Emily Watson Joins Angela Lansbury in PBS’ ‘Little Women’

Watson will play mother Marmee on PBS series

Angela Lansbury Michael Gambon Emily Watson Little Women
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Masterpiece on PBS is rounding out the main cast for its upcoming adaptation of the popular Louisa May Alcott novel “Little Women” with some newcomers and some acting veterans.

Emily Watson (“Theory of Everything”) will play Marmee, mother and matriarch of the March family and of the sisters who are at the core of the story.

The sisters, meanwhile, will be played by four young actress, including newcomer Maya Hawke, who will play Jo. Willa Fitzgerald (“Scream: The TV Series”) will play the eldest sister Meg; Annes Elwy (“Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams”) will play Beth and Kathryn Newton (“Big Little Lies”) will play Amy, the youngest.

Dame Angela Lansbury (“Murder, She Wrote”) — who it was announced had already been in talks to join the cast — is confirmed for the role of Aunt March, the girls’ wealthy relative.

Michael Gambon (“Harry Potter” series) will play the girls’ kind neighbor Mr. Laurence. He’ll be paired up with Jonah Hauer-King (“Howards End”) who will play his grandson, Laurie Laurence, the boy next door who becomes a love interest for Jo.

“Little Women” is a coming of age story set against the backdrop of the Civil War and follows the four sisters as they come into adulthood.

The three-part series will be directed by Vanessa Caswill. Piers Wenger and Charlotte Moore from the BBC commissioned the series. It’ll be produced by Playground for BBC One and co-produced with Masterpiece on PBS.

The series is set to start shooting this month in Ireland.

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