Entertainment

Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan Make Us Thirsty for Love in 'Little Women' First-Look Images

The two deliver lovelorn gazes in the upcoming Greta Gerwig-directed remake of the 1868 Louisa May Alcott novel.
Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet
Left: Christopher Polk/Getty Images; Right: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

A first glimpse of Greta Gerwig's Little Women is out, and it comes with photos of Timothée Chalamet as Theodore "Laurie" Laurence.

This Little Women remake has been in the works for a while. The classic book follows the lives of the March sisters—Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth—as they grow up in Civil War-era Massachusetts. If you haven't read the book, perhaps you've watched the Winona Ryder and Christian Bale version of the film. Fun fact: it's actually the fifth time the book was made into a film and it features a memorable kissing scene in which Bale slobbers on Ryder, creating a spit bridge between their mouths.

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Vanity Fair shared photos of the entire cast, but one photo in particular of Jo (Saoirse Ronan) and Laurie gazing deeply into each other's eyes is already making its rounds on the Internet. It's basically a family reunion for Gerwig, Ronan, and Chalamet, who worked together on Lady Bird. But there's so much more to unpack in the steely intensity of their gazes, full of yearning and sadness and take me now energy. There's wind gently ruffling their hair, and Pride and Prejudice levels of romantic, scenic countryside despite the fact that (151-year-old spoiler alert!) the two characters never actually get together. Are we seeing the beginnings of a Cooper-Gaga-esque explosion of sexual tension? Will they, too, perform a steamy piano duet that has a room full of Hollywood elites reaching for their textbooks to place over their laps? According to Vanity Fair, Ronan and Chalamet "are close in real life," which "added to their chemistry." Read into that how you will.

The costuming also adds to the sweeping romance the photos evoke. Chalamet's voluminous sleeves under his sleek, velvet vest make him look like a dapper young Shakespeare ready to write a sonnet about Ronan's fitted, masculine blazer and neckerchief. Jo's tomboy nature was a vehicle for the character's otherness in the story, and Gerwig told Vanity Fair "They find each other before they’ve committed to a gender." She also said, "[Chalamet and Ronan] have a slightly androgynous quality that makes them perfect for these characters.” They also apparently wear some of each other's clothes throughout the film. Let's pray for an outfit montage where they trade bloomers, all set to "I Like Candy."

Who knows whether Chalamet will fill the shoes of Christian Bale—or if anyone can—but the stans are already thirsty to see him try. The rest of the cast is also insanely stacked. Emma Watson looks demure in her finery as eldest sister, Meg, while Florence Pugh (playing the bratty Amy) and Eliza Scanlen (as the tragic Beth) serve sweet, wonder-filled gazes. The Dernaissance continues with Laura Dern playing Marmee (the March matriarch), who in the images emits a power only she can deliver, even without shouting "I will not not be rich!" And Meryl Strep perfectly cast as their rich, terrifying aunt—a role that looks 50 percent Miranda Priestly, 50 percent Mary Louise screaming at the dinner table.

Dern and Streep have already been nailing it in Big Little Lies and with Gerwig topping off the list of talent—and apparently intent on really honing in on Laurie and Jo's relationship—this looks like it could be a good one.

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