Season 1 wrapped up Wednesday. The period drama has already been renewed for a three-episode Christmas season.
Left to right, Dónal Finn, Ella Bruccoleri and Laurie Davidson star in “The Other Bennet Sister,” which is now streaming. Photo courtesy of BritBox
Young Sherlock and Wheel of Time alum Donal Finn says he was excited that he and Will actor Laurie Davidson had the chance to create fresh new characters in the Jane Austen universe for the BritBox drama, The Other Bennet Sister.
Led by show-runner Sarah Quintrell, the 10-part adaptation of Janice Hadlow’s novel follows Mary, the oft-overlooked sister (Ella Bruccoleri) of Regency-era heroines Elizabeth and Jane Bennet from Austen’s 19th-century classic, Pride & Prejudice.
After her father (Richard E. Grant) dies and her mother (Ruth Jones) moves in with Jane (Maddie Clos), spinster Mary leaves her bucolic countryside cottage for busy London to serve as governess to the three precocious children of the Gardiners, her aunt and uncle (Indira Varma and Richard Coyle).
There, she has the opportunity to re-invent herself.
Finn plays Tom Hayward and Davidson portrays William Ryder, the suitors whom Mary meets in her new surroundings.
“All of the characters in our show are fully formed, multifaceted versions of characters that we’ve met before through Pride & Prejudice, except for myself and and Laurie’s characters, who are new additions to the Jane Austen world,” Finn told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
“Everyone’s voices in this show are so distinct and singular. It was through the scripts, really, that we got into the minds and the hearts of the characters,” he explained.
“To have all of those resources and all of the challenges of the societal rules and norms to play with, as well as just being on this quest for, in regards of our characters, a quest of love, and regarding Mary, that one of self discovery. The language becomes really charged and really emotional.”
Davidson pointed to a moment in the series when Ryder’s back story is revealed, helping him and the audience understand the man he has become.
“He lives by this set of ideals,” the actor noted.
“It’s all to do with his own family experiences and letting life pass you by without seizing opportunities and really making the most of every day,” he added.
“That gave me a lot of clues into who he was and as someone who is curious and open and front-footed and it was clear to me that, in a world where things can feel very buttoned-up, Ryder needed to be a bit of a breath of fresh air and willing to break some of those rules.”
Davidson said that, unlike his peers, Ryder doesn’t care much about what people think.
“We know from the world of Austen that there’s so much scandal and reputation and Ryder, because of his own privilege, of course, is able to kind of sail through that, which was really freeing to play,” he said.
Davidson said he was impressed by the cast’s work from their first table read of the scripts to watching the finished product on the screen as it premiered.
“I was blown away by everyone’s performances,” he recalled.
“The script — which I’d loved when reading it and why I’d come on to the project — made so much sense to me,” Davidson said. “But when Ella, especially, and the rest of the cast read it, I was like, ‘OK, this is going to work.’ So, it wasn’t a shock to me when I then saw the finished project and how much I was affected by it as an audience member,” he added.
“There’s so much joy in it and you can’t help but feel warmed by it and also take lessons from it without it feeling preachy. That’s a hard thing to do and, naturally, you watch it, and you go, ‘We can all take some life lessons from the way Mary is living and then is finding herself and making adjustments in her life and going after the things that are most important.”
Season 1 wrapped up Wednesday. The period drama has already been renewed for a three-episode Christmas season.
