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Actor Daisy Edgar-Jones is a longtime Jane Austen fan, but she learned something new while bringing to life Elinor in the latest adaptation of “Sense and Sensibility.”
The book is often summarized by its title, with each of the two lead sisters representing one of the seemingly opposing virtues. Where Elinor is restrained, Marianne is passionate. Elinor is polite, Marianne is viviacious. Elinor is sense, Marianne is sensibility.
But in re-visiting the novel, and viewing it through the lens of director Georgia Oakley, Edgar-Jones argues it’s not that simple.
“Her feelings are strong, but she’s learnt how to govern them. For me that was really key: She isn’t just somebody who’s unfeeling,” Edgar-Jones says. “She’s actually extremely passionate and has this deep well of feeling.”
TODAY.com caught up with Edgar-Jones backstage at Studio 1A the week of “Sense & Sensibility’s” theatrical premiere, Oct. 16. Like her character, Edgar-Jones is poised, thoughtful in her answers and always wearing a gentle smile. But she visibly lights up and starts to speak faster when I dig into one of her favorite topics, as the world recently learned: the works of author Sarah J. Maas. Turns out, Edgar-Jones is just as passionate a romantasy (a portmanteau for the combined romance and fantasy genre) reader as she is an Austen fan.
Read on for more on Edgar-Jones’ portrayal of Elinor, her chemistry with co-star Esme Creed-Miles, who stars as Marianne, and how she’s preparing for Maas’ upcoming novel “A Court of Splintered Harmony,” out Oct. 27.
What is the trickiest part about bringing to life an Austen character?
In particular with a character like Elinor, she’s somebody who feels a lot, feels very deeply. But she has learned over time how to govern that and hide her emotions from others. So it’s always a challenge playing a character like that, because you never want her restraint to feel like a lack of passion. For me, tracking that journey that she goes on, where by the end she really embraces her wildness and her inner spirit, and that bubbles over, that was really a fun challenge.
But also with Austen, her characters are so brilliantly written, and her stories are so clear in terms of their vision and their themes that really it’s about finding a filmmaker that can capture something new in her writing. (Georgia) Oakley is a really talented filmmaker, and I think that she’s brought out a kind of gritty, earthier side to Austen that we’ve not seen before, which I’m super proud of.
It’s easy to say Elinor represents sense while Marianne represents sensibility. Is that entirely accurate?
We all hold multitudes, and I think that’s the story, really. It’s about balance, about the fact that we need a bit of both. The two sisters go on these converging arcs. Elinor, it’s described in the book that her feelings are strong, but she’s learnt how to govern them. For me that was really key: She isn’t just somebody who’s unfeeling and sensible. She’s actually extremely passionate and has this deep well of feeling. But she’s just gotten very good at keeping that hidden.
Whereas Marianne, who does traditionally occupy sensibility, she’s actually got so much wisdom that she can give to Elinor. There’s a great line that she says, which is: “If I am to fall, I wish it to be from a great height.” Which is a great piece of wisdom for a character like Elinor, because actually she could learn to be a little more brave, in terms of taking risks and being vulnerable.
It’s a story about how these women teach each other, and gift each other, and evolve.
As a reader, after embodying Elinor, is there anything you learned about the character that you hadn’t known from just the book?
Yeah, I mean, I think that Elinor doesn’t have to be this cold and stern, emotionless person. That actually you can still occupy the space of sense and also — I remember there’s a line in the book that said that she had a really good sense of humor.
I never wanted, between Elinor and Marianne, her to feel like she was disapproving of Marianne’s spirit. I always wanted to make sure it was that she embraced her spirit, she just never wanted Marianne to get hurt. For me, the real learning was that the core love story of this film is the sisters. And that was a big part of what Georgia wanted to bring out of the story. That really girlhood and sisterhood is an incredibly romantic relationship you can have in your life.
Your chemistry with Esme Creed-Miles leapt off the screen. When did that sisterly chemistry click for the two of you?
I’ve known Esme a long time. We met when I was 19, and she was 17. We did our first ever indie film together, which was so wonderful because I remember loving working with Esme at that time. Meeting her again in our chemistry reads, I had such a clear idea of her 17-year-old face, you know, when I was acting across from her 25-year-old self.
So much of sisterhood is a shared history and context and a knowledge of one another. And I just — I care so deeply for Esme, and I feel very sisterly towards her. I don’t have siblings myself, so I think she’s kind of occupied that space for me now in a lovely way. Honestly, playing with her was effortless. It took no work.
I have to follow up about “ACOTAR.” I realized “Sense & Sensibility” and “A Court of Thorns and Roses” feature three sisters. Do you see any similarities?
Yeah, I suppose …. Hm. Feyre gives more older sister energy. Elain is definitely giving baby sister. The bonds between sisters is unique, like the love is really deep, but you can also hurt each other really deeply. When you know someone that well and family, it’s a kind of wonderful complexity of those kinds of dynamics. I just love in that story how ultimately they all band together and they support each other and fight together. That sisterly bond is unbreakable.
As a reader of Sarah J. Maas, is there one character you feel like you could bring to life?
I love them all. I would love the challenge of Manon Blackbeak because I think that I haven’t had a chance to show my inner witch, but would love that chance to be an Ironteeth witch.
How are you preparing for “A Court of Splintered Harmony”?
I’ve got “Kingdom of Ash” left. And then I have to read the “Crescent City” books.
Oh, are you going to read “Crescent City”?
Well, I don’t know. I’m like, do I need to? I mean I’m all caught up on “ACOTAR,” so I’m ready. I could dive in. But I’m like, do I get through “Crescent City,” then I’ve got all of the lore and all of the worlds, you know? We’ll see. But I feel ready.
