‘Sense and Sensibility’ stars champion sisterhood in new Jane Austen adaptation

[LONDON] Daisy Edgar-Jones said that the latest film adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel celebrates sisterhood and self-discovery, rather than simply defining its two protagonists by “sense” and “sensibility”.

Director Georgia Oakley echoed this sentiment at the world premiere on Tuesday (Sep 15).

“In the book ... Elinor’s character is a sense character, Marianne is a sensibility, and Marianne kind of gets judged by the society and she has to learn from Elinor,” she explained. “Whereas in our version it’s so much more symbiotic and it’s about the two sisters learning from each other.”

Oakley’s latest adaptation, written by screenwriter Diana Reid, comes more than three decades after Emma Thompson’s Oscar-winning take on the Austen classic.

The film follows sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, played by Normal People’s Edgar-Jones and Hanna star Esme Creed-Miles. While pursuing their own romantic interests, the sisters’ contrasting views on love repeatedly put their relationship to the test.

Oakley said that the lead actors both brought elements of themselves to their roles. “Esme is just such a sort of singular person, which is kind of how I read Marianne when I first read the book,” she said. “And Daisy similarly has so much poise and she’s so conscientious ... she was No 1 on our call sheet and she really led the film.”

Bodhi Rae Breathnach, 15, whose breakout role came in Hamnet, plays the sisters’ younger sibling, Margaret. An only child, Breathnach said that the bond between Edgar-Jones and Creed-Miles extended off screen, making them feel like the sisters she never had.

“I’m really grateful that, out of all the people I could have had to be my two sisters, that I had those two, because it really was like I had siblings,” she noted.

Norwegian actor Herbert Nordrum, who plays Colonel Brandon, one of the Dashwood sisters’ suitors, also felt that sense of camaraderie. The Worst Person in the World star described joining the production – his first experience on the set of a British period drama – as both surreal and welcoming.

SEE ALSO

Bankers get a dire warning from Jane Austen’s final book

“(It) felt like I was dropped in... your national football team and everyone was passing me the ball without it being weird,” he added.

For Harry Potter star Fiona Shaw, another Jane Austen adaptation offered a chance to revisit an author whose understanding of human nature keeps drawing her back. Shaw, who appeared in the 1995 adaptation of Persuasion and will also feature in the upcoming Pride and Prejudice Netflix series, said that Austen’s work remains relevant today.

“(Austen) just gets us, you know? She’s both forgiving and unforgiving, and she’s also celebrating life,” Shaw added. “In the end, that’s what we want literature to do… we’re all full of faults, but we are full of life, and that’s what she does.”

Sense and Sensibility will start its global cinematic rollout on Sep 23. REUTERS