Sarah Snook Fans Have a Bone to Pick With Dakota Johnson’s Persuasion: ‘That Should Have Been You’

Sarah Snook fans are not very pleased with the trailer for Netflix’s upcoming Persuasion adaptation starring Dakota Johnson.

That’s because there were originally supposed to be two adaptations of Jane Austen’s posthumously-published 1817 novel about a 27-year-old unmarried woman (shocking) who laments having declined a proposal from naval officer Frederick Wentworth. One, from Searchlight directed by Mahalia Belo, was set to star Snook of Succession fame in the role of protagonist Anne Elliot. The other, from Netflix and directed by Carrie Cracknell, stars Johnson in the same role.

But Snook’s version of Persuasion didn’t end up moving forward. She told Vogue Australia the reason why back in October:

“The short story is that Netflix decided to greenlight their own, so Fox abandoned the one we were doing, which is disappointing because it was a great script and a director I really wanted to work with,” she said. “But had I been doing that, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to come back to Australia so soon and see family and friends.”

Now, die-hard Snook fans are ridiculing the first looks at Netflix’s Persuasion and blaming it for the demise of Snook’s film.

“Netflix owes Sarah Snook and Jane Austen an apology for this monstrosity,” one user wrote in a reply to Netflix’s trailer for Persuasion.

“Sarah Snook I will avenge you,” wrote another user.

But as Vanity Fair pointed out back in April 2021 when both adaptations were still moving forward (at least publically), this is far from the first time that two Hollywood movies on the same subject have gone on in quick succession. Ashton Kutcher and Michael Fassbender both played Apple founder Steve Jobs within a year of each other in 2013 and 2015 respectively; Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toby Jones both played Truman Capote in 2005 and 2006.

Heck, just look at all the Princess Diana movies and TV shows that have come out lately! Why cancel Spencer on account of The Crown when there’s plenty of room for everyone?

But perhaps the appetite for a lesser-known Austen novel isn’t as strong as it once was for Pride & Prejudice and Emma, even in a post-Bridgerton, period-drama loving world.

While Dakota Johnson — a wonderful and accomplished actress — doesn’t deserve all of this online slander any more than the next person, fans are taking issue with her character’s straight-into-the-camera asides. Although one could argue that’s really not Johnson’s fault, and that they should take their complaints to the director and screenwriter.

In any case, Snook fans (Snookies? Snooksters?) will just need some time to mourn the Persuasion adaptation they’ll likely never get to see.

“It should have been youuuuu Sarah Snook,” another Twitter user laments, while another adds: “Will not be watching Netflix’s persuasion as an act of solidarity with Sarah Snook.”

Watch the trailer and see more Twitter reactions below.

https://twitter.com/filmsexuals/status/1536737804129947649

https://twitter.com/migrainegal/status/1536431903917711362

Main Image: Dakota Johnson in Netflix’s Persuasion