Mr. Darcy is the king of pining. The man got a degree in yearn-alism, he’s an expert at longing looks, and his love for Elizabeth Bennet is to die for. That’s made abundantly clear throughout the entirety of one of the 2000s’ best movies, Pride & Prejudice, thanks to Matthew Macfadyen’s brilliant performance. However, one moment everyone still talks about is that hand flex – you know which one I’m talking about. Now, right as the movie turns 20, the director is sharing the story behind that iconic moment.
In this scene, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are parting ways, and as she starts to step into the carriage, he puts his hand out to help her up. Sparks fly, and as Macfadyen’s character walks away, he flexes his hand. According to Joe Wright, the director of the Jane Austen adaptation, that final piece wasn’t in the script, but it was important to the story, as he told People:
It wasn’t in the script, but that was an important moment in the book. This sudden realization, as they were parting, of what they meant to each other or the kind of disturbance they caused in each other.
Honestly, I feel like this scene is pivotal in turning these enemies into lovers, and it helps paint an intricate love story that makes Pride & Prejudice one of the best romantic movies. So, it’s wild that this almost didn’t happen. However, thank goodness Matthew Macfadyen had the idea, because it became one of the film’s most iconic scenes.
Wright went on to explain that this moment shows how Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy have an attraction that their minds don’t understand quite yet. The way Macfadyen’s hand flexes shows – subtly – that he was impacted by touching Elizabeth’s hand, and after that, we see both of them fall head over heels for each other.
Speaking more about the meaning of this scene, the director of one of Keira Knightley’s best films said:
Our bodies are so much smarter than our minds often. Although their conscious minds are fighting against each other, their bodies are two magnets drawn to each other. As they touch, even that little hand lifting helping her, which is pure etiquette of the period, somehow creates this kind of electronic shock wave through them both, and he has to shake it away.
Ah! I’m swooning all over again. Every time I watch Pride & Prejudice, I fall deeply in love with the way Mr. Darcy specifically falls for Elizabeth, and this moment is one of the reasons why.
However, at the time, Wright wasn’t so sure. He recalled what it was like filming this carriage scene back in the early 2000s, and explained why he initially thought it didn’t convey what he wanted it to:
It had been a gloomy day when we shot it. I felt like I hadn’t conveyed what I wanted to, and it’s odd and gratifying to find that we told our story, and people have responded. Because on the day, I thought, ‘Oh no, we didn’t get it. It was rubbish. It didn’t work.’ Now, people are still posting it. It’s odd and really nice.
They didn’t just get the shot, they created a pop culture moment. It’s been 20 years since this film came out, and people still talk about the Mr. Darcy hand flex all the time.
Now, they’ll get to see it on the big screen too, as Pride & Prejudice is returning to theaters between April 20 and 23. If you can’t witness it back on the big screen, you can swoon over Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy by streaming the 2005 classic with a Netflix subscription.