Crystal Clarke could imagine herself playing the heroine of a period costume drama, a genre that regularly makes its way to TV and film screens with potential breakout roles for young actresses. But the African American tempered her expectations.
“I had hope for myself and I knew what I could do. But the sad part comes in: ‘Oh, other people around me would never see me that way,’” said the New Jersey-born Clarke, a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland whose credits include “Black Mirror” and two “Star Wars” films.
FILE - This July 29, 2019 file photo shows Crystal Clarke, a cast member in the PBS Masterpiece series "Sanditon," during a panel discussion at the 2019 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. Clark stars as Miss Lambe in the series airing Sundays on PBS. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
Then Jane Austen came to the rescue. When the novelist died in the summer of 1817, she left behind an unfinished draft that served as source material for PBS’ “Masterpiece” drama series “Sanditon” and offered Clarke an unexpected opportunity: Miss Lambe, the sole character of color in Austen's works.
When the script first came to her, Clarke approached it with understandable reservation. What would such a woman be if not in the background and servile?
“It's just going to be another (expletive) maid,” she recalled thinking. “When I was reading it, I was like, ”Wait a minute, there's actually a lot to it.' I was really surprised at what kind of character this was they were trying to create."
This image released by PBS shows, from left, Jyuddah James, Rose Williams and Crystal Clarke from the series MASTERPIECE: Sandition," airing Sundays on PBS. (Simon RidgwayRed Planet PicturesPBS via AP)
Lambe is a historically credible figure, not modern wish fulfillment for diversity, according to an expert on Austen and her times.
"Race relations were a real thing and very complex in 18th-century Britain,” said Devoney Looser, author of “The Making of Jane Austen” and an Arizona State University professor. There were an estimated 10,000 people of African or Afro-Caribbean descent in London as the 19th century approached, she said, about 1% of the city’s population of around 1 million.
Austen, who famously referred in letters to “the little bit (2 inches wide) of ivory” as her artistic canvas and “four or five families in a county village” its contained focus, should not be viewed as uninformed or indifferent to the outside world, Loosey said.
“This idea that she wasn’t paying attention to history or politics is false. I think she was very keyed into history and politics,” she said, which in Austen's time would have required an understanding of the anti-slavery movement. Two Austen works, “Mansfield Park” and “Emma,” mention slavery, with one character defending another as "always rather a friend to the abolition."
Wherever Austen intended to take her incomplete novel, the task of developing it for “Sanditon” fell to screenwriter Andrew Davies, whose Austen adaptations include 1995's “Pride and Prejudice” miniseries. The characters he inherited this time around included the the briefly sketched Lambe, a young, biracial heiress from the West Indies — the center of the British slave trade that was part of her heritage.
"There were only two words used by Jane Austen to describe Miss Lambe, 'chilly' and 'tender.' And I I took ‘chilly’ very literally to mean that she found the climate very unpleasant,” Davies said. “’Tender’ is ambiguous. I took it to mean vulnerable, quick to see slights and prejudice in others, which she does find, of course.”
She became a more spirited character in Davies' hands. Georgiana Lambe and the drama's central female character, Charlotte (Rose Williams), meet and bond as visitors to the seaside village of Sanditon. Charlotte’s love interest, Sidney (Theo James) is the orphaned Lambe's guardian on the series airing through Feb. 23 and available online at pbs.org.
“It would seem quite natural that Charlotte would befriend her, because Charlotte is a very open-minded sort of character and quick to see injustice and call it out," Davies said. “They’d be natural companions, and I thought it would be fun to give Miss Lambe quite a playful and rebellious sort of character, so as to give Sidney a hard time."
From the start, Clarke refused to approach the role passively.
“I was very wary because the writers are white, producers are white, director is white,” she said. “There were some things that, through nobody's fault except not knowing, didn't sit well with me and that I would want changed to suit the perspective of a character who's supposed to be so much in her power, or trying to find her power.”
Among her concerns: story lines that suggested Lambe's wealth would have protected her from racism, and a scene in which she laments that a man's anti-slavery efforts were taking precedence over her.
“She would never say that. She grew up on a plantation and she understands the horrors of it," Clarke said. ”It's very much of an important thing to her.”
It was at the first cast dinner that Clarke realized that she and Lambe were in good hands. The producers assured her that “'we don't want to just have you here. We want to make sure that it's done right," she recalled.
Lynn Elber can be reached at lelber@ap.org and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/elber
The Golden Globes bill themselves as Hollywood’s booziest bash. This year, is anyone ready to party?
Political tension and industrywide uncertainty are the prevailing moods heading into Sunday night's 83rd Golden Globes. Hollywood is coming off a disappointing box-office year and now anxiously awaits the fate of one of its most storied studios, Warner Bros.
A celebratory mood might be even more elusive given that the wide majority of the performers and filmmakers congregating at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, oppose the policies of President Donald Trump. Likely to be on the minds of many attendees: the recent U.S. involvement in Venezuela and the fatal shooting of 37-year-old mother Renee Good in Minneapolis by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But through their ups and downs, the Globes have always tried to put pomp over politics. Host Nikki Glaser has vowed as much.
“You’d be surprised that half the room had no clue why I was saying ‘Venezuela,’” Glaser told The Associated Press earlier in the week, referring to her comedy-club warm-ups. “People aren’t getting the news like we all are.”
Glaser, a comic known for her roast appearances, has promised to go after A-listers in her second time hosting.
“We’re going to hit Leo,” Glaser said. “The icebergs are coming.”
Here’s what to look for at this year’s Globes:
The Golden Globes kick off at 8 p.m. EST on CBS while streaming live for Paramount+ premium subscribers. E!’s red carpet coverage begins at 6 p.m. EST.
The Associated Press will be have a livestream show beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern with a mix of stars' arrivals, fashion shots and celebrity interviews. It will be available on YouTube and APNews.
The overwhelming Oscar favorite “One Battle After Another” comes in with a leading nine nominations. It’s competing in the Globes’ musical or comedy category, which means the drama side might be more competitive. There, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” and Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” are all in the mix.
But thus far, “One Battle After Another” has cleaned up just about everywhere. Much of Paul Thomas Anderson’s cast is nominated, including DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti and Benicio Del Toro.
If it and “Sinners” take home the two biggest prizes, it will be a banner night for Warner Bros. even as its future hangs in the balance. The studio has agreed to be acquired by Netflix is a deal worth $82.7 billion. Movie theaters have warned such a result would be “a direct and irreversible negative impact on movie theaters around the world.”
The merger awaits regulatory approval, while Paramount Skydance is still trying to convince Warner shareholders to accept its rival offer.
After an audacious promotional tour for “Marty Supreme,” Timothée Chalamet is poised to win his first Globe in five nominations. In best actor, comedy or musical, he’ll have to beat DiCaprio, a three-time Globe winner, and Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”).
In best actress, comedy or musical, Rose Byrne is the favorite for her performance in the not especially funny A24 indie “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” One prominent nominee in the category, Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked: For Good”), won’t be attending due to her schedule in the West End production “Dracula.”
Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”) is the clear front-runner in best actress, drama. In the star-studded best actor, drama, category, the Brazilian actor Wagner Moura (“The Secret Agent”) may win over Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”) and Joel Edgerton (“Train Dreams”).
In the supporting categories, Teyana Taylor and Stellan Skarsgård come in the favorites.
The Globes, formerly presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, have no overlap or direct correlation with the Academy Awards. After being sold in 2023 to Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions, a part of Penske Media, the Globes are voted on by around 400 people. The Oscars are voted on by more than 10,500 professionals.
But in the fluctuating undulations of awards season, a good speech at the Globes can really boost an Oscar campaign. Last year, that seemed to be the case for Demi Moore, who won for “The Substance” and gave the night's most emotional speech. Mikey Madison (“Anora”), however, scored the upset win at the Oscars.
A few potentially good moments this year went instead in a Golden Eve ceremony earlier this week. There, the Cecil B. DeMille and Carol Burnett honorees, Helen Mirren and Sarah Jessica Parker, accepted their awards.
One to watch, if he wins, will be the Iranian director Jafar Panahi. His revenge drama “It Was Just an Accident” is up for four awards. Panahi has spent most of his career making films clandestinely, without approval of authorities, and was until recently banned from leaving the country. Last month, he was sentenced to a year in prison, which would be only his latest stint behind bars if Panahi returns home to serve it. This week, protests over Iran’s ailing economy have spread throughout the country in a new test to Iran's leaders.
For the first time, the Globes are trotting out a new podcast category. The nominees are: “Armchair Expert,” “Call Her Daddy,” “Good Hang With Amy Poehler,” “The Mel Robbins Podcast,” “SmartLess” and “Up First.”
In TV, HBO Max’s “The White Lotus” — another potential big winner for Warner Bros. — leads with six nominations. Netflix’s “Adolescence” comes in with five nods.
But the most closely watched nominee might be “The Studio.” The first season of Seth Rogen’s Hollywood satire memorably included an episode devoted to drama around a night at the Globes. (Sample line: “I remember when the red carpet of the Golden Globes actually stood for something.”) “The Studio” is up for three awards, giving three chances for life to imitate art.
For more coverage of this year’s Golden Globe Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/golden-globe-awards
Amy Poehler, left, and Joel Lovell arrive at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Owen Cooper arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Teyana Taylor arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Teyana Taylor arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Stellan Skarsgård, left, and Megan Everett-Skarsgard arrive at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Colman Domingo arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Selena Gomez arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Nikki Glaser arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Maura Higgins, from ledt, Gayle King, and Mona Kosar Abdi arrive at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Derek Hough arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Tessa Thompson arrives at the Golden Globes Golden Eve on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Nikki Glaser rolls out the red carpet during the 83rd Golden Globes press preview on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
