University researchers re-imagine the face of literary leading man Mr. Darcy (Video)

The face of Jane Austin’s most famous leading man, Mr. Darcy, has been portrayed by many actors over the years. All of them tall, dark and handsome. As it turns out, that’s not how Mr. Darcy would have looked at all.

In preparation for their new Jane Austin series, TV channel Drama enlisted a couple of professors to research what Mr. Darcy really would have looked like in Austin’s day. John Sutherland, professor of modern English literature at University College London and Amanda Vickery, professor of early modern history at Queen Mary University of London put their heads together to find the most historically accurate version of the wealthy bachelor.

Mr. Darcy, who is the romantic interest in Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, has been portrayed by many actors. Most famous of which are Colin Firth in the 1995 BBC mini-series and Matthew Macfadyen in the 2005 movie adaptation. Both actors are handsome, tall and have dark hair.

Unfortunately, the real Mr. Darcy would have looked much different. Based on socio-economic and cultural factors in Austen era England, Darcy would have had a long oval face, a small mouth, pointy chin, mid-length white hair, pale skin and he would have been less than six feet tall.

The findings came as a disappointment to fans who would prefer to see Darcy as handsome as the men who portrayed him on TV.

I'm sorry. No. This is NOT MR. DARCY. Not in *my* sweaty & heaving romantic imagination. https://t.co/KIYqLrIrgb

— Amy Biancolli (@AmyBiancolli) February 9, 2017