+34
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esme Creed-Miles reunite almost a decade after Pond Life to play Elinor and Marianne Dashwood in Georgia Oakley's adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, which the stars say places the sisterly bond at its romantic heart.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esme Creed-Miles star as sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood in Georgia Oakley's new film adaptation of Jane Austen's 1811 debut novel, Sense and Sensibility.
The pair first worked together almost a decade ago on the small budget indie Pond Life, when Edgar-Jones was 19 and Creed-Miles was 17. Now they reunite on a much grander stage.
"I was so blown away by her," says Edgar-Jones of her co-star. "[She] has this energy that is so compelling. She's a wonderfully intelligent and sort of wild person, in the best way.
" Creed-Miles' first impression was equally vivid: "Daisy was unbelievably kind and talented. She put me at ease and I could tell I had a friend in her.
" She adds that "it would be hard not to get on with Daisy. She's just one of the loveliest people.
A New Sense and Sensibility Reunion
" Edgar-Jones credits that shared history for the ease of the new shoot. "To already have that shorthand with Esme and to feel a sort of sisterly feeling, made it so seamless," she says. An Austen adaptation is a world away from a small budget indie, but this is no polite costume drama either. It is a kaleidoscope of undone hair, mud, rage and running.
"I was really trying to get into what it might have felt like to live in Devon 200 years ago," Oakley has said of her film's unbridled aesthetic. "Steering away from this preconceived idea we have about Austen, that everything takes place in a stuffy drawing room. " When Edgar-Jones, 28, appears on a video call, it is 11am in London. She is just off a call with Australian writer Tony McNamara about Mosquito, their upcoming comedy series.
What does a Gucci, Boucheron and Estee Lauder brand ambassador wear when working from home? A striped rugby jumper, no discernible make-up and sports shorts from a morning workout: "It's not my best look!
" A few days later, Creed-Miles, 26, is similarly casual when she Zooms in just after 1pm. "I woke up quite recently," she says, wandering around her London home with earbuds in, breaking off to answer the door: "I think it's some food.
" Seeing the pair like this, using tech and athleisure wear while waiting on deliveries, is faintly surreal after seeing them as the Dashwoods, physically and emotionally entwined as they braid hair, share a bed and absorb each other's heartbreaks. With apologies to Edward Ferrars (George MacKay) and Colonel Brandon (Herbert Nordrum), they are the heart of the film and its true love story.
The Dashwoods' Sisterly Bond
"I'm really glad that you say that because I remember that being such a clear piece of direction that Georgia, our director, wanted to follow," says Edgar-Jones. Growing up an only child, she "had to outsource that sisterly or that familial sibling bond to friends", and found it here.
"It's just a really lovely thing that the love story is the two women and how much they gift each other. " To Oakley, the Dashwoods "represent these two opposing forces that a lot of women have within themselves that are always at war". For Austen-era women with few ways to support themselves and little control over inheritance, says Creed-Miles, "the bond of motherhood or sisterhood becomes more prescient". In Austen's world, marriage was survival: do it or sink.
So in 2026, when women have careers, best friends and their own front-door keys, what is romantic love actually for?
What Love Means Today
"It's a great question, and I think it's one we're always asking," says Edgar-Jones. In a relationship with photographer Ben Seed for nearly four years, she says she "loves love" and that modern romance is "for friendship and companionship and support". Her longer answer is pure Elinor: "What Austen does so well is explore the variety of love we can experience in a life, be it platonic, familial, romantic, and how valuable all of those are. The same exists today.
It's so magic to cultivate love in all those different areas of your life if you can.
" Asked about the same topic, Creed-Miles admits defeat: "Oh gosh. Literally, that is just too big a question for me.
" There is romance in her life, though, in the form of an engagement to musician Daisy Maybe, yes, another Daisy. "I love going for a walk with my fiancee," she says. "We take our dog to the park. We might cook some nice food and watch a bit of telly and chill out.
Very simple.
Sense And Sensibility In Real Life
" In real life, which of the pair is sense and which is sensibility? Edgar-Jones says she is "probably a mixture, honestly", adding "I don't fall in love very easily" while admitting to being "a massive romantic". Creed-Miles, gloriously vulnerable and untamed as Marianne, leans "more towards sensibility, internally. I definitely experience that sort of crushing depth of feeling.
" Marianne is the kind of woman Creed-Miles always wanted to be, someone "outgoing and with a passion for life who took risks", whereas she describes herself as "quite reclusive". That introversion is something she is "constantly reconciling" with her other day job as singer and guitarist in UK duo Cusk. As for Kate Winslet's Marianne, Creed-Miles has never seen the 31-year-old film, but says the new incarnation will "hopefully do [Winslet] and Emma and Ang Lee proud".
Daisy Edgar-Jones And Normal People
The storyline is awash with yearning: Elinor and Edward for each other, Colonel Brandon for Marianne, Marianne for Willoughby, mothers and relatives for weddings. It is a mode Edgar-Jones perfected as another Marianne, opposite Paul Mescal's Connell in the 2020 smash TV series Normal People. That role made her a household name and garnered her Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Asked whether she would return to Normal People, she says: "Oh no, I'd be so sad if that happened.
I love those characters so much, and I love that show.
" The thing she loves most, she adds, is a good bit of hardcore yearning, and last year she noted: "I have worked with basically all of the internet's boyfriends," citing Mescal, Sebastian Stan and Jacob Elordi. "Just Timothee Chalamet and Austin Butler left! " Born in London to Wendy, a film editor, and Philip Edgar-Jones, a television executive, Daisy acted in school plays before studying at the National Youth Theatre and taking teenage TV roles.
Creed-Miles is the daughter of actors Samantha Morton and Charlie Creed-Miles, and made her showbiz debut at seven.
smh 
theage:Forget the men, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles carry the true love story of this filmThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Daisy Edgar-Jones Esme Creed-Miles Georgia Oakley Jane Austen Adaptation
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The October 4 EditionIn our cover story, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles share how their decade-long bond helped them to play sisters in a new adaptation of a classic.
Read more »
The October 4 EditionIn our cover story, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles share how their decade-long bond helped them to play sisters in a new adaptation of a classic.
Read more »
The October 4 EditionIn our cover story, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles share how their decade-long bond helped them to play sisters in a new adaptation of a classic.
Read more »