Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles bring Sense and Sensibility to Sydney at the Australian Premiere
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles closed the Australian publicity tour of Sense and Sensibility in Sydney on Thursday night, two weeks before the Jane Austen adaptation opens in local cinemas.
The stars, who play the Dashwood sisters Elinor and Marianne, spent the evening walking the carpet at Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter, then introduced the film to two packed cinemas after photographs and interviews. The Jane Austen novel has been adapted numerous times, but one draw of this adaptation is the fresh perspective of screenwriter Diana Reid. The Sydney-born novelist also walked the carpet in her hometown. It was a big moment for Reid, who is celebrating her first screenplay after writing multiple novels including her bestseller Love & Virtue.
The Australian tour also included a photo call on September 30 at Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden, overlooking the harbour. Sydney is the last stop on the press tour before it finishes in the U.S. The stars had previously visited Ireland and Germany, with the world premiere taking place in London on September 15. The film has already opened in Britain on September 25, while Australia will get it on October 15, a day before the U.S.
Sense and Sensibility, directed by Georgia Oakley, begins where Austen’s novel does. A gentleman dies and the family estate passes to his son from an earlier marriage, leaving his second wife and three daughters with a reduced income and a cottage in the country. Elinor, played by Edgar-Jones, is careful with what she lets show. Marianne, played by Creed-Miles, falls hard and says so. George MacKay is Edward Ferrars, whose attachment to Elinor is held up by a promise he has already made. Frank Dillane is Willoughby, who sweeps Marianne up and then drops her, and Herbert Nordrum is Colonel Brandon, older and steadier. Caitríona Balfe plays their mother and Fiona Shaw plays the neighbour who keeps the social world moving. Where earlier screen versions have run the two courtships in parallel, this one puts the quarrel and the loyalty between the sisters first.
Working Title and Focus Features have a history of adapting Jane Austen novels into film. Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice arrived in 2005. Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. followed in 2020. Universal Pictures is handling the international release, with Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner producing alongside India Flint and Jo Wallett. Principal photography took place in the UK from July 2025. The point of comparison for this film is Ang Lee’s 1995 Sense and Sensibility, with Emma Thompson’s Oscar-winning script and Kate Winslet’s Marianne. This version directed by Oakley, a BAFTA nominee whose debut was the 2022 drama Blue Jean, is asked to bring something fresh for audiences to appreciate.
Sense and Sensibility is in Australian cinemas from October 15.