Henry Golding has a confession to make. “I think it’s sacrilege to say,” the actor says carefully, “but I really like modern takes on period dramas. I love the fact that we have the choice of whether to watch the classics or more contemporary takes on these stories.” And while an army of armchair historians will likely disagree, Golding isn’t alone.
In recent years historical dramas on screens big and small—from Bridgerton to Mr. Malcolm’s List, Emma, and The Personal History of David Copperfield—have found ways to update well-worn stories with contemporary camerawork, current language, inclusive casting, and a fresh sensibility, earning millions of fans (and irking some purists) in the process. Of course, liking this sort of storytelling isn’t just a personal preference for Golding, it’s his job.
This month Golding stars, alongside Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis, Richard E. Grant, and Nikki Amuka-Bird, in director Carrie Cracknell’s Persuasion, a period-appropriate but spiritually modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s last completed novel, streaming now on Netflix. The film tells the story of Anne Elliot (Johnson), a baronet’s daughter who has been drifting through life ever since she broke off an engagement with the naval officer Frederick Wentworth (Jarvis)—and whose path to rediscovering happiness is crossed by a distant cousin, Golding’s William Elliot, who has intentions that are somewhat less than pure.
Finding his way into the part was a charming challenge for Golding. “I try to concentrate on the material in front of me. It’s about reading the script so thoroughly that every thought you have in normal day-to-day life, you’re thinking about from the perspective of Mr. Elliot,” he says. “So I would imagine, What would he be doing in this situation, or, How would he reply to this? It’s really about staying true to our script and coming to the table with a point of view about how Elliot should be when there have already been so many different iterations. For me, that made it easier to really enjoy playing such a colorful character on the screen.”
The story has all the plot twists, class conflicts, and triumphs of true love that Austen fans adore, but for Golding, part of the appeal of playing Mr. Elliot is that among a group of characters who never quite say what they feel, he is honest, even to a fault. He’s up-front about his intention to marry for status, to inherit the family estate, and to let nothing and no one get in his way.
“I think he’s far less complicated than we would imagine he is,” Golding says from Rome, where he’s currently filming The Old Guard 2, a sequel to the hit 2020 action movie. “He’s one of those people who knows what he wants and is going to mold the universe to his will. Within the story, he has his goal and he’ll do anything to get it—or to get into the pants of his perspective target. For me, it was a joy to know that as much as the character goes through, he’s not going to end up with lady. I could just have fun with that.”
It’s a take on the character that set Golding apart from the start. “When we were casting Wentworth and Elliot, we were thinking about a whole range of actors,” Cracknell says. “And it just seemed to me that Henry had this incredible combination of charisma, intelligence, confidence, and wit, which felt like such a fresh thing for a Jane Austen story. I had this brilliant conversation with him, and he was excited about the possibility of playing Mr. Elliot. He described the character as a ‘Regency fuckboy,’ which I completely loved. There was also something about Henry’s confidence and the sharpness of his wit that felt like he could make Mr. Elliot a real contender.”
Confidence and a sharp wit—not to mention that million-dollar smile—have served Golding well. The 35-year-old Malaysian-born Golding didn’t plan to become an actor; he worked as a London hairstylist and travel program host before a mutual acquaintance mentioned him to director Jon M. Chu, who was searching for a leading man to play Nick Young in 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians. Golding landed the breakout role—the dashing heir to a staggering fortune who brings his unsuspecting girlfriend home for the first time—and was instantly catapulted to the top of Hollywood’s A-list.
In the four years since Crazy Rich Asians, he has starred opposite Blake Lively in the thriller A Simple Favor, romanced Emilia Clarke in Last Christmas, played a gangster in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, and headlined the G.I. Joe spinoff Snake Eyes. “I’m really drawn to characters that itch something not only in my mind, but in my heart,” Golding says. “It can be curiosity, it can be envy, it can be a kind of joy, but if a character sparks an emotion like that deep within me, it becomes something that I’m completely drawn to.” Still, Golding says, he’s hesitant to believe too much in his own hype.
“I’ve worked tremendously hard for the majority of my lifetime,” he says. “My first passion was hairdressing, and working in that industry in London from the age of 15 instilled at the early stages gratitude and empathy for others. I’ve lived a really beautiful existence in a way that I’m so grateful for, being able to have experience in different levels of life. It gives me a sense of reality. Like, if all of this went away, I think I’d be okay. I was something else before, I could be something else again.”
It likely won’t come to that. In addition to his work on the Old Guard sequel, Golding—who in 2021 became a father—has a full slate of acting gigs in the pipeline, including the upcoming action flick Assassin Club and at least one more Crazy Rich Asians movie. He is also branching out, including producing an adaptation of the Dean Koontz novella Nameless and becoming an ambassador for David Yurman.
“I always joke to Henry, ‘Did I ruin your life?’ says Kevin Kwan, who wrote the book Crazy Rich Asians and served as an executive producer on the film. “Because Crazy Rich Asians was the movie that launched him into the stratosphere. We were having a challenging time casting his role, and I’m sure I was probably to blame, because I was looking for Nick Young, and then Nick Young came into the room. Henry just had this quality to him that went beyond his good looks. He had that special something extra that makes people movie stars. I saw a character from my book come to life the minute he walked in.”
While some goals have so far eluded Golding (“I’m still waiting for my sci-fi epic,” he says), Persuasion was an opportunity that checked multiple boxes on his wish list. Not only was he able to take on one of literature’s great rakes (“the idea of Henry playing a rascal was really appealing to us,” says producer Andrew Lazar, “because in real life he’s such a sincere, genuine guy”), he was also able to tell a story that will introduce viewers to a wider world.
“There’s a tremendous amount of passion [for Austen’s work],” Golding says about the film. “This is definitely a relaxed, enjoyable, funny take on Persuasion, but it’s going to open the door to interest in literature. It’s broadening the draw to the subject.”
While Golding himself first encountered Austen as a student in the U.K., he says he’s still learning from her work. “I think the lesson of Persuasion is truthfulness,” he says. “Truthfulness not only to others but to yourself and your own feelings. Sometimes we fool ourselves and follow our brains rather than our hearts, and we get into so much trouble. But you just have to accept your own truth and live with it, even if it’s the wrong decision.”
Photographs by Cyrill Matter.
Styled by James V. Thomas III.
Production by Louis2 Paris.
Grooming by Jessica Berullier.
In the lead portrait, Golding wears: a Fendi jacket ($6,500); Turnbull & Asser shirt ($365); Brunello Cucinelli bowtie ($275); Loro Piana trousers ($1,295); David Yurman cufflinks ($475) and ring ($11,500)
Adam Rathe is Town & Country's Deputy Features Director, covering arts and culture and a range of other subjects.
