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The Other Bennet Sister cast might have a group chat, but Ella Bruccoleri, Dónal Finn, and Laurie Davidson are not super active. "We're keen observers of it," Dónal jokes in Brit + Co's exclusive interview ahead of the show (which premieres on BritBox May 6, 2026).
While filming the expanded Pride and Prejudice tale, the cast had a great time at the Brecon Jazz Festival ("I don't know how much we can tell you about that," Ella admits. "We got a little loose.") but they had a blast taking a Gavin & Stacey tour hosted by their own Mrs. Bennet, Ruth Jones.
"It was my birthday and our lovely producers organized a nice surprise for me once I come out of the water because there's a cake and stuff," Dónal remembers.
Keep reading for our exclusive interview with The Other Bennet Sister cast.
Dónal Finn slipped during that iconic 'The Other Bennet Sister' hiking scene.
One of the most memorable scenes of the show for me comes near the end of the season, when Hayward, Ryder, and Mary find themselves stuck in the rain on the English cliffside, along with Caroline Bingley (Tanya Reynolds). And while it's a pretty dramatic scene, these three can't talk about filming without laughing — especially considering Dónal fell while hiking (which actually made it into the show).
"As we're kind of coming down from Scafell Pike, there's a bit of a bit just before I say 'I promised Miss Gardiner,' isn't it?" he says. "But what's very funny about that as well is that in, in total in in in in in true character form, in that same shot Laurie just skips down the stones. It's so easy for you. You managed that so beautifully. I don't have the same dexterity, so I slip in that."
"It was crazy those days because obviously it wasn't really raining, you have these huge rain machines, and on camera it doesn't look as wet as I felt, we were so wet," Ella adds. "I had like water filling up my mouth and I was just like gargling water the whole time we were filming. All idea of like acting and performance for me went out the window, you're just like I just need to survive this experience."
And Ella Bruccoleri discovered new sides to Mary Bennet.
BritBox
The hiking scene is just one moment that expands on Mary's character, a role that's so minimal in Pride & Prejudice that you don't actually know anything about her.
"She's so underexplored as a character, she's so one dimensional, kind of like this comic archetype," Ella says, adding that "because you see all these different sides to her personality, you see a proper human for the first time, in all their messiness, and she's kind of going on this journey of finding herself and working out who she really is, so she's kind of different in every episode of the show."
Plus I had to bring up those 'Book Lovers' fan castings.
BritBox
As Mary falls in love with herself, she also starts to catch feelings for both Mr. Ryder and Mr. Hayward (I won't spoil the ending for you) — and fans immediately started fancasting Dónal in upcoming rom-coms like Emily Henry's Book Lovers. Naturally, I had to do my due diligence as a reader and ask him about it.
"Listen, I'll take any job. If you wanna cast me in a rom-com, I'd love to do a rom-com," he jokes. "Yeah, sign me up." Your move, Emily Henry!
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
