#reminds me of john thornton and his mother from “north and south” by elizabeth gaskell

[adobongsiopao]

It was interesting to see many "Jane Eyre" fanfics agreed that Jane and Mr. Rochester first born son would look much like his father and yet his personality is similar to his mother.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Sinead Cusack on playing Hannah Thornton

Sinead Cusack is adamant that she is nothing like Hannah Thornton, her character in the passionate BBC One drama North and South.

"When was asked to play Hannah, I couldn't believe it," she avows, with genuine astonishment. "The first question I asked was, 'Why?' You know, you have this image of yourself and I think I'm a jolly Irishwoman; I sing a lot and laugh a lot and generally am quite sunny. I never thought of myself as dour, but obviously the casting people thought I was the right person, so I've got to re-evaluate now how I come across," she adds with a laugh.

And it is very difficult to find any sort of resemblance between the charming, humorous Irishwoman, with a thespian pedigree and a reputation as one of the UK's foremost classical actresses, and the forthright, northern industrial matriarch that she plays in North and South. Sinead goes on to admit that taking on the role of Hannah in the adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story did not come easily.

"I thought, 'this is a difficult one for me, a bit of a departure'. I've played the northerner before, but not often, and I've played powerful and tough women before, but never anyone quite like Hannah."

However, Sinead is clear that it was putting on the costume that really helped her to get into character.

"When I was in costume fitting for the first time, I looked in the mirror and was horrified by what I saw: this dor, matronly figure dressed top to toe in black bombazine."

As Hannah, Sinead plays the matriarch of the Thornton dynasty: a woman of formidable character who brooks no nonsense and runs a cotton mill in the industrial northern town of Milton with her son, John (Richard Armitage).

"The thing that defines her most is her co-ownership of the mill and her relationship with her son," she explains, "which is incredibly close. But the nature of the woman is that her emotions are always extremely reigned in. As far as Hannah is concerned, the passion that she feels for the mill, for her son and her way of life is crucial to her DNA."

But Hannah's affection for her son is poles apart from her relationship with the household's only daughter, Fanny (Jo Joyner).

"Her relationship with her daughter is lacking," outlines Sinead. "I wondered whether Fanny in some way reminds her of the husband who let her down and almost caused the ruination of the family. It's not good. It's almost like tolerance rather than an understanding. I think she's embarrassed by Fanny because she is frivolous and her values are completely alien to Hannah's and John's. Her values are to do with the exterior, the superficial, whereas with John and Hannah it's hard graft and being just and fair and committed - all of those northern values that define northern people."

Ask Sinead whether she thinks audiences will come to like Hannah, and she pulls no punches.

"I don't think Hannah's easy to love. John loves her, but he's the only person who does. I think she's frightening, she's judgemental and she's tough. But she is fair. Her relationship with Margaret (Daniela Denby-Ashe) is determined by her love for her son. I hope people will see that at the base of her character."

One person who certainly doesn't love Hannah Thornton is Margaret Hale, with whom Hannah has to vie for the affections of her son. There's no such tension between either of the actresses in real life, but Sinead believes she understands why Hannah sees Margaret as such a threat.

"What Mrs Gaskell has done is create something similar between Margaret and Hannah," she explains. "There is a central core of strength and certainty about their own ideas. Margaret's ideas, preconceptions and notions are put in disarray in the North. Hannah never does this. And maybe there is an element that John falls in love with the woman who resembles his mother, and their relationship is very close indeed."