Collar City Brownstone: Mr. Darcy

I created a poll that ran for just over a month and ended very early this morning. The question was what Jane Austen hero do you want to see British actor Richard Armitage portray? The choices were Mr. Darcy, Captain Wentworth, Mr. Knightley or Colonel Brandon.

The very dashingly handsome and very tall Richard Armitage.

The winning Jane Austen hero is..................(drum roll please).

For a while Captain Wentworth was leading in the poll, but at the eleventh hour Mr. Darcy gained some votes and tied with Captain Wentworth for the lead. Therefore both characters are the winners. No one voted for Mr. Knightley and Colonel Brandon received three votes. Mr Darcy and Captain Wentworth received seven votes each. I am sorry if you are just learning about this poll and didn't get to vote. I will run other polls in the future regarding Richard Armitage so stay tuned.

I would love to see Richard Armitage portray Mr. Darcy, but I most want to see him portray Captain Wentworth. I love Mr. Darcy, but I am more in love with the sea faring Captain Wentworth. I enjoyed reading Persuasion more than I did Pride and Prejudice. The Captain is less "stiff" than Mr. Darcy and also less concerned with what others think. Captain Wentworth is a free spirit and self made man whom I think would be a lot of fun to be married to.

Actor Ciaran Hinds who was Captain Wentworth in the 1995 movie version of Persuasion was 42 years old when he played the role. Captain Wentworth is 32 in the book. Ciaran Hinds did look a bit too old to be the Captain, but I still prefer his portrayal over Rupert Penry-Jones. Richard Armitage is now 41 as of this post, but he is a younger looking 41 than Ciaran Hinds was when he was that age. I think that Mr. Armitage can easily pass for a 35 year old man which is not much older than Captain Wentworth.

We all know that Richard Armitage already knows how to do period drama performances after he portrayed John Thornton in the BBC North and South. Mr. Armitage looks so handsome wearing a cravat too. John Thornton is a self made man just like Captain Wentworth.

The BBC Filming of North and South.

As mill owner John Thornton, Mr Armitage certainly knows how to "eyeball" the object of his desire. I would love to be in Margaret Hale's shoes.

As John Thornton, Richard Armitage also knows how to lock lips, but this is how he looks at Margaret first before going for the gold.

A kiss like this will make any woman's toes curl up. Yeah, I see Richard Armitage very clearly as Captain Wentworth. Someone in Hollywood or the BBC had better take note. A remake of Persuasion starring Richard Armitage is a guarantee blockbuster movie.

One of my favorite movies is Pride & Prejudice based on the classic book written by Jane Austen. There have been several film adaptations of Pride & Prejudice throughout the years, but I have not seen them all yet. Everyone has their favorite Mr. Darcy. Colin Firth is the popular favorite of many, and while I agree that Mr. Firth did a great job as Mr. Darcy he is not my personal favorite. So far the best Mr. Darcy is Matthew MacFadyen.

To me Colin Firth wore the period clothes better than Matthew MacFadyen but his portrayal of Mr. Darcy is missing the passion that Matthew displayed in the 2005 movie version of P&P. It is worth going to see just for the first proposal scene. Matthews eyes, body language and the way he spoke his lines was superbly down. He draws you in and you wish that it was you that he was proposing to.

Actor Matthew MacFadyen

Matthew MacFadyen in his role as Mr. Darcy

Mr. Darcy's first proposal scene to Elizabeth in the rain.

My personal favorite Elizabeth Bennett is Jennifer Ehle because she portrays the character in a way that is more true to the time period. Keira Knightley's rendition steps out of the box too much for this period drama. Many fans like that which is fine; I simply prefer a more true to the time period character portrayal.