Greta Gerwig Dishes on the Cast of New ‘Little Women’ Movie

On Christmas of this year Greta Gerwig‘s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women will premiere in theaters everywhere (hopefully it’ll go over a little more smoothly than the March’s first Christmas without their father), and with the trailer that dropped this week book lovers world wide are getting pretty hype.

 

 

The film features a star studded cast, and two popular actors that Gerwig has worked with before. Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan both gained traction last year when they acted in Gerwig’s Lady bird, and the director is excited to have the pair unite once again.

 

Image via Harper’s Bazaar

 

Ronan plays Jo March, a tomboy writer, and Chalamet plays her love interest Laurie. In an interview by Entertainment Weekly Gerwig said:

“I just adore them. They are just spectacular as live actors, and there is some true pairing between them that feels like it’s in the tradition of great cinematic pairing. I don’t know what they do – I mean it’s magic. I direct them but it’s all there.”

Playing the role of Meg March, Jo’s sister who thirsts for a life in high society, is Emma Watson. Gerwig also told Entertainment Weekly that she was the perfect actress for the role.

 

Image via SheKnows

 

“To me, [Watson] embodies everything that I was interested in, in terms of who the March women were. She’s just smart. She’s on multi-government organizations that speak to the U.N., and she’s so thoughtful and present. She is way out there trying to do everything she can. For me personally, Meg March is a character that is long misunderstood. In terms of what [Watson] did with the character, she has so much open-heartedness andso much love combined with that much intelligence, it’s heartbreaking and potent. Because she’s absolutely herself with understanding the struggle of who that character is.”

 

 

Gerwig also stated that Watson “would always bring so much to the conversation,” going above and beyond her role as an actress. Watson did a lot of emotional work to fully become the character of Meg.

 

Image via Yahoo

 

Laura Dern used a similar method, fully diving into her role as Marmee March. Marmee is the girl’s mother, and offers them advice and guidance throughout the novel. Gerwig stated:

“Off-set, every single one of the girls actually did come to Laura with their heartaches and their problems. Everybody had a good cry with Laura. She became this mother, sister, confidant person for everyone on set, which was a very beautiful thing to embody. She was a rock for everyone.”

 

 

One of the most exciting choices made was casting Meryl Streep as the waspy Aunt March. According to Gerwig, Streep auditioned for the role out the love she had for the novel as a young girl.

 

Image via IMDb

 

“She said she wanted to be part of it. She loved the book so much when she was a girl, and she thinks [it’s] so important, and she says, ‘Tell me what you’d like me to do,’ and I was like, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Anything I say about Meryl is superfluous, all the adjectives I have don’t touch it.”

It’s good to know that even accomplished directors can’t help but fangirl over Meryl Streep. I guess that’s just part of the human condition.

Want to see the trailer? Check it out below…

 

 

 

 

Featured image via Vanity Fair