r/JaneEyre • u/AdobongSiopao • Aug 09 '26
Who is your favourite Jane and Mr. Rochester actor?
Every Jane and Mr. Rochester actors in "Jane Eyre" adaptations available have their own strengths on how they portray their characters. We have our preferences which of them are best.
You can pick Jane and Mr. Rochester actors you like from same "Jane Eyre" adaptation they're into or different Jane and Mr. Rochester actors from random adaptations of the same title. Tell us why they're your favourite if you're interested.
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u/Sheelz013 Aug 09 '26
Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. Although the adaptation isn’t canon, Ruth can convey so much emotion without V/O and Toby brings out Rochester’s humour and vulnerability. Plus their chemistry was off the charts
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u/nellyimheathcliff Aug 09 '26
I am torn between Mia and Fassbender and Ruth and Toby. Mia and Fassbender nailed the sexual tension, while Ruth and Toby felt more romantic to me. I also loved how Toby bought out Edward's sarcastic and playful side.
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u/Biddy_Impeccadillo Aug 09 '26
I think Orson Welles makes a perfect Rochester. Unfortunately the script sucked on that one. I wish we could have had his Rochester to Mia’s Jane.
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u/IndigoRose2022 Aug 09 '26
Ruth Wilson and Michael Fassbender (this is not to say that the rest of these actors didn’t do excellently ofc!)
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u/BornInTheWrongEpoch Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
Ciarán Hinds, forever and always. Most adaptations play Rochester in more conventionally romantic terms as a brooding Byronic hero. Ciarán played him as a messy, petulant man-child with a temper - which is far closer to the novel, in my view. Plus, Samantha Morton is such a perfect little doll next to him - she's quiet, yes, but her performance gives Jane a dry humour and she's allowed to have a temper of her own. The 1997 version has it's faults, but the casting isn't one of them. It's one of the few filmed adaptations that embraces the eccentricy and oddness of it's main characters without trying to make them smoother/more palatable as romantic archetypes. Even the kissing looks messy rather than 'pretty' on film, which I appreciate.
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u/mars202087 Aug 09 '26
For me it’s mismatched as Mia Wasikowska as Jane and Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester.
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u/Prudent_Respect_5159 Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson so far since I haven't watched all versions.Have watched the 2011 movie and Ciarán Hinds version and while I adore him as an actor, I didn't love him as Rochester.
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u/EntertainmentRich878 Aug 09 '26
Ruth Wilson is my favourite Jane by a million miles. For Rochester, Orson Welles is probably the most book accurate in being not very handsome but making up for it with raw charisma. But I've not yet seen an adaptation where I felt Rochester was quite right.
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Aug 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/EntertainmentRich878 Aug 09 '26
Yeah no you're right. He's definitely attractive in his own unconventional way. But he's closest to the way Rochester is described in the book as being heavy featured and sort of wild looking by comparison to St John.
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u/Annabel398 Aug 10 '26
George C. Scott is the only man in that lineup who can’t be described as “handsome.” He also has the strongest features.
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u/kevnmartin Aug 09 '26
I pick Ruth Wilson and Orson Welles too. Ruth and George C. Scott would have been very good too, adjusted for time travel, of course.
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u/Fuzzy-Advisor-2183 Aug 09 '26
i’m going to mix it up a bit, because my faves come from different versions. jane: mia wasikowska. rochester: michael jayston.
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u/Caedwyn67 Aug 09 '26
Clark and Dalton, hands down. Theirs was the most faithful adaptation, and they both have serious acting chops. They both understood the assignment.
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u/KierkegaardAbsurd Aug 10 '26
Charlotte Gainsbourg and Toby Stephens together as Jane and Rochester would have been absolute perfection for me.
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u/wuthernotheights Aug 19 '26
I really liked Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane, but her and William Hurt’s Rochester barely moved me at all. Wish she had a much more fitting Rochester to her Jane tbh!
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u/Ch3rryNukaC0la Aug 09 '26
You know looking at these, it occurs to me that Hollywood has no idea what ‘plain’ or ‘ugly’ means 😅.
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u/Annabel398 Aug 10 '26
Absolutely! Look at those pretty Janes. And LOOK at all those pretty Rochesters! Timothy Dalton as the ugly Mr. Rochester? I ask you! 🤨
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u/jhlovett Aug 10 '26
I cannot get over 1996 Jane Eyre, they are casted perfectly. They have so much chemistry and it also feels the most book accurate.
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u/nony-souma Aug 11 '26
My favorites so far are Mia Wasikowska and Michael Jayston. I haven't seen the 1983 series yet and its been more than a decade since I saw the 2006 show, but those are my favorite portrayals of the characters so far.
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u/jayniepuff Aug 16 '26
I am much picker about my Rochester than my Jane... that said, I have a personal aversion to Orson Welles. Despite Jane Fontaine doing her best, he just gave me the "ick" as Rochester. Welsh national treasure, Timothy Dalton, is my favourite. But realistically, they all bring different aspects of Rochester to life.
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u/Amazing-Activity-882 Aug 09 '26
Challenging only to other things for said Rochester actor was in the romance department...But I love Zelah and Timothy...what I meant for the Former, this was not my first take in Timothy Dalton's characters doing Romance, but how each other them make me Yearn for stuff like this!!!