The casting of 21-year-old Page, who was nominated for an Oscar in the title role in the recent hit US film Juno, has angered a number of industry bigwigs in the UK who believe it’s yet another example of famous British roles being handed to actresses from across the Atlantic.

Only last year US actress Anne Hathaway raised eyebrows when she was cast in the role of Jane Austen in the flick Becoming Jane, while fellow American Scarlett Johansson was recently chosen to play Mary Queen of Scots and previously starred as Mary Boleyn in the Other Boleyn Girl, opposite fellow American Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn.

“No one is doubting Ellen Page’s acting abilities but why a BBC movie of Jane Eyre couldn’t have a British actress in the lead is pretty hard to stomach,” huffs a senior industry insider.

“It’s not as if we don’t have enough talented young actresses here who could play the role.

“It seems even the BBC has become obsessed with employing talent from overseas at the expense of our own girls.”