By rights it’s her most straightforward role to date, but despite all of her ensuing success Daisy Edgar-Jones says Normal People remains the most satisfying job of her career.
A 12-part adaptation of the bestselling novel by Sally Rooney, Normal People became an overnight success, making household names of the then unknown Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal in the process, following its launch in 2020.
Released while the United Kingdom was trapped in the deep freeze of national lockdown, the show followed the lives of lovelorn Irish teenagers Marianne Sheridan and Connor Waldren and their emotionally fraught, stop-start relationship.
Reflecting on what ultimately proved to be a breakout role, Edgar-Jones, 26, admits Marianne still casts a tall shadow over her career, despite much of it being invested in big-budget Hollywood productions.
‘It’s still Normal People I am known for,’ she told The Times Culture magazine. ‘It meant a lot to people and a lot to me too.’
By rights it’s her most straightforward role to date, but despite all of her ensuing success Daisy Edgar-Jones says Normal People remains the most satisfying job of her career
The actress shot to fame in 2020 over just 12 episodes when the BBC Three adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel hit screens (Paul and Daisy pictured in the show)
She added: ‘I feel 100 percent spoilt by Normal People. If you could bottle up my ideal role, world, film-maker, writer, it had everything.
‘In any career you get some jobs that are truly magical and, yes, then you’re seeking that feeling again. It’s hard to top that.’
The actress is currently promoting Twisters, a high-octane disaster movie co-starring former Mad Men actress Kiernan Shipka and Glen Powell.
With its glossy Hollywood sheen and no-expense spared CGI effects it’l a far cry from her TV debut as Olivia, the teenage daughter of David and Karen Marsden, in ITV drama Cold Feet, a role she took while sitting her real-life A-levels.
‘I never imagined that,’ she said of her upward career trajectory. ‘I came from Cold Feet.’
She added: ‘I just really wanted to work, in any way. I wanted to do theatre, but the goal was getting a job really.’
The actress remains close friends with Mescal, 28, whose own career has gone from strength to strength following Normal People.
In a new interview with Variety, Edgar-Jones admits her former co-star – currently preparing for the role of a lifetime in Gladiator II – is one of her ‘lifetime best friends’.
She said: ‘He’s an incredibly grounded person and I am too, I think, so it’s nice to be able to have those touchstones and those people you can laugh about it with and be lighthearted with.
The actress is currently promoting Twisters, a high-octane disaster movie co-starring former Mad Men actress Kiernan Shipka and Glen Powell
A 12-part adaptation of the novel by Sally Rooney, Normal People became an overnight success, making household names of Edgar-Jones and Mescal in the process
‘We met when I was 20 and Paul was 22; I’m so excited to see where we’ll be at 32, 42, and what life will bring us.’
In May, the pair apologised for ‘leading people on’ after cryptically posting they had ‘news to share’.
Many fans of the BBC show assumed a second series was soon to be announced, however they have now confirmed they will not be reuniting on screen, leaving many devastated.
Instead, the former co-stars revealed their surprise was that they would instead be hosting a marathon screening of Normal People’s first season in order to raise funds for Unicef as well as suicide prevention charity Pieta.
The actress remains close friends with Mescal, whose own career has gone from strength to strength following Normal People. (pictured together at Glastonbury Festival last month)
In May, the pair apologised for ‘leading people on’ after cryptically posting they had ‘news to share’ – prom prompting speculation that is could be a second series of Normal People
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