Daisy Edgar-Jones has credited her mother, Wendy, for introducing her to Jane Austen's novels when she was about six years old, a foundation she says helped her bring "youthful energy" to the role of Elinor Dashwood in the new Sense and Sensibility film. The 28-year-old Normal People star, who grew up in Muswell Hill, north London, described playing the part as "a dream come true."
A Family Introduction to Austen
Edgar-Jones's mother, a former drama film editor who now works in property, placed the novels on her daughter's desk at a young age. "My mum is an avid reader and when I was about six, she plonked them on my desk. She was 'ok. When you're ready. After Harry Potter, this is next,'" Edgar-Jones told The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service. "I'm such a huge Austen fan, I love all and any Austen adaptations. I re-read all the books all the time."
Her father, Philip, is a TV executive and producer. The actress, who joined the National Youth Theatre at 14 while studying at north London's Mount School For Girls, took her A-levels at a sixth form college before studying through the Open University.
The Sixth Screen Adaptation Since 1971
The new film, directed by Georgia Oakley, is the sixth screen adaptation of Sense and Sensibility since 1971. Esme Creed-Miles, 26, plays Elinor's sister Marianne Dashwood, with Fiona Shaw, 68, as Mrs Jennings and George MacKay, 34, as Edward Ferrars. MacKay's breakthrough role was playing Lance Corporal William Schofield in Sam Mendes' 2019 First World War drama, 1917.
The 1995 adaptation won Emma Thompson an Oscar for best adapted screenplay and a nomination for best actress, alongside Kate Winslet, who was up for best supporting actress. It also starred Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant and Greg Wise.
Sisterhood at the Heart of the Story
Edgar-Jones, who has been dating British photographer and director Ben Seed, 37, since 2023, described the film's focus on sisterhood as "the thing about the film I think I am most proud of." She said: "It feels like, amongst many things, a real romance of the sisters. That feels like the real core love story. And I know our director was really keen to kind of find that between the two of them. At the beginning of the film, their father has just died and they find out that they are losing their fortune. So the story sort of follows on from there, of how they navigate life and love and their aunt."
Of Elinor's romance with Edward Ferrars, she added: "I feel like they're soul mates and it's about how they find each other." Edgar-Jones, who previously confessed "When it comes to love, I think I am very much more Elinor in every sort of way. I definitely lead a lot with my head and try and push aside, bury my emotion," will next star as a young lawyer opposite Michelle Williams and Andrew Scott in the thriller A Place in Hell, directed by Chloe Domont, due for release in April 2027.
Fiona Shaw's Comic Turn as Mrs Jennings
Screenwriter Diana Reid praised Fiona Shaw's performance as Mrs Jennings, recalling the read-through when "she just had the whole room in stitches. She's just so gifted. Having Fiona was just incredible." Critics have described Shaw's performance as a "riot," with her vibrant wardrobe matching her larger-than-life persona.
Reid said of the character: "Mrs Jennings is an amazing character to write. I feel like Austen always arcs the satire in her novels. The characters who are initially ridiculous sometimes become less so and then, conversely, sometimes characters who are villainous, they become more and more ridiculous. It's almost like a morality tale. Mrs Jennings is definitely one of those characters who, when she storms into the plot, and she's such a huge personality, even the sisters don't really take her seriously. Then she blossoms into this incredibly gentle, generous soul. By the end of the film, I think this woman who you were laughing at, at the start, is someone who you have such genuine affection for."
The interview can be heard in full on The Arts Hour on BBC Sounds. The film is showing in cinemas now.
