Fermanagh Fields Prepped Edgar-Jones for Sense Role — SkimNews
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- Daisy Edgar-Jones said fields in County Fermanagh, where some of her family live, helped her prepare for the role of Elinor Dashwood in the new Jane Austen adaptation, recalling summers wandering the Northern Irish countryside as a child.
- The Focus Features and Working Title adaptation, written by Diana Reid and directed by Georgia, follows sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood as they search for husbands after the family is forced to leave their home for modest Barton Cottage; it opens in cinemas from 25 September.
- Caitriona Balfe, cast as Mrs Dashwood, said filming echoed her own childhood in Tydavnet, County Monaghan, where she grew up in a family of seven, calling the Dashwood sisters' bond a 'resilience' she recognized.
- Balfe described it as 'an amazing time in Ireland right now for all the incredible art that is being produced here' and said she and her husband discuss moving back to Ireland 'all the time.'
- The cast leans heavily on Irish actors, with Fiona Shaw as Mrs Jennings and Bodhi Rae Breathnach, recently seen in Hamnet, playing the youngest Dashwood sister Margaret.
Why it matters: The film concentrates major Irish screen talent — from Oscar-nominated Balfe to Shaw and the emerging Breathnach — into a prestige studio release, and Balfe's 'amazing time in Ireland' comment positions the country as a genuine hub for English-language period drama production, not just a backdrop.
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