Daisy Edgar-Jones & George MacKay To Lead New Austen Adaptation
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1 day ago
Filming is officially underway on Georgia Oakley’s new Sense and Sensibility adaptation
2025 marks 250 years since the birth of Britain’s famed romance novelist, Jane Austen – and the film and TV industry have responded in a bit of a frenzy. The BBC beat the flurry with a new costume drama Miss Austen in February, before revealing it was also working on a Pride and Prejudice spin off, The Other Bennett Sister. Over at Netflix, meanwhile, the original book is being adapted for the screen yet again, this time by Dolly Alderton starring Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden, while audiobook giant Audible is working on a new Pride and Prejudice audio adaptation starring Marisa Abela, Harris Dickinson, Jessie Buckley, Will Poulter and Glenn Close, featuring ‘cinematic sound design’ to ‘build romantic tensions’.
Next up, Focus Features has mined another of Austen’s famed novels for screen inspiration: Sense and Sensibility. Starring Brits Daisy Edgar-Jones and George MacKay in the leading roles, here’s everything we know so far.
New Sense And Sensibility Film: Everything We Know So Far
From Focus Features and Working Title – the companies behind 2005’s beloved Pride and Prejudice adaptation starring Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen – comes the first Sense and Sensibility adaptation since Ang Lee’s take in 1995. That adaptation features an Oscar-winning performance from Emma Thompson as Elinor Dashwood – the eldest of three Dashwood sisters – opposite Hugh Grant’s Edward Ferrars with Kate Winslet her on-screen sister as Marianne.
Thirty years on, filming is officially underway on a new version of Sense and Sensibility helmed by Blue Jean director Georgia Oakley from a script penned by bestselling Australian author Diana Reid.
The Plot
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. We’re told this new film adaptation will provide a fresh take on the action, but no further specifics just yet.
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.
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.
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The Cast
So far a smattering of names are attached to this new Sense and Sensibility adaptation. 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.
The cast list we know so far 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
Filming is officially underway in the UK, but no news just yet on when Sense and Sensibility will land in cinemas. Our fingers are crossed for a 2026 premiere. Stay tuned for more.
