‘Sense and Sensibility’: Caitríona Balfe, George MacKay, More Join New Adaptation of the Jane Austen Classic!!

After recently finding the eldest Dashwood sisters, Focus Features‘ hotly anticipated adaptation of Jane Austen‘s debut novel, Sense and Sensibility, is quickly ramping up. Filming has officially begun in the U.K. under the direction of Georgia Oakley, and the rest of the cast members who will join Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles in the romance feature have been unveiled. We now know who the feature’s John Willoughby and Colonel Brandon will be, with Frank Dillane and Herbert Nordrum taking up the roles of the dashing suitors. Caitríona Balfe, George MacKay, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, and Fiona Shaw will round out the bunch.

Dillane and Nordrum will be picking up their characters on the big screen from where Greg Wise and Alan Rickman left off in the original 1995 adaptation by Ang Lee. In both the 1811 novel and the movie, Willoughby and Brandon compete for the affections of the middle Dashwood sister, Marianne (Creed-Miles), while Elinor (Edgar-Jones) takes interest in the sensible Edward Ferrars, whom the 1917 star MacKay will be portraying and who was once played by Hugh Grant. Dillane is perhaps best known for his role as Tom Riddle in 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, while Nordrum previously appeared in The Worst Person in the World and The Royal Hotel.

After spending seven seasons on Starz‘s Outlander with an eighth and final turn as Claire Fraser soon to come, Balfe takes on the role of the Dashwood sisters’ mother. Rounding out the family is Bodhi Rae Breathnach, who’s already set to make her film debut with the star-studded Hamnet and will now play the youngest sister, Margaret. Finally, Shaw, another Harry Potter alum remembered for her role as Petunia Dursley, will be portraying Sir John’s step-mother, Mrs. Jennings. As of now, who will be playing other key characters, like the vulgar Lucy Steele, to whom Edward was long secretly engaged, has yet to be revealed.

What to Expect From the New ‘Sense and Sensibility’ Adaptation

The BAFTA-nominated Oakley directs from a script penned by Diana Reid, who is herself a bestselling author with books like Love & Virtue and Seeing Other People. What their plans for Sense and Sensibility remain unknown, but it figures to stick closely to Austen‘s original story of love, longing, and heartbreak as it follows the eldest two Dashwood sisters on their romantic journeys. Once landed gentry, they find themselves financially ruined by the death of their father and forced to move to Devon, where they happen to meet their respective suitors. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films are producing the film with India Flint of November Pictures and Jo Wallett.