I have been permitted to see the first
two of the 12 half-hour episodes, and
thoroughly enjoyed them, it’s as though
the room has exhaled.
Set between Sligo, Dublin and Italy,
Rooney’s coming-of-age tale – for
the few yet to read it – revolves around
Marianne and Connell’s fraught
experience of first love, and all the
awkward sex and unarticulated feelings
it entails. We meet the pair in sixth
form: Marianne – aloof, alone and in
possession of a devastating arsenal of
one-liners – lives with her wealthy but
dysfunctional family. Connell is quiet
but popular, a stalwart in a group of
jocks, whose single mother cleans
Marianne’s home – “the white mansion
with the driveway”. We witness this
unlikely twosome fall in lust, then love
(and out again... several times) over
the next four years, as they move to
university and embark on their futures.
The two young actors are pitch perfect, although they agree
neither is quite as smart as the characters they portray, who
spend a lot of time discussing lofty ideas over wine. This isthe first television credit for Maynooth-
born Mescal, 23, who spent two years after
graduating from Trinity College (where
Normal People is partly set) honing his craft
on the stage. Of the two, he was the first
to be cast. “I was doing a play, and a lot of
the guys that are in Normal People were in
it. Everybody in the dressing room was
like, ‘I know who Connell is.’”
Edgar-Jones, now 21, got her first break
at 17, when she was cast in Cold Feet, but
the Londoner was up against stiffer
competition. She first knew about the part
when she overheard her boyfriend helping
her friend record a taped audition for it.
“A month or two later, I did my chemistry
read with Paul. I’d never felt adrenaline like
it,” she says, her large eyes peeking through
her fringe at her co-star. “I thought, ‘Yeah,
he’s perfect for Connell. Please cast me.’”
Viewers should be prepared for the gut
punch that comes with being transported
back to 17, as Rooney, who adapted the
novel herself, brings the same economy
of writing and observation to the screen.
The results are almost painfully nostalgic.
“It gives the right weight to the depth of
what it’s like feeling love for the first time,” says Edgar-
Jones. “I remember my first love,” agrees Mescal in his soft
Irish tones, “and I always knew where they were in a room.
The camera captures that so nicely.”
The sex, too, is laudably realistic – and abundant.
“My dad will have to make a lot of tea,” grins Edgar-Jones.
An entire 10 minutes of the second episode is given over
to Marianne losing her virginity. “One of my favourite scenes
is the first time they sleep together,” says Daisy. “Instead
of it being this mad romantic scene, it starts with making
light conversation because they’re both fully aware of why
they’re in that room.”
After five months filming together in Ireland and Italy
last year, the pair are firm friends. “It’s because I’m with
Paul,” Edgar-Jones explains when I query why, as a Brit, she
is still speaking with a hint of an Irish accent. As for Mescal,
he’s about to make the move from Dublin to London, though
for how long is anyone’s guess. With a release on Hulu,
Normal People may follow in the steps of BBC hits Killing
Eve and Fleabag, making the pair stars stateside.
Do they let their imaginations run away with them? “Yes,”
says Paul, matter-of-factly, as Daisy shakes her head with
a firm “No.” “I’m trying not to think about it,” she adds,
“because you never know. I hope I’m really proud of it.
I hope my mum and dad like it.” n
Normal People will air on BBC Three and BBC One in the springTHE FEMALE GAZEDaisy wears
jacket, £2,550.
Polo shirt, £850.
Shorts, £1,050.
Belt, £250. All
Louis VuittonWomen’s perspectives on screenOver the next month, four new films written and
directed by women explore love from the female
point of view. Valentine’s Day sees two releases:
Autumn de Wilde’s pastel-hued version of EMMA
will delight the Instagram generation, as will Rachel
Hirons’s romcom A GUIDE TO SECOND DATE SEX,
starring Alexandra Roach. Next comes 18th-century-
set PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (above), which
follows the attraction between painter and sitter, and
has no male characters at all. Round off the season
of romance with THE PHOTOGRAPH, an all-out
tear-jerker starring Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield.PORTRAITOF^ ALADYONFIRE,^ INCINEMAS^ ANDCURZONHOMECINEMA,^28 FEBRUARY^202003-20-FOB-Arts-DaisyEdgar-Jones_1884540.indd 190 07/01/2020 14:51
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