eleanor Catton.

The BBC’s new TV adaptation of The Luminaries began filming in New Zealand last autumn, starring Eva Green (Penny Dreadful).

Jane Austen’s Emma novel is available on Amazon.