Daisy Edgar-Jones & George MacKay’s Sense & Sensibility: The Trailer Is Here
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1 month ago
Georgia Oakley’s new Austen adaptation will land in cinemas this autumn
Last year marked 250 years since the birth of Britain’s famed romance novelist, Jane Austen – and the film and TV industry responded in a bit of a frenzy. The BBC released Miss Austen and The Other Bennett Sister, while Netflix gave a new version of Pride & Prejudice the greenlight, adapted by Dolly Alderton starring Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden.
Next up, Focus Features and Working Title – the companies behind 2005’s beloved Pride and Prejudice adaptation starring Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen – have mined another of Austen’s famed novels for screen inspiration: Sense and Sensibility, the first adaptation of Austen’s first-published novel since Ang Lee’s take in 1995.
Thirty years on, the trailer has finally landed. Helmed by Blue Jean director Georgia Oakley from a script penned by bestselling Australian author Diana Reid, it stars Brits Daisy Edgar-Jones and George MacKay in the leading roles.
Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Elinor Dashwood and George MacKay as Edward Ferrars in SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. (Focus Features)
Sense And Sensibility: Everything We Know So Far
Sense and Sensibility is one of 18th century author Jane Austen’s best known novels, though it was originally published anonymously with the byline ‘By A Lady’. In fact, it was Austen’s first published novel, released in 1811.
Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Elinor Dashwood and Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne Dashwood in SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. (Focus Features)
The Plot
Austen’s novel centres on the Dashwood sisters and their widowed mother following the death of patriarch Henry Dashwood. Despite imploring his son, John, to provide for his step mother and half sisters, the quartet of ladies is left destitute, forced to move from their comfortable home to the much smaller Barton Cottage in Devonshire.
There are two romances at the centre of Sense and Sensibility, and they play on the novel’s title. Eldest sister Elinor (Edgar-Jones) embodies sense: she is rational, reserved and stoic, particularly regarding matters of the heart. So when she unexpectedly falls for kind and amiable Edward Ferrars (MacKay), her rationality takes over: his family disapproves, their love would hurt the feelings of others, and Edward is perhaps even secretly engaged. Elinor instead prioritises decorum and endures heartache in silence.
Esmé Creed-Miles stars as Marianne Dashwood in SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. (Focus Features)
The middle Dashwood sister, meanwhile, represents ‘sensibility’: she is passionate, impulsive and openly expresses and acts on her emotions. She quickly falls in love with John Willoughby, who seems to reciprocate her intense feelings – until he casts her off in favour of a wealthier bride, leaving Marianne devastated.
Through these contrasting sisters, Austen spins a tale spanning the delicate balance between reason and emotion in finding lasting love, the societal pressures on women and the importance of financial security in marriage.
Watch the trailer below for a taste of Oakley’s take on the seminal novel.
The Cast
Leading the pack as Elinor Dashwood and Edward Ferrars are Brits Daisy Edgar Jones and George MacKay.
Rising to fame in the acclaimed TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s bestselling sophomore novel Normal People, Edgar-Jones is a certified rising star, counting high-profile titles like Fresh (2022), Where The Crawdads Sing (2022), Under the Banner of Heaven (2022), Twisters (2024) and more in her back catalogue. MacKay meanwhile rose to fame as a child star (namely in Peter Pan [2003]), but has since made a name for himself in titles like Birdsong (2012), 1917 (2019), Femme (2023) and more.
They will be joined by Esmé Creed-Miles as Elinor’s younger sister Marianne, while newcomer Bodhi Rae Breathnach (set to star in Hamnet) is youngest sister Margaret and Caitríona Balfe takes the role of their mother Mrs Dashwood. Balfe delves further into history following more than a decade leading historical time travel drama Outlander; the Irish star also counts recent credits in Ford v Ferrari (2019), Belfast (2021) and The Amateur (2025).
Creed-Miles is best known for her television roles in Hanna (2019–21) and The Sandman (2025). Joan (2024) star Frank Dillane will play her initial love interest John Willoughby, while Herbert Nordrum plays her later suitor Colonel Brandon. Rounding out the cast is Fiona Shaw as Mrs Jennings, who the sisters stay with when they visit London.
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The main cast is as follows:
- Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood
- Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne Dashwood
- George MacKay as Edward Ferrars
- Caitríona Balfe as Mrs Dashwood
- Fiona Shaw as Mrs Jennings
- Frank Dillane as John Willoughby
- Herbert Nordrum as Colonel Brandon
- Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Margaret Dashwood
Release Date
Sense and Sensibility will land in cinemas on 25 September 2026.
