Netflix's new 'forbidden love' period drama based on classic novel gets major update

Netflix's new 'forbidden love' period drama based on a classic novel has received a major update.

The streamer has announced some of the key cast members that will be bringing the piece of literary history to life. The Age of Innocence is an upcoming limited series based on the book written by Edith Wharton, originally published in 1920.

According to Netflix'snews website Tudum, set in 19th-century New York City, the story follows a passionate will-they-or-won’t-they love triangle while exploring themes of freedom, duty, identity, and love in all its forms.

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This new interpretation promises to be true to Wharton’s original work but will speak to a new generation as it traverses the ballrooms and bedrooms of its young characters, asking what is love and what is lust. And should we ultimately be driven by our heads, or by our hearts?

The book originally made history when it was first published, as it earned its author the first Pulitzer Prize for Fiction awarded to a woman.

Now, a number of important casting announcements have been confirmed. Masters of the Air actor Ben Radcliffe will play dashing society gentleman Newland Archer. He is a handsome, progressive, and intelligent society gentleman who craves a deeper and more passionate connection to the world, and to someone in it.

Meanwhile The Buccaneers star Kristine Froseth will play Archer’s sweet fiancée May Welland, a kind and genuine woman who is a product of her social class. May is a religious rule follower and a believer in the status quo, but not without a rebellious streak.

Camila Morrone who previously starred in Daisy Jones & the Six will play the scandal-struck divorcee Ellen Olenska. Olenska, a cousin of May’s, who returns to New York after a failed marriage to a Polish nobleman.

Ellen is a free spirit who is playful, smart, and strong-willed, yet carries conflict and guilt surrounding her new position in society.

Margo Martindale, from The Sticky, The Watcher and Justified will play Mrs. Manson-Mingott. She is May and Ellen’s grandmother, who is entertaining, scurrilous, defiant, capricious, stubborn, and greedy.

This is not the first time the novel has made it to the screen. Martin Scorsese's award winning adaptation starred Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder.

Released in 1993, it picked up five Oscar nominations and one win, also walking away with a Best Supporting Actress BAFTA for Miriam Margolyes. It has set a high bar for Netflix's attempt at an adaptation, earning an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

One fan even labelled it 'one of the best costume dramas of all time'. With no confirmed release date for the series, fans who cannot wait can rediscover Scorsese's version on Prime Video.

Age of Innocence is streaming on Netflix soon.