Actor’s friend audition ‘lucky charm’
Good things seem to happen to Daisy EdgarJones while she’s busy doing something else. Her breakout role as Marianne in the popular Hulu miniseries “Normal People” came about while she was on another production. She read the book in between takes and filmed her audition on set.
Several years later, she was on that same set when she found out that she had a shot at starring in the big screen adaptation of Delia Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing,” coming to theaters July 15.
“It was so wild to me that they were thinking of me for it,” Edgar-Jones said recently. “I think I was surprised to be in consideration considering the popularity of the book and just how important it was.”
“Where the Crawdads Sing” is about a girl named Kya who grows up alone in the marshes of North Carolina after her family abandons her. The story follows Kya from her childhood in the 1950s to adulthood as she navigates romances, ostracization from the townspeople — which only intensifies when one of her suitors is found dead and she’s brought to court — and finding her own path and purpose.
Written by a debut novelist, a retired scientist in her 70s, “Where the Crawdads Sing” became an unlikely phenomenon thanks at least in part to actor Reese Witherspoon, who selected it for her book club in 2018. Witherspoon and film executive Elizabeth Gabler acquired the rights to produce a feature film for Sony Pictures.
Edgar-Jones read the book in a day and was captivated. “It’s a thriller. It’s a courtroom drama. It’s a survival story. It’s a love story. It’s a love letter to nature. It’s so many things,” she said. “Something I really took away from it is a newfound appreciation for the wild and how much kindness can affect somebody’s life. Kya is taught to read by Tate and that’s a real turning point in her life, it means she’s able to make a life for herself. In a subtle way, you know, it does really sort of celebrate education.”
A friend, the same one who filmed her “Normal People” audition, helped put her on tape and sent it in. As the story goes, she was offered the part the next day.
“He’s my lucky charm,” she said. “I think I owe my entire career to him.”
Edgar-Jones hasn’t had much time to process the past few years and the ascent that has put her at the center of a major summer movie like “Where the Crawdads Sing.” She’s mostly just appreciative of the fact that she’s able to spend a little more time at home in London. Last year, the actor said, she was home for 10 days total. But she’s taking everything in stride.
“I think that because of COVID my introduction to the world was a lot slower. It’s only in the past few months that I’ve sort of experienced the effect that the show ‘Normal People’ has actually had on my life,” Edgar-Jones said. “I just feel very lucky to be working. I love what I do.”