Henry James’s classic novel ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ is to be adapted as Masterpiece on PBS and BBC, starring Bill Nighy, Gemma Arterton and Nell Tiger Free.
Game of Thrones star Flea will lead the six-episode limited series as Isabel Archer, the main character in James’ New World who leaves America for Europe in search of adventure.
“Isabelle, an attractive young woman with an innate wildness and a burning desire for independence, turns down a series of marriage proposals, but when she inherits an unexpected fortune that grants her freedom, she falls prey to the schemes of two American expatriates: the elegant Madame Merle and the charming but calculating Gilbert Osmond,” the synopsis reads.
Arterton (The Secret Service) plays Merle and Jim Sturgess (One Day) plays Osmond. Bill Nighy (“Joy”) joins Miranda Richardson (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) as Mr. Touchet, Archer’s uncle and aunt, Mrs. Touchet.
Rounding out the cast are Jack Wolfe (Shadow and Bone) as Ralph Touchette, Calypso Cragg (Austen’s American) as Pansy Osmond, and Maisie Li as Henrietta Stackpole. The cast includes Chardson Sellers (Nine Perfect Strangers), Hugh Skinner (Two Weeks in August) as Lord Warburton, Hamish Frew (Dear England) as Casper Goodwood, and Thomas. Coombs (The Agency) plays Mr. Buntling, Lydia Leonard (Down Cemetery Road) plays Countess Gemini, and Dean-Charles Chapman (1917) plays Edward Rozier.
Directed by Aisling Walsh (Miss Austen), written by She Said screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz. The series has already begun production and will be filmed in the UK, Hungary and Croatia.
“The Portrait of a Lady” is produced by Number 9 Film Television and Masterpiece in association with FOX Entertainment Global.
Executive producers are Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen of Number 9 Films TV in association with Beta Film GmbH. Richard Turk Hart (High Road Entertainment) is co-executive producer and series producer is Rhonda Smith (“Two Weeks in August”).
“We are thrilled to see Nell Tiger Free take on the iconic role of Isabel Archer and Jim Sturgess in the equally iconic role of Gilbert Osmond,” Woolley and Carlsen said in a statement. “It’s surprising that James’s visionary story hasn’t been made for television for nearly 60 years, but like all great works, it’s definitely worth the wait.”
The series is set to debut on PBS Masterpiece in the U.S. and Canada, the PBS app, and PBS Masterpiece on Prime Video. It will be released in the UK on BBC One and iPlayer. A release date has not yet been announced.
Fox Entertainment Global will handle worldwide distribution. Tarc Hart and Liz Tan of Fox Entertainment Global brokered the deal.
