Netflix’s commissioning team is raiding great literature again to bring audiences a new eight-part dramatisation of Edith Wharton’s classic The Age of Innocence. High society, ballroom shenanigans, love, and lust – the 1920 novel has the trappings of the next big binge watch. Plus, the streamer has real form when it comes to successfully adapting books – just look at how successful The Queen’s Gambit, Bridgerton, and Enola Holmes have been.
It’s time to brush up on your ballroom dancing and practise taking a turn around the garden. Here’s all we know about the casting of The Age of Innocence.
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The Age of Innocence is a story of forbidden love set in 19th century New York City. Newland Archer is a wealthy young lawyer engaged to the very proper May Welland. It’s all going as expected until he falls hard for May’s cousin, the scandalous, free-thinking Countess Ellen Olenska. Love triangle alert! Will Newland follow his heart or his head? We’ll soon find out.
The novel was adapted into an Oscar-winning movie by Martin Scorsese in 1993. Now, Netflix promises a new take that speaks to a new generation, “as it traverses the ballrooms and bedrooms of its young characters, asking what is love – and what is lust.” Pass us the fan!
The Age of Innocence is still in preproduction, with filming scheduled for autumn of this year in Prague, which will stand in for 19th century New York. No cast members or casting director have been officially announced, suggesting there could still be everything to play for.
Here’s what we know so far about the production: The limited series will be helmed by British screenwriter and director Emma Frost. Best known for her work on dramas including The White Queen, Shameless, and The Spanish Princess, Frost will write all the episodes and serve as showrunner.
“There is a project that a US streamer has just approached me to write and showrun,” Frost told 5AM StoryTalk. “It’s period, based on a classic novel. But the issues it explores feel entirely 21st century and quite searingly political, with both a big and a small P.”
Style-wise, it sounds in keeping with other Netflix takes on period dramas, blending influences from the era with something contemporary and fresh – so take that attitude with you into an audition.
Frost has worked with leading casting director Elyse Roth on past productions. “Treat the audition as if you are playing that role, not thinking, Are they looking for this or that?” Roth told Backstage. “Often, things aren’t so defined on the page and everybody has a sense of what they’re looking for, and then somebody will do something completely different and we’ll think, Isn’t that much more exciting than we thought it could be? You’ve got to own your audition. Listen to any notes that are given, which is why you need to be prepared, but you also have to bring something of yourself to show what you would do.”
Keep your eyes peeled on Mandy for casting calls and news, as well as Netflix’s own news site, Tudum. Also get yourself ready for when the phone rings by preparing your acting CV, showreel, and headshots. Check out these really handy guides – and good luck!
Frost: Jaguar PS/Shutterstock