The 2016 BBC adaptation that introduced the leaders of modern Hollywood
It was only in 2026 that the Oscars finally started awarding prizes for best casting, while the Baftas did it in 2020, but if anyone has a time machine, they need to make sure to pause once in 2016 with a trophy spare, because the BBC would like a long overdue mention.
The BBC has always had a knack for finding stars, with Kate Winslet, Eddie Redmayne, and even Jodie Comer getting their early beginnings thanks to BBC productions. So many stars of the small screen have levelled up since, heading from smaller sets to Hollywood, but that’s obviously not to disparage the BBC. It’s not at all that the organisation is a mere stepping stone, as plenty of actors dream their whole life of being brought into such a prestigious entertainment company or being hired by a production as established as that. But often, people get stuck in a life.
Television actors often get stuck as simply television actors. It can often be hard for people to break out into longer productions for some reason. Take Comer as a prime example. Despite proving her worth on TV, it still feels like she’s waiting to be granted a film spot worthy of her talent. The BBC found her, but Hollywood is still waiting to nurture her.
However, that’s not the case for this all-star golden cast from 2016. When the BBC set about making a TV adaptation of the absolute brick of a Russian novel, War & Peace, I wonder if casting directors Susie Figgis and Julie Harkin knew they were essentially rounding up the next generation of power players.
The first thing to say about War & Peace is that it’s great. Director Andrew Davies took this huge and complex book and made it at once both cinematic and lush, but also accessible. In his hands, the dramas it speaks of, of war but also of domestic affairs and romances, felt relatable and even modern. He made it make sense, but he also made it look incredible. As a director well-versed in adaptations of classics, clearly, that’s a skill he’s got down to perfection.
But how much of that comes down to the incredible cast that was called in?
As one of the leading men, Paul Dano was really the adaptation’s only bona fide leading man and star at the time of production. As someone well-versed in Hollywood, Dano was the big name in the role of Pierre Bezukhov. There were other established names as supporting characters, like Brian Cox as Mikhail Kutuzov, or Gillian Anderson as Anna Pavlovna Scherer, but each and every time, they were arguably outdone by the new names.
Amongst those new names was Lily James, who had only just emerged with Cinderella, putting in an incredibly moving performance as Natasha Rostova. There was also James Norton, starring here before he’d be called to Hollywood by Greta Gerwig. Callum Turner got his breakout role, as did now Oscar-winning Jessie Buckley. Jack Lowden is in there, Tom Burke is there, and even rising star Kit Connor was cast as a child.
It’s like the Avengers for modern Hollywood if they were all playing Russian soldiers or members of the aristocracy.
