Number 9 Films TV and PBS Masterpiece, in association with FOX Entertainment Global, are teaming a new co-production of The Portrait of a Lady, based on the classic novel by Henry James. The project is adapted by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Colette, The Salt Path, She Said) and directed by Aisling Walsh (Room at the Top, Miss Austen, Maudie). Filming has begun and will take place in the U.K., Hungary, and Croatia.
The six-episode limited series stars Nell Tiger Free (The First Omen, Servant) as Isabel Archer, Gemma Arterton (Secret Service, Their Finest) as Madame Merle, Jim Sturgess (Mix Tape, One Day) as Gilbert Osmond, Bill Nighy (Joy, Living) as Mr. Touchett, and Miranda Richardson as Mrs. Touchett. The cast also includes Jack Wolfe, Calypso Cragg, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Hugh Skinner, Hamish Frew, Thomas Coombes, Lydia Leonard, and Edward Rosier.
"We are so pleased to be finally making this Henry James classic, which was far ahead of its time, with our friends at Masterpiece and the BBC," said Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen of Number 9 Films TV. "It's wonderful to be reunited with Rebecca Lenkiewicz who we worked closely with on Colette and The Salt Path and to work with Aisling Walsh, whom we've admired from afar for many years. It's also wonderful that we can reunite with some of the actors that we know so well from our movies in our first TV show.... We find it astonishing that James's prescient story has not been made for television for nearly 60 years, but like all great things, it will definitely be worth the wait."