Ella Bruccolerri, a familiar face from Call the Midwife, is stepping into the spotlight as Mary Bennet in the BBC’s new series, The Other Bennet Sister. This fresh take on Jane Austen’s beloved 1813 novel, Pride and Prejudice, delves into the life of the often overlooked middle sister. While Lizzie is famed for her wit, Jane for her beauty and kindness, Lydia for her exuberance, and Kitty for her charm, Mary is left to carve out her own identity away from the typical period drama archetypes.
Bruccolerri, 36, acknowledges the immense pre-existing fanbase for Pride and Prejudice. She believes that while drawing viewers in might be the easier task, keeping them engaged is the real challenge. “I really hope people do [stay],” she says, noting that the series undergoes significant tonal shifts. “I’d be really sad if people stopped watching early on.”
Her plea is for audiences to stick with the show until the end, especially highlighting the finale. “I just want them to get to Episode 10 [the finale], because I think Episode 10 is a banger of an episode,” she enthuses. “They’re 30 minutes [each], so you hope that people will stick with it.”
Unlike many who grew up with Pride and Prejudice through film adaptations like the 2005 Pride & Prejudice starring Keira Knightley or through school studies, Bruccolerri discovered Austen’s work later in life. “I came to it really late, which is a nice treat for me now, because everyone knows these books and I’m like: ‘I’ve just discovered Jane Austen.’” This personal journey has fueled a deeper appreciation, with Bruccolerri confessing, “Even though we finished filming, I’m still reading Jane Austen. I want to work my way through them all.”
Reimagining Mary Bennet
Bruccolerri’s portrayal of Mary begins with a character who is initially timid. Under the stern hand of a formidable Mrs. Bennet, who has seemingly written her off as destined for spinsterhood, Mary struggles to let her talents shine within the confines of her societal upbringing.
Transforming such an underdeveloped character from the original novel into a compelling lead was a significant undertaking. While past portrayals and scattered details from the book provided some guidance, Bruccolerri sought to create a more nuanced individual. Fans might spot a nod to the past in Lucy Briers, who played Mary in the 1995 BBC adaptation, now appearing as Mrs. Hill in a touching homage.
Despite her respect for previous interpretations, Bruccolerri points out that the piano-playing Mary of yesteryear was far from a fully realised character. “I hope I’m not gonna get into trouble for saying that… but Mary is a comically sanctimonious figure, who’s a bit preachy and a bit pious, and that’s what you see,” she explains. “You don’t see why she’s like that. You don’t see the other sides to her. So it was difficult for me because I just wanted to start from a place that isn’t an archetype; this is a human being.”
Austen’s Insecurities and Mary’s Journey
Bruccolerri touches upon a prevailing theory that Jane Austen may have channeled some of her own insecurities into the character of Mary. “I almost feel like there’s a little bit of self-hatred in the way that she’s written,” Bruccolerri muses. “She’s not written super empathetically, just to point and laugh at her a little bit. But our show is the opposite of that.”
A central conflict for Mary is her struggle with crippling low self-esteem, exacerbated by her overbearing mother, Mrs. Bennet (played by Ruth Jones). Mrs. Bennet dedicates considerable energy to belittling Mary, making her journey to self-acceptance all the more poignant.
Despite the challenging nature of these scenes, filming with Jones, known for her role in Gavin & Stacey, was surprisingly enjoyable. “Ruth was apologising to me between every take, every scene, bless her,” Bruccolerri shares. “Those scenes, some of them are really difficult to play, because I would just be very tempted to corpse.”
The series promises a rich tapestry of emotions, blending laugh-out-loud moments as Mary navigates her chaotic family life, societal pressures, and the attentions of several suitors.
Crucially, the show doesn’t shy away from the more serious aspects of Mary’s experience. Bruccolerri addressed concerns from some viewers who worried the series might stray too far from the book’s tone. “I tried to stay away from people like commenting online, but I saw some people going: ‘Oh, I hope it’s not too comic, because that would be unfaithful to the book’,” she recounts. She reassures them, stating, “Yeah, it’s got loads of moments of levity and hilarity in it, but then it’s got loads of really dark emotional stuff in it as well. It plays with them both quite skillfully.”
A New Perspective on Love
As Bruccolerri describes it, The Other Bennet Sister offers an Austen narrative unlike any seen before, “disguised a little bit as a romance.” The core of Mary’s journey, she explains, is a profound personal discovery.
“Ultimately, she doesn’t quite know it’s happening, but she’s going on this journey of just realising that – it’s so cheesy – the love for herself is more important than anything else,” Bruccolerri concludes. “Only when she can find that would she potentially be in a place to find love with somebody else. And I just love that that’s what it is about, rather than… will someone accept her?”
The Other Bennet Sister premieres with a double bill on BBC One tonight at 8pm.
