Donald Sutherland enjoyed a career spanning seven decades, during which time he starred in the anti-war satire M*A*S*H, the action drama series The Hunger Games, and the 1973 thriller Don’t Look Now. Following the Canadian actor’s death , aged 88, many fans are paying tribute to his staggering filmography, with one performance in particular resurfacing as a standout role. In Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Sutherland offered a scene-stealing turn as Mr Bennet, the weary but gentle father of five unmarried daughters, including his evident favourite: the intelligent and lively Elizabeth (Keira Knightley).
Sutherland was responsible for several memorable scenes in the film, as his character played the foil to his wife, Mrs Bennet ( Brenda Blethyn ), who is determined to marry all of their daughters off to suitable (and wealthy) husbands. In arguably the most moving scene of the movie, he gives his consent to Elizabeth to marry Mr Darcy: “I cannot believe that anyone can deserve you, but it seems I am overruled,” he says. “So, I heartily give my consent.
I could not have parted with you, my Lizzie, to anyone less worthy.” “I kept trying to quit that damn job,” Sutherland said of the role in a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone . “Joe wouldn’t let me! ‘Joe, goddammit, I’m not right for this, why the f*** did you hire me for this?’ ‘You’re fine, you can do it.
’ “It’s one of my favourite things out all all the.
