Daisy Edgar-Jones: I try and bury my emotion when it comes to love

ByNoor Nanji

Culture correspondent

Daisy Edgar-Jones has been well cast in her new film.

She plays Elinor, the rational elder sister in Sense and Sensibility, opposite the younger, more romantic sister Marianne.

Speaking to the BBC, Edgar-Jones says that in her personal life, she really is like her character.

"When it comes to love, I think I am very much more Elinor in every sort of way," she says.

"I definitely lead a lot with my head and try and push aside, bury my emotion."

But she notes that one of the joys of the film is seeing Elinor learn to enjoy a "wilder, passionate side" of herself. "And I feel like I learnt to do that too," she says.

Best known for starring in hit TV series Normal People with Paul Mescal, Edgar-Jones, 28, is now taking on a lead role in the latest adaptation of Jane Austen's book.

Ahead of its release, she’s been talking to me about whether we really need another Sense and Sensibility film (spoiler: yes. “The more the merrier, in my opinion.”)

She also told me why young people today can still see themselves in Jane Austen's stories - and gave me her take on whether her friend and former co-star Mescal should be the next James Bond.

The new film, directed by Georgia Oakley, follows the Dashwood sisters as they navigate their way through love, loss and societal expectations, following the death of their father.

It's a classic adaptation of Austen's novel, rather than a more contemporary take.

When I meet Edgar-Jones at a hotel in central London, I ask her whether there was ever a temptation to make it more "2026".

"It does feel very much like it's honouring the period," she agrees, "but I think there's a freshness to the filmmaking that I think is really beautiful".

She is starring alongside Esmé Creed-Miles, 26, who plays her sister Marianne.

Together, the two sisters' different approaches to life are characterised as "sense" (Elinor) and "sensibility" (Marianne).

Creed-Miles is also well cast, it seems. "I'm more like Marianne [than Elinor], yeah, which is annoying sometimes," she laughs.

Sense and Sensibility has been adapted for screen countless times before - including the hit 1995 film starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet.

Edgar-Jones loves that version (“one of my favourite films of all time”) but also feels there's room to tell Austen’s classic tale again.

"Her stories are something that fascinate us still today,” she says.

It was also easy for her and Creed-Mills to build the sisterly rapport on screen, as they previously worked together as teenagers on the 2018 film Pond Life.

“We had a real laugh," Creed-Mills says of their time on that film. "We would have sleepovers every night and watch Love Island."

For Edgar-Jones, the theme of sisterhood is something that stuck with her from Sense and Sensibility - despite her being an only child in real life.

“I've heard a lot of people say that after watching the film, it either makes them want a sister or to ring up their sister and say like, ‘Hey, I love you,’ and I think that's really special. It's the part of the film I'm most proud of.”

Jane Austen seems to be everywhere right now.

Last year marked the 250th anniversary of her birth and, in recent years, we've enjoyed two BBC TV series, Miss Austen and The Other Bennet Sister, the West End's Clueless musical (based on the cult 90s teen film adaptation of Emma), and Ava Pickett's modern stage adaptation of Emma.

There's also a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice written by Dolly Alderton and starring Emma Corrin coming to Netflix.

For Edgar-Jones, the themes in Austen's books are just as revelant today.

"She has an incredible way of articulating the female experience," she says.

"Her ruminations on love, on romance, on sisterly love, on family dynamics, on interpersonal social dynamics - she's such a talent."

Austen also wrote about the sort of dating behaviour that people complain about on TikTok (like situationships and ghosting), before terms like that had even been invented. Does that help Gen Z audiences relate to her, I ask?

"Well, massively," replies Edgar-Jones.

"We still have the same human heart as we did 200 years ago. Our capacity to love and feel heartbreak, and that early first love feeling, is something that we all experience in various ways.

"And so yes, I think definitely the trials and tribulations of the two women [Elinor and Marianne] as they navigate life, love and all that becomes as you grow up, definitely is so relatable to all generations."

"These women are very relatable," agrees Creed-Mills.

"I don't know if seeing a movie is going to fix everything, but it might make you feel a little bit less alone in some of the things you're feeling."

Edgar-Jones shot to fame during the pandemic with her role in Normal People.

Based on Sally Rooney's novel, the BBC Three drama charted the on-off relationship of teenagers Marianne and Connell, played by Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal.

The pair have remained close (a few years ago, Edgar-Jones told me Mescal was "one of my all-time best friends") - and both are now successful actors.

Edgar-Jones has since starred in Twisters and Where The Crawdads Sing, while Mescal was in Gladiator II, Hamnet and will be in the Beatles films.

Recently, Page Six claimed Mescal was on the audition list to be the next James Bond, external.

So, is he really in the running? Edgar-Jones didn’t give too much away.

“I don’t know, but I think there’s nothing Paul can’t do,” she says.

“So I would be there. Wow, that’s cool.”

Sense and Sensibility is out in UK cinemas on 25 September.