Mike Newell Casts The Borgia's Holliday Grainger in Great Expectations

by Jacob Combs
June 21, 2011 8:56 AM
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Brit director Mike Newell, who has a bit of a mixed track record--high: Four Weddings and a Funeral, low: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, in-between: the solid fourth installation to the Harry Potter octalogy--had a tough time finding a name actress to play the role of Estella in Great Expectations in the latest film version of the Charles Dickens classic about an orphan who eventually becomes a gentleman through the generosity of an unknown patron.

Newell reportedly approached Rooney Mara (The Social Network) to play the part, but the actress passed due to scheduling issues. Finally, he has cast the relatively unknown Holliday Grainger, who plays Pope Borgia's daughter on Showtime’s The Borgias. Grainger will join Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch, a mysterious convict who (spoiler alert!) winds up being revealed as the orphan Pip’s nameless benefactor, along with Helena Bonham Carter (as Mrs. Havisham) and Jeremy Irvine (as Pip) when filming begins in the London this October.

This proves yet again that Pay TV series can be career springboards for such young actors as Jamie Campbell, the male lead of Showtime series Camelot, who was cast as the male lead of Screen Gems' The Mortal Instruments. Newell’s version is produced by Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen, producers of the Oscar-nominated IRA drama The Crying Game.

More: Genres, In Production, Period, Books, Classics

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Mike Newell Casts The Borgia's Holliday Grainger in Great Expectations

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Mike Newell Casts The Borgia's Holliday Grainger in Great Expectations

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