Matthew Macfadyen ‘Didn’t Really Enjoy’ His Role in Pride & Prejudice

Matthew Macfadyen is opening up about why he “didn’t really enjoy” his role as Mr. Darcy in 2005’s Pride & Prejudice.

The Emmy-winning actor looked back at the film where he starred opposite Keira Knightley during an interview with CBS Mornings Tuesday morning.

“I didn’t really [enjoy it],” he admitted. “I feel bad saying that. There were moments I had a good time, but I wish I enjoyed it more. I wish I was less worried about it.”

Macfadyen added that he didn’t feel like he was the right choice for the role of Mr. Darcy. “I felt a bit miscast, like, ‘I’m not dishy enough,’” the Deadpool & Wolverine actor said. “But it worked out.”

And it sure did, as the movie went on to score four Oscar nominations. The British actor also confessed that he still gets excited when he’s recognized as Mr. Darcy in public.

“Probably the most flattering thing that happens to me now is people say, ‘Were you Mr. Darcy?’” he said. “It’s a good 20 years later. So I think, ‘I can’t be aging that badly.’”

The Joe Wright-directed film, based on Jane Austen’s novel of the same name, centers on the developing relationship between Elizabeth Bennet (Knightley), the daughter of a country gentleman, and Mr. Darcy, a wealthy English aristocrat.

Before Macfadyen took on the beloved role, he was already following in Colin Firth’s footsteps, as he had portrayed Mr. Darcy in the 1995 TV miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. The Succession star added that the two actors later compared notes on their separate experiences “exhaustively” and “extensively.”