
I started writing this post and came back to fill it in only to find Kendra had left me a message:
NOOOOO HE’S SALLOW AND POCKMARKED!!! — Kendra
To which I must respond:









Are you Team Matthew Macfadyen? Share your favorite roles with us in the comments!
He was not unattractive in The Pillars of the Earth, either.
First thing I saw him in was “The Way We Live Now” playing the intimate stupid cad. Tends to colour my view.
Agreed!
Looks good to me, but there’s no accounting for taste!
Always liked him! First saw him in the TV Little Dorrit adaptation with Claire Foy and Tom Courtney. He played Arthur Clennon. Since then, have always enjoyed seeing his work!
Loved him in Little Dorrit!
Angsty but hot in Ripper Street.
hear, here!
um, hear, hear even!
In P&P he came off as miserable and greasy rather than haughty. It took me watching Little Dorrit to find him attractive.
THANK YOU
I blame his Darcy’s unattractiveness on the fact that the director seemed to be doing everything in their power to make everything – from sets to costumes to actor’s makeup – as limp and dour looking as possible. His Athos does come a close second for me though – after the two way tie of Tom Burke and Kiefer Sutherland (yes even with Kiefer’s not period typical mullet).
YOU GET ME
Fell in love with him watching MI-5 (at least that’s what they called it in the US, and definitely no frocks in sight) and Little Dorrit. I think part of his hotness is that he just seems really NICE in all his roles. He would bring home dinner, or cook for you AND do the dishes, get up early and bring you a cup of coffee in bed on a workday, and never ever leave dirty clothes on the floor.
That’s where I saw him first, too! I think the non-US title was “Spooks” but I was 12 or so and could very well be misremembering. I definitely didn’t misremember MM though^.^
I’m a big fan, but then again, I love the 2005 P&P (an unpopular opinion here, I know lol)
I love it too. MM’s Darcy is appropriately crotchety/lovestruck, which can be a very hard balance to maintain. Also, the man is SIX FOOT THREE, which ought to be illegal.
He towers over nearly everyone else in Succession (except Cousin Greg who is about 6’5″) !!!
He is delicious and has very expressive eyes.
I always found him very sexy. I love love love Succession but I’ll always hate that he’s so desexed as Tom. Everything I’ve heard about him in real life says he’s very nice and funny too. So he’s a keeper for me.
Loved him in The Way We Live Now. He was gorgeous. Still is one of my favorite actors and I do think he is very attractive in Howard’s End.
Not attractive to me, but a good actor with a lovely voice.
This man just works my shit. With his deep, mournful eyes and that voice, that wonderful syrupy voice. Oh yes.
Also, He damned near crushed me with that heartbreaking storyline in Any Human Heart</>!
(plus, he gets to bag Hayley Atwell AND Kim Cattrall. Can any old “sallow and pockmarked” dude do that, I ask you?
Loved him in Ripper Street!!
Pockmarked? I understand attacking costumes, unfortunate wigs or hairstyles etc but feels like crossing the line to attack somebody for an unchangeable physical characteristic. Scarring from acne or other reasons can be horrible to deal with emotionally (I imagine even more so going into a profession like acting) – attitudes like this don’t help.
Apologies Cindi, didn’t mean to comment under you!
Oh, God. Can I be TeamSometimesIThinkHesHot and SometimesIThinkHesMeh…? Despite my intermittent attraction to him, I always think he’s a good actor, if I don’t always love his projects.
Loved him in Spooks, The Way We Live Now and At A Funeral. Always felt like he was a bit miscast in Little Dorrit (slightly too old perhaps, especially alongside Claire Foy?) but I still enjoyed his performance overall. Operation Mincemeat, which I haven’t seen yet, looks like it could be an interesting watch. Ironically, Firth is one of his co-stars in it. 😁
He only looks good as Athos to me – the facial hair really works for him. his Darcy comes off as too unkempt for me (though seeing as that’s the entire theme 2005 p&p went with, I guess I can’t complain about Darcy specifically).
Loved him in pride and prejudice
My favorite thing about this post is the line, “Un-hot people are allowed to play Athos.”
His very first movie credit was playing Hareton Earnshaw in a TV movie of Wuthering Heights! I love that book and I don’t think there’s really been a perfect adaptation, but this version at least included the whole second half of the book (lots of times they cut it off when Cathy I dies, which is missing the WHOLE POINT of the book if you ask me). Hareton isn’t a character that gets talked about a lot in the context of WH, but he’s VERY important to the story.
YES. I overlook his appearance in the anathema P&P and love him in everything else he does.
I’ve loved him in everything but I had no idea he played Jeeves and I NEED TO SEE THIS.