Then & Now: The Many Faces of Elizabeth Bennet

Greer Garson
(Pride and Prejudice; Film 1940)

Elizabeth Garvie
(Pride and Prejudice; TV Miniseries 1980)

Jennifer Ehle
(Pride and Prejudice; TV/Miniseries 1995)

Kam Heskin
(Pride & Prejudice: Latter-Day Comedy; Film 2003)


Aishwarya Rai
(as Lalita Bakshi in Bride & Prejudice; Film 2004)

Keira Knightley
(Pride & Prejudice; Film 2005)

More info on Wikipidea: Elizabeth Bennet:

The enduring popularity of Pride and Prejudice has seen the novel frequently adapted for both television and the cinema. Among the actresses who have taken the role of Elizabeth Bennet are:

• Curigwen Lewis, in the first television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in 1938.
• Greer Garson in a 1940 cinema adaptation, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
• Daphne Slater in a 1952 UK television adaptation.
• Jane Downs in a 1958 UK television version.
• Celia Bannerman in a 1967 film version produced to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Jane Austen.
• Elizabeth Garvie in a 1980 BBC television adaptation.
• Jennifer Ehle in a 1995 BBC television adaptation, for which she received a BAFTA Award.
• Keira Knightley in a 2005 film adaptation, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
  
  

While not strict adaptations of the original text, other notable versions of Elizabeth Bennet (or characters directly based on her) in productions based on Austen's text include:

• Renée Zellweger portrayed Bridget Jones in the 2001 feature film Bridget Jones' Diary, and its sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. The original novel by Helen Fielding was loosely inspired by Pride and Prejudice and follows a similar narrative, and Bridget Jones occupies the same role in the story held by Elizabeth Bennet in the original.
• Kam Heskin in a 2003 cinema adaptation set in a contemporary Mormon university.
• Aishwarya Rai portrayed Lalita Bakshi (a character based upon Elizabeth) in the 2005 film Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.