If you watched Reese Witherspoon’s film adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing or the Oscar-nominated movie Under the Banner of Heaven, you probably recognized Daisy Edgar-Jones from Normal People. The Hulu series premiered in 2020 and followed two teenagers living in a small town in Ireland, exploring their sexual identities—and their unexpected will-they-won’t-they chemistry with one another.
But what else has the actress starred in? Keep scrolling for details on Daisy Edgar-Jones.
Well, of course, she’s an actress, but one you probably don’t know all that well. At 24 years old, she’s appeared in a variety of still-under-the-radar shows including War of the Worlds and the Cold Feet reboot, but always in a supporting role. Normal People was a career-defining one, especially given that the series centered almost exclusively on her character Marianne and her relationship with Connell. (Also, in an exciting turn of events, Edgar-Jones was actually a “massive fan of the book” before she landed the part, according to an interview with InStyle. Her mom even read it as part of her book club.)
In addition to Normal People, Edgar-Jones also starred in the film adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing (where she played Kya). Her role in Under the Banner of Heaven earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film. She also played Emily in the French show War of the Worlds.
Edgar-Jones grew up as an only child in Muswell Hill in Northern London. Her mom worked as a TV editor—with Irish roots, which helped her a lot when it came to Marianne’s accent—and her dad as a TV documentary producer. Edgar-Jones discovered her interest in acting at a fairly young age after she decided to try out for a school play. “When I was young in primary school, I was very average at subjects,” she said in an interview with Woodhouse College magazine. “I wasn’t really ‘good’ at anything, just in the middle—and quite shy. Then, when I was in year five, we did a school play—and it was the first time I remember people saying, ‘Wow, that was really good.’ I thought, ‘Oh, I’m good at something!’ It seemed acting was just the thing that I was best at.”
Yes! She actually auditioned and was accepted to the prestigious National Youth Theatre in the U.K. at the age of 14. (For reference, Dame Helen Mirren, Daniel Craig and Colin Firth are just a few of the school’s notable alums.)
Also yes! Edgar-Jones is dating Tom Varey, an actor best recognized for his role as Cley Cerwyn in season six of Game of Thrones. He’s also the reason she heard about the role of Marianne on Normal People in the first place. According to an interview in The Hollywood Reporter, Edgar-Jones overheard Varey on the phone helping an actor-friend record an interview tape for the very same role. About a month later, she was invited to audition for the exact same part—and got it. (As for any hard feelings between her and Varey’s actor friend, she said there weren’t any. “It’s strange when you’re both actors,” she told THR.)
According to InStyle, she loves to cook. (“I made a very good five-spice pork the other day, which I was very proud of, and a sausage and sweet potato and red onion-like thing.”) She also has acting aspirations beyond the small screen. She told Woodhouse magazine: “Ultimately, I’d love to become a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and do Shakespeare properly—to perform at The Globe would be amazing. But I think to be a working actor is good enough for me. Just to make a living at it, because it’s what I love—so to be able to do it as a career is my ambition, even it’s just little parts here and there on radio or whatever...we’ll see.”
