If you ask a room full of people who played the definitive Fitzwilliam Darcy, you’re basically starting a war. It’s one of those roles, like James Bond or Batman, where the actor doesn’t just play a character—they inherit a legacy. Honestly, for a guy who spent most of a 200-year-old book being a total jerk before finally figuring out how to be a decent human, Darcy has some serious staying power.
You’ve got the old-school purists, the 90s devotees, and the people who swear by the mid-2000s vibes. And now, we’re looking at a brand-new face entering the fray.
Who Plays Mr. Darcy Right Now?
We’re officially in a new era of Pemberley. Netflix decided it was time for another go at Pride and Prejudice, and the casting for this upcoming series has definitely ruffled some feathers in the Jane Austen community.
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Jack Lowden is the man of the hour. You might know him as the perpetually stressed-out River Cartwright from Slow Horses or from his turns in Dunkirk and Mary Queen of Scots. The internet had a collective meltdown when he was announced, mostly because he’s—wait for it—blonde. Apparently, for some fans, a Mr. Darcy without dark curls is like a Sherlock Holmes who doesn't like puzzles. It just feels wrong to them.
But honestly? Lowden is a powerhouse. He’s playing opposite Emma Corrin (who played Princess Diana in The Crown) as Elizabeth Bennet. This version, led by director Euros Lyn and writer Dolly Alderton, is being pitched as a more "progressive" and "messy" take on the classic. It's scheduled to hit screens in 2026, and whether you love the casting or hate it, Lowden is about to become the Darcy of a new generation.
The Titans: Firth vs. Macfadyen
If we’re being real, most of the "who plays Mr. Darcy" debate is just a two-man race between Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen.
Firth is the reason your mom (and maybe your grandma) loves the 1995 BBC miniseries. He’s the "Wet Shirt" Darcy. That scene where he dives into the lake at Pemberley wasn't even in the book, but it basically changed British television forever. Firth played Darcy as stiff, arrogant, and almost painfully formal. He captured that Regency-era "don't touch me" energy perfectly.
Then 2005 happened.
Matthew Macfadyen stepped into the tall grass for Joe Wright’s film, and he gave us a Darcy who was... kind of a mess? He was shy. He was socially awkward. He spent half the movie looking like he was about to burst into tears or throw up. This Darcy was less about "I am better than you" and more about "I don't know how to talk to people and I'm very stressed about it."
People still argue about this. Firth is the book-accurate snob; Macfadyen is the sensitive soul. Which one you prefer usually depends on whether you like your romance with a side of cold dignity or raw, rain-soaked yearning.
The Darcys You Probably Forgot
It’s not just a three-way tie. A surprisingly long list of actors have put on the breeches over the decades.
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- Laurence Olivier (1940): This version is weird. It’s very Hollywood "Golden Age." The costumes look like they’re from the wrong century, and Olivier plays Darcy with a sort of theatrical flair that feels miles away from the brooding guy we know today.
- David Rintoul (1980): If you think Colin Firth was stiff, watch Rintoul. He is so remarkably immobile in the 1980 BBC version that he almost looks like a statue. It’s a very faithful adaptation, but man, he makes Firth look like a party animal.
- Matthew Rhys (2013): He played Darcy in Death Comes to Pemberley, which is actually a murder mystery sequel. He’s a "Dad Darcy"—a bit more mature, a bit more settled, but still dealing with his own ego.
- Sam Riley (2016): In Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Riley plays Darcy as a literal zombie-killing colonel. He’s moody, he wears a lot of leather, and he spends more time decapitating the undead than dancing at balls.
The "Darcy-Ish" Variants
Sometimes an actor plays Darcy without actually being in an Austen adaptation.
Look at Martin Henderson in Bride & Prejudice. This was a Bollywood-style reimagining where Darcy is an American hotel mogul named Will Darcy. It’s bright, it’s musical, and it’s a totally different vibe.
And we can’t talk about who plays Mr. Darcy without mentioning Colin Firth—again. He played Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones’s Diary. The author, Helen Fielding, was so obsessed with the 1995 BBC series that she wrote the character specifically with Firth in mind. It’s meta-casting at its finest. He even wears a reindeer sweater, which is a far cry from the lake at Pemberley.
What to Look for Next
If you want to catch up on the Darcy cinematic universe before Jack Lowden takes the stage, here is what you actually need to do:
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- Watch the 1995 Miniseries first: It’s the baseline. You need to see the "original" brooding Darcy to understand why everyone else is compared to him.
- Compare the Proposals: Watch the first proposal scene in the 1995 version (indoors, very formal) versus the 2005 version (outside in the pouring rain). It’s the quickest way to see how differently Firth and Macfadyen approached the role.
- Check out "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries": If you want a modern spin, Daniel Vincent Gordh plays a great corporate-CEO version of Darcy in this YouTube series. It’s surprisingly good.
- Wait for the 2026 Netflix Release: Keep an eye out for trailers featuring Jack Lowden. Don't let the blonde hair fool you—the guy has the "tortured stare" down to a science.
At the end of the day, Mr. Darcy is a mirror. Each actor who plays him reflects what that specific decade thinks a "complicated man" looks like. Whether he’s a snob, a shy guy, or a zombie hunter, Darcy remains the ultimate romantic puzzle we're all trying to solve.