With the recent announcement of Daisy Edgar-Jones being cast to play the brilliantly driven lead character Sadie Green in “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” Paramount’s adaptation of Gabrielle Zevin’s 2022 bestselling novel, now is the perfect moment to review her literary background.

For many, the actress came to our attention through her star-making turn as Marianne Sheridan in the BBC/Hulu book-to-screen adaptation of Sally Rooney’s “Normal People” alongside Paul Mescal, playing the character of Connell.

This wildly popular romantic drama series earned her nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a British Academy Television Award.

It was not her first major television series. Edgar-Jones began her career playing Olivia Marsden on the ITV dramedy “Cold Feet,” which ran from 2016 to 2020.

In the series, Edgar-Jones is almost unrecognizable without her now characteristic long dark brown hair and bangs. 

Her signature look comes into play in her second book-to-screen adaptation in the television series  “War of the Worlds” (2019–2021). She played Emily Gresham, a blind teenager who experiences strange, heightened senses and visions when near the aliens—later revealed to be linked to their origins—during the series first two seasons, opposite Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern.

This was a pivotal role for Edgar-Jones as she appeared as one of the main characters in a bold new take on H.G. Wells’ classic science-fiction novel, which was released one year after the smash-hit series “Normal People” and this was another opportunity for the young actress to lean into a script about “the nuances of interrelationships and of people changing and of survival and of sacrifice and of what happens in these situations.” 

According to her, what sets Edgar-Jones’s character apart is that “she’s almost completely tuned into everything in a way that no one else is. She is also falling in love which is another element of her character.” Both elements are reminiscent of Edgar-Jones’ previous portrayal of the character, Marianne.

The following year, in 2022, Edgar-Jones had the starring role in the film adaptation of the runaway bestseller “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. 

As the character Catherine “Kya” Danielle Clark (also known as the “Marsh Girl”) Edgar-Jones entered the territory of mystery-thriller genre, this time playing the lead character with a believable Southern accent, navigating becoming a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once romantically involved. 

What is most remarkable about this performance is how convincingly she portrays a young adult version of a character who has raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South, who fitfully learns how she should relate to other human beings and eventually to trust and gain the trust of others.

That same year Edgar-Jones starred alongside Andrew Garfield in Dustin Lance Black’s FX on Hulu true crime miniseries “Under the Banner of Heaven,” an adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name. 

The television miniseries follows the events that led to the 1984 murder of Edgar-Jones’ character Brenda Wright Lafferty, a young, modern Mormon woman who marries into the conservative Lafferty family in Utah. 

Edgar-Jones portrays her as a bright, ambitious, and outspoken woman full of warmth and intelligence, who meets a heartbreaking end in a story based on true events.

As Muriel Edwards, the central character in the 2024 film “On Swift Horses,” based on Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel, Edgar-Jones directs her talent toward historical drama. 

Set in the 1950s, she is a woman navigating a complex love triangle with her husband, Lee (Will Poulter), and his brother, Julius (Jacob Elordi), while secretly exploring her own desires, horse-race betting and queer relationships. 

Again, Edgar-Jones elevates Edwards from a conventional housewife to someone with an independent, multidimensional personality. 

The themes of hidden desire, personal freedom, and self-discovery set the scene perfectly for Edgar-Jones to be cast as Sadie Green, a genius game designer, who will play that lead role in the highly anticipated film adaptation of “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.” 

Edgar-Jones is also set to star in Georgia Oakley’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1811 novel “Sense and Sensibility” as the lead Elinor Dashwood, playing sister to Esme Creed-Miles as Marianne Dashwood. 

No doubt, Edgar-Jones was also selected here for her skill in conveying the quiet, restrained intensity necessary to elevate the much-screen-adapted character of Elinor.

Over the past decade, Edgar-Jones has soared to become one of the most impressive book-to-screen actresses working in Hollywood.

About the writer
Stephanie Polsky is a writer and academic who continues to think about how a) the BBC/Hulu book-to-screen adaptation of Sally Rooney’s “Normal People” remains a cultural phenomenon (Connell’s chain), and b) Daisy Edgar-Jones delivered an astonishing performance on that series as its breakout star, alongside Paul Mescal, of course.