Little Women on PBS: meet the just-announced cast

NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 01: (Editors Note: this image was altered using digital filters) Zach Posen (L) and Maya Thurman-Hawke arrive at the 2015 CFDA Fashion Awards at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center on June 1, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Maya Hawke as Jo March

Her Little Women character: Jo is the most adventurous March sister, a voracious reader, and talented writer as well as the story’s main character. She loves her family and her home but chafes at the gender constraints of the era and longs for a different, bigger life. Jo is rumored to be based on Alcott herself.

Predecessors: Winona Ryder took on the iconic role in 1994. Jo has also been played by June Allyson (1949) and Katharine Hepburn (1933). So, no pressure or anything.