Returning to Jane Austen with fresh eyes and sisterly intimacy and no makeup

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred LONDON — It’s the day after the London premiere of “Sense and Sensibility,” and its stars, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles, have shed the glamour of the evening before.Both are curled in chairs in an otherwise empty room in an upscale Hyde Park Corner hotel, modestly dressed in jeans, sneakers and casual tops.

Each drinks from an enormous glass bottle of water rather than wasting time with a cup.The spectacle of a blockbuster red carpet is familiar for Edgar-Jones, whose career took off after the 2020 limited series “Normal People” and has since included “Where the Crawdads Sing” and “Twisters.” But last night marked the biggest such occasion so far for Creed-Miles, best known for the Prime series “Hanna.”“I was a bit nervous with my friends and family all there,” admits Creed-Miles, who plays the more emotional of Jane Austen’s Dashwood sisters, Marianne.“I’m very lucky because Daisy has done it before and she’s so cool about it.”“Absolutely not,” says Edgar-Jones, who plays the sensible Elinor.

She grins sheepishly.“If anything, I think I’m getting more nervous.”Both actors understood the high stakes of remaking Austen’s 1811 debut novel, most famously adapted in 1995 by screenwriter and star Emma Thompson and director Ang Lee — a movie that became a generational touchstone nominated for seven Oscars.

The new version, in theaters Friday, was adapted by Diana Reid and directed by Georgia Oakley, best known for her evocative 2022 feature debut, “Blue Jean.”Oakley wanted to re-create the emotions of reading the book as a teenager.“In comparison to other Austen novels, I remember it feeling quite wild,” Oakley says, speaking separately over Zoom.“I also wanted to capture the spirit of the two older sisters as the beating heart of the s...