The new film adaptation of Little Women is set to revive the much-loved story, with a star-studded cast of young Hollywood stars Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet and Emma Watson.
Official character posters of the cast have been released ahead of the film's December release, which has ramped up anticipation for the literary classic.
One group poster features Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen arm in arm as the March sisters, who are the main protagonists of the book.
Watson was seen smiling in another poster as character Meg March.
Ronan, who will be reuniting with Ladybird director Greta Gerwig and her Ladybird co-star Timothee Chalamet for the film, was also seen running through a street in her poster dressed in overalls.
Another poster also showed Timothee Chalamet dressed in character as Laurie, standing in front of an autumn landscape in period clothing.
Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, who plays Aunt March, featured on another poster dressed in all black with a lace veil.
Laura Dern's poster struck a very different tone from Streep's, as she was seen dressed in all green carrying wildflowers as March matriarch Marmee.
The film's trailer and stills paint a vibrant picture of New England and the costumes reflect the 1860s setting. The film's director Greta Gerwig revealed to Vanity Fair that Timothee Chalamet and Emma Watson’s outfits have a role beyond the aesthetic, playing with gender fluidity and the (very modern) desire to fit in.
The first official trailer for Little Women dropped in August, unveiling a glimpse into sisters Meg, Amy, Beth and Jo's world as reimagined by Gerwig.
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One of the most striking stills from the film shows Timothee Chalamet standing opposite Saoirse Ronan, who appears to be wearing a men’s coat and shirt.
She and Chalamet's rapport is a highlight of the trailer as well, which provides a glimpse into the scene behind the still as Chalamet's sleeves billow in the wind, and the trailer ends on Ronan wearing a men's bowler and jacket.
Gerwig (who directed Ronan in Lady Bird) said the film deliberately explored the androgyny of the characters, telling Vanity Fair that the pair’s characters “find each other before they’ve committed to a gender”.
Costume designer Jacqueline Durran chose to have the pair “swap articles of clothing throughout the story” and Gerwig explained, “Jo is a girl with a boy’s name, Laurie is a boy with a girl’s name. In some ways they are each other’s twins... It wouldn’t be wrong to call Saoirse handsome and Timothée beautiful. Both have a slightly androgynous quality that makes them perfect for these characters.”
In contrast, Watson’s character Meg March is one Gerwig explained has “an irrepressible desire to fit in with the fancy girls that she’s so different from”.
In one behind the scenes image, Watson is pictured returning to a Beauty and the Beast-level ballgown as she listens to instructions from director Greta Gerwig.
Gerwig explained, “Because she’s a great actor, I always saw [the dress] as a way of her acting the part of someone… who has all this around her.”
Watson appears to have hit it off with her Little Women co-stars as the star shared a Polaroid of the cast, which included Gerwig, Ronan, Pugh, Scanlen and Chalamet craning his neck in. She captioned the picture with a quote from the book's author Louisa May Alcott, writing, "I could never love anyone as I love my sisters."
Watson and Ronan are set to play Meg and Jo March respectively, alongside their onscreen sisters Amy (Florence Pugh) and Beth (Eliza Scanlen).
Little Women reunites Gerwig, Ronan and Chalamet, who all worked on the Oscar-nominated film Lady Bird in 2017.
Ronan said, “I loved that in Lady Bird, he was the one that broke my heart, but I got to break his heart in Little Women.”
Little Women is set to be released in the UK on December 27, 2019.
Little Women character posters - In pictures
