Director Joe Wright was not initially keen on Keira Knightley playing Elizabeth, believing her to be too attractive. He changed his mind upon meeting her, deciding her tomboyish attitude would be perfect for the part. Or, as she tells it on The Graham Norton Show (2007): "He initially thought I was too pretty, but then he met me and said 'Oh, no you're fine!'."
At the beginning of the movie, Elizabeth is shown reading a novel titled "First Impressions" - this was Jane Austen's original title of her novel before she altered it to "Pride and Prejudice". Additionally, the text of the visible pages is readable when paused; it is the last chapter of "Pride and Prejudice," with names changed.
Matthew Macfadyen (Mr. Darcy) has very poor eyesight. In the misty morning shot, director Joe Wright was behind the camera waving a red flag so Macfadyen knew where to walk.
This movie is set in 1797, the year that Jane Austen wrote the first draft of "Pride and Prejudice." This is unusual, as most movie adaptations set it in 1813 when it was revised and finalized.
Director Joe Wright specifically instructed Keira Knightley never to pout throughout the whole movie. There is, however, one scene in which she does, but that scene was shot by the second unit without Wright present. According to Knightley, Wright still complains when watching this movie over her breaking this "pout ban."
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