Trivia for
Pride & Prejudice (2005) More at IMDbPro »

• Joe Wright was not initially keen on Keira Knightley playing Elizabeth, believing her to be too attractive. He changed his mind upon meeting her, deciding her tomboyish attitude would be perfect for the part
  
  
• Keira Knightley was preparing for her role in Domino (2005) while she was filming this, and had already cut her hair. She had to wear a wig during the last few weeks of filming and long sleeves to hide her muscles.
  
  
• The English Country Dances done in the film are: Young Widow, Wakefield Hunt, The Bishop, Dutch Dollars, Tythe Pig, Black Bess, Duke of Gloucester's March, and Moniek's Maggot (a modern composition done in the traditional style, danced in the film to a tune by Purcell.)
  
  
• The dinner table scene at Lady Catherine's was the first scene shot for the film. Elizabeth's conversation with Mr. Wickham under the tree was the last. Filming at that location, Burghley House in Linconshire, lasted from the 18th to the 22nd of July, 2004, according to the house's website. In the film (and the novel), the house is called Rosings. Filmed almost entirely on location. The only set built for the film was the Meryton Assembly room where Darcy and the Bingleys are first introduced, because assembly rooms of the type no longer survive in England, or are at least very hard to find nowadays. Building the set also allowed the crew to build it to their exact specifications. Filming on a real location that was that narrow would have been incredibly difficult anyway.
  
  
• The actresses who make up the Bennett family (Keira Knightley, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone, Talulah Riley, and Carey Mulligan went to the Bennett house location, in Kent, before the crew, and played Sardines (similar to Hide and Seek in America) in order to get better acquainted with the house and each other before filming began.
  
  
• US version has a different ending: after Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth's conversation, a scene follows where Darcy and "Mrs. Darcy" are at Pemberley talking about their happiness.
  
  
• All the exterior Pemberley sequences and some of the interior, including the sculpture gallery, were shot at Chatsworth House, property of the Duke of Devonshire. As the house functions as a private home and is also the most visited stately home in England, several of the interior shots could not, however, be done there and were instead shot in Wilton House, Wiltshire.
  
  
• The film is set in 1797, the year that Jane Austen wrote the first draft of Pride and Prejudice.
  
  
• At the beginning of the movie, Elizabeth is shown reading a novel titled "First Impressions" - this was Jane Austen's original title of her novel before she altered it to "Pride and Prejudice".
  
  
• The scene where Bingley rehearses proposing to Jane was improvised. Initially, it was supposed to be shorter, but Simon Woods' was so good that the scene was lengthened.
  
  
• According to the director's commentary, Carey Mulligan (Kitty) thought of her mother's funeral during her first crying scene (also her first film). On subsequent takes, when she ran dry, Carey thought of what song would be played at her own funeral. It didn't work quite as well.
  
  
• According to the director's commentary, Tamzin Merchant (Georgiana Darcy) did her own piano playing in the film.
  
  
• Rosamund Pike was Joe Wright's first choice for the role of Jane. She turned down the role of Rita Skeeter in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) for this film.
  
  
• Composer Dario Marianelli wrote most of the dance music prior to filming.
  
  
• In the Meryton Assembly ball scene, Lizzy and Charlotte are seen peeking at Mr. Bingley from under bleacher-type seating. Joe Wright admits that this was a reference to John Hughes type teen films, particularly Pretty in Pink (1986).
  
  
• Joe Wright cast Donald Sutherland after seeing him in Cold Mountain (2003). Sutherland reminded Wright of his father.
  
  
• Penelope Wilton was also working on the Woody Allen film Match Point (2005) and "Doctor Who" (2005) at the same time.
  
  
• Matthew Macfadyen (Mr. Darcy) has very poor eyesight. In the misty morning shot, the director, Joe Wright, was behind the camera waving a red flag so Macfadyen knew where to walk.
  
  
• The militia uniforms seen in the parade sequence came from the "Sharpe" TV series. There was no unit in the British Infantry at the time with yellow facings on their collars and turn backs, however Bernard Cornwell, author of the Sharpe series created a regiment from whole cloth called the "South Essex" which he described as having yellow facings on their collars. The uniforms were created for the Sharpe's TV series, and were pulled from the wardrobe department for this film.
  
  
• Emma Thompson did an uncredited and unpaid re-write of the script. She receives a "Special Thanks" credit at the end of the film. One of the two scenes that Emma Thompson wrote was the scene in which Charlotte Lucas tells Elizabeth Bennet that she will marry Mr. Collins. The other one is the scene in which Elizabeth Bennet tries to tell Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and Darcy about Lydia's elopement with Wickham. Here Keira Knightley's walking in and out of the room was Emma Thompson's idea according to Joe Wright's DVD commentary.
  
  
• During Mr. Bingley's private ball, when Miss Bingley and Mr. Darcy are dancing with each other, Miss Bingley says, "I can't help feeling that someone is going to produce a piglet and make us chase it." The song they are dancing to is called "The Tythe Pig."
  
  
• When Elizabeth is reading the letter from Mr. Darcy and Charlotte comes and asks her if she is alright, you can see clearly the signature on the letter: Fitzwilliam Darcy.
  
  
• The film's U.S. ending was ranked as one Entertainment Weekly's greatest movie endings of all time.
  
  
• Jena Malone (Lydia) plays younger sister to Keira Knightley (Lizzie). Malone is in real-life older than Knightley.
  
  
• Romola Garai auditioned for the role of Elizabeth Bennet.
  
  
• Mr. Darcy reveals to Lizzy that his sister is to have 30,000 pounds. This sum is her dowry, given to her upon her marriage from the family. It would amount to an income of 1,500 pounds a year on a 5 percent interest, making Miss Georgiana Darcy a very eligible young woman. In comparison, Mr. Bennet has agreed to give the married Lydia 100 pounds a year, meaning her dowry, as well as those of her four other sisters, is only 2,000 pounds.
  
  
• The brown velvet gown with white lace tuck Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Bennet) wears at the second visit to Pemberley is the same costume Charity Wakefield (Marianne Dashwood) wears while Marianne and Elinor pack books in Norland's library in "Sense & Sensibility" (2008).
  
  
• The muslin frock with red patterned overdress Brenda Blethyn (Mrs. Bennet) wears in Meryton when the Bennets learn that Mr. Bingley has returned to Netherfield Hall is the same costume Eleanor Methven (Mrs. Lefroy) wears in Becoming Jane (2007).
  
  
• The pink patterned muslin gown Carey Mulligan (Kitty Bennet) wears when the Bennets go to Netherfield Hall to visit Jane, who is ill, is the same costume Anna Maxwell Martin (Cassandra Austen) wears during the engagement party in Becoming Jane (2007).
  
  
• The yellow muslin gown with white ruffle at the neckline that Carey Mulligan (Kitty Bennet) wears at Longbourn when Mr. Gardiner's letter arrives is the same costume Jessica Ashworth (Lucy Lefroy) wears in Becoming Jane (2007).
  
  
• Rosamund Pike worked with Keira Knightley on this film and with Johnny Depp in The Libertine (2004), who subsequently worked with Keira on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films together.
  
  
• Director Joe Wright managed to cast Judi Dench reportedly by writing her a letter saying 'I love it when you play a bitch', and petitioned Donald Sutherland to take the part of Mr Bennet. As Wright said in an interview in 2005, "We ended up having a long email correspondence about everything from 18th-century agriculture to my relationship with my father. I cast Donald a) because he's a god, and b) because you needed someone of that strength to handle those six women." On a similar note, he mentioned he was "reluctant" to cast Simon Woods as Mr Bingley, as he had previously been in a relationship with actress Rosamund Pike: "'I tried very hard not to cast Simon, but I knew he was perfect. Finally I rang Ros and asked if she'd mind, and she said, "Absolutely not". They hadn't seen each other for two years but the next day they were dancing together. It was lovely".
  
  
• The black patterned muslin gown worn by an extra at the Meryton Assembly Ball is the same costume Pauline Moran (Mrs. Curtain) wears in Byron (2003) (TV) when Byron arrives for the wedding, Gemma Jones (Mrs. Dashwood) wears when Edward comes to Barton Cottage in Sense and Sensibility (1995), Billie Piper (Fanny Price) wears to Maria's wedding in Mansfield Park (2007) (TV), and Janet Dale (Miss Briggs) wears at Park Lane in "Vanity Fair" (1998).
  
  
• The wine-colored floral muslin dress worn by an extra at the Meryton Assembly Ball is the same costume worn by Kate Winslet (Marianne Dashwood) during the Dashwoods' arrival at Barton Cottage in Sense and Sensibility (1995), and Cesca Martin wears for her arrival at Regency House in "The Regency House Party" (2004).
  
  
• The tan and black leaf-patterned muslin dress worn by an extra at the Meryton Assembly Ball is the same costume worn by Gemma Jones (Mrs. Dashwood) at Barton Cottage in Sense and Sensibility (1995), Janet Dale (Miss Briggs) at Park Lane in "Vanity Fair" (1998), Penny Downie (Lady Milbanke) at dinner in Byron (2003) (TV), and Alex Kingston (Mrs. Bennet) at Hunsford in "Lost in Austen" (2008).
  
  
• The tan and black striped gown worn by an extra at the Netherfield Ball is the same gown worn by Wendy Craig (Mrs.Lefroy) in The Real Jane Austen (2002) (TV), Rosemary Enright at dinner in "The Regency House Party" (2004), Jemma Redgrave (Lady Bertram) in the final scene of Mansfield Park (2007) (TV), Gemma Jones (Mrs. Dashwood) to play cards at Barton Park in Sense and Sensibility (1995), Penny Downie (Lady Judith Milbanke) to dinner in Byron (2003) (TV), and Francesca Annis (Lady Ludlow) wears in "Cranford" (2007).
  
  
• The floppy mesh bonnet Rosamund Pike (Jane Bennet) wears in Meryton when she learns Mr. Bingley has returned to Netherfield is also worn to church by an extra in Becoming Jane (2007), by Catherine Walker (Eleanor Tilney) in the garden with Catherine in Northanger Abbey (2007) (TV), and by Emily Blunt (Victoria) in The Young Victoria (2009).
  
  
• The pale blue dress with checked trim on the sleeves worn by a guest at the Meryton Assembly ball is the same costume Emma Thompson (Elinor Dashwood) wears at Barton Cottage in Sense and Sensibility (1995), and Anna Madeley (Lucy Steele) wears when Edward calls at Mrs. Jennings' London house in "Sense & Sensibility" (2008).
  
  
• The white muslin gown Claudie Blakley (Charlotte Lucas) wears to the Netherfield Ball is the same costume Felicity Jones (Catherine Morland) wears to the opera in Bath in Northanger Abbey (2007) (TV).
  
  
• The pale yellow and green print dressing gown Carey Mulligan (Kitty Bennet) wears the morning after the Netherfield Ball is the same costume worn by Hattie Morahan (Elinor Dashwood) at Barton Cottage while her mother brushes her hair in "Sense & Sensibility" (2008).
  
  
• The white muslin gown with three-quarter-length sleeves worn by Tamzin Merchant (Georgiana Darcy) at Pemberley is the same costume worn by an extra at the London party where Annabella Milbanke meets Byron in Byron (2003) (TV), by Jennifer Ehle (Elizabeth Bennet) wears during the outdoor scene at Longbourn when Jane and Elizabeth learn the contents of Uncle Gardiner's letter to Mr. Bennet in "Pride and Prejudice" (1995). Victoria Hopkins also wears this costume in "The Regency House Party" (2004).
  
  
• The white and red print muslin wrap-style day dress Rosamund Pike (Jane Bennet) wears at Longbourn is the same costume Sophie Thompson (Mary Musgrove) wears at Barton Cottage in Persuasion (1995).
  
  

• SPOILER: When Lizzy Bennet is at the lake after rejecting Mr. Collins's proposal, a flock of geese flew off the pond immediately after the director yelled, "Action!" This was unplanned.
  
  
• SPOILER: Emma Thompson' re-wrote the scene in the script when Charlotte informs Lizzy that she is engaged to Mr. Collins.
  
  

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