Exclusive Interview
‘Other Bennet Sister’ Stars Dive Into That Iconic Lake Scene & More (VIDEO)
What To Know
- The cast of The Other Bennet Sister shared behind-the-scenes stories about filming the lake scenes.
- Ella Bruccoleri, Dónal Finn, and Laurie Davidson discuss Hayward’s bird drawings and calls.
- They break down the memorable boat scene and the “wet shirt” moment in reference to Pride and Prejudice.
BRB, we’re going to The Lakes. Though Mary Bennet’s (Ella Bruccoleri) trip to the Lake District helps her come into her own in The Other Bennet Sister, she finds herself at the center of some memorable moments as she grows closer to Mr. Tom Hayward (Dónal Finn). He isn’t the only one who joined Mary and the Gardiners on their retreat. Mr. William Ryder (Laurie Davidson) gets in on the fun, making a surprise reappearance to compete for Mary’s heart.
Filming those moments in Episode 8 was just as funny as they came across on the screen, the trio of actors told Swooon. Before Ryder interrupts Tom and Mary’s romantic boat ride, the two flirt in their own… unique way. (Well, Hayward flirts. Mary is none the wiser.) After a round of fishing, Tom and Mary sketch together in the woods. Though Mary claims hers are an offense to art itself, Tom lifts her spirits by showing his significantly worse bird drawings.
Bruccoleri and Finn were shown progressively worse bird drawings until they landed on the final version. Though Finn didn’t make them himself, he said, “I think those are generous to my skills as a drawer. I think there’s a level of artistry to some of those. I think it takes great imagination to picture a bird with a mouth and a beak and three legs.”
Bruccoleri chimed in, “I could be wrong, but I think I hadn’t seen it until I was on camera opening the book, so my reaction is just like my genuine reaction to the drawing, which is just like, ‘What? That’s insane.'”
The bird drawings lead to an even funnier scene. Hayward tries to suss out whether Mary’s interest in marriage is genuine — but she says she’s “made peace” with not finding a match. Before he can inquire further, an oblivious Mary remarks that a lark is singing. Hayward suggests that it’s a thrush, and Mary’s quick to correct him by imitating thrush noises. Hayward responds with some even stranger bird calls of his own. He matches Mary’s freak, in modern terms.
“I hope they release the outtakes of that, so that people know that was the only take we had where I didn’t have tears streaming down my face,” Bruccoleri said. “And even in that one, I thought, because we had to move on, I thought they haven’t got it because I was still laughing.”
“Me, too,” Finn added.
Tom starts to get somewhere with Mary when he arranges a boat ride for the two of them. He’s on the verge of confessing his feelings outright when Ryder gets their attention. Not only that, but he dives into the lake and swims up to their boat. Hayward tries to help him out of the water, but Ryder accidentally yanks him down into it. Their oars are lost, too, so the men have to push the boat back to shore.
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“That was a nice time for me,” Bruccoleri said of getting that iconic shot.
The two men weren’t the only ones in the water, Davidson explained. There were two divers pushing the boat from behind. “I forgot that there was someone helping us with the boat, so we watched that scene back, and I was like, ‘God, we’re really good,’ Finn laughed.
“We shouldn’t have given that away,” Davidson joked.
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As a result, The Other Bennet Sister echoes Pride and Prejudice. In the 1995 BBC show, Colin Firth‘s Mr. Darcy — whom Bruccoleri said she’s a fan of — has a wet-shirt moment. “How do these guys measure up? Yeah, I think they absolutely knocked him out,” Bruccoleri laughed. “His could just go get buried now, like no one needs to watch that.”
“What I quite like is that we had to wear two layers of shirts, because they decided that one layer would be too scandalous,” Davidson added. “It was too much for a BBC audience. The world’s not ready for that.”
Bruccoleri asked if her costars felt sexy with their clothes sticking to them. “No, but what I really like about this show is that even though — because of its relationship to the Pride and Prejudice and that scene with Colin Firth — it’s deemed as sexy, but I think there’s a scene when we’re returning to the house, we’re so cold,” Finn answered. “That’s so unsexy. It plays into the idea that they don’t see themselves as… They’re like reluctant protagonists or something.”
Regardless, Mary still hasn’t caught on that both men want to catch her eye, but the game is on. We know that Tom intends to finish the conversation started with Mary on the mountain, which arrives in Episode 9, but Ryder is clearly not going down without a fight. Tell us who you’re rooting for in the comments below!
The Other Bennet Sister, Episodes 1-8, Streaming Now, BritBox
The Other Bennet Sister, Episode 9, June 17, BritBox
The Other Bennet Sister, Episode 10, June 24, BritBox
