Exclusive Interview
‘The Other Bennet Sister’ Stars Talk Mary and Tom’s Wedding & Married Life
What To Know
- The Other Bennet Sister Season 1 finale sees Mary Bennet and Tom Hayward finally confess their feelings and begin their married life.
- The finale skips over Mary and Tom’s wedding and shares a brief glimpse at their home life.
- In an interview with Swooon, Ella Bruccoleri and Dónal Finn discuss their characters’ engagement party and whether a ceremony was ever considered.
After countless interruptions — courtesy of one Mr. William Ryder (Laurie Davidson) — and setbacks, The Other Bennet Sister Season 1 finale sees Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri) find her match. Though it took him a minute to come to his senses, Mr. Tom Hayward (Dónal Finn) finally asks for her hand in marriage.
In the final moments of Episode 10, The Other Bennet Sister skips from Tom’s proposal right ahead to his and Mary’s life together as newlyweds. Tom carries Mary across the threshold of their new home, where Mary has written a book. We couldn’t help but wonder, was there any talk of including the couple’s wedding, or even an engagement party? We asked Ella Bruccoleri and Dónal Finn ourselves.
According to the actors, the moment when Mary and Tom return to the Gardiners’ house doubles as their engagement party. “That’s one of my favorite moments because they just had all these bits of ribbon, and Richard Coyle, who plays Mr. Gardiner, was like, ‘Let’s just tie them up,'” Bruccoleri said. “That was just improvised… They just tie us in ribbon, which is quite sweet, isn’t it?”
“It is really sweet,” Finn answered.
But when it came to showing Mary and Tom’s actual ceremony, it was never considered. The stars wouldn’t have it any other way. “I don’t think it felt like we needed it,” Bruccoleri remarked, which Finn agreed with.
“I think I’m probably happier that, if we had a toss-up between seeing the wedding and seeing a glimpse into their life and their domestic life, I would’ve gone with [their domestic life],” Finn explained. “Plus, it kind of ties up that you get to write your book.”
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After watching them yearn for each other throughout the season, Bruccoleri found it fascinating to see how Mary and Tom interacted as a married couple, even if it was just a brief moment.
“And the amount of ease,” Finn added. “I don’t know, so many scenes before that are expressing a kind of tension, and like, ‘What is this other person thinking?’ And then I think with both those characters, there’s such a…”
“They’re just relaxed with each other suddenly,” Bruccoleri chimed in. Finn then noted, “And even their physicality and their proximity to each other, there’s just like a comfortability.”
They’re right. Mary and Tom have a will-they-won’t-they dynamic for half of the season. Tom almost confesses his feelings a number of times before he decides to leave Mary behind, thinking that the more affluent Mr. Ryder would be a better provider. After Mary sufficiently reams Tom out for making her choice for her, she beats him to the punch (pun intended) by saying “I love you” first.
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Bruccoleri was happy Mary got to say it first. “It’s very explored in Janice [Hadlow]’s book that she’s desperate to tell [him],” the actress said. “She really just wants to be able to make the first move, really, which even now is seen as kind of progressive, and back then you just weren’t allowed to do that as a woman, you were just not allowed to declare your feelings for a man before he’d shown you that that was possible.”
Plus, there’s the added desperation of not having been able to contact Tom before he finds Mary, weeks or months after their conversation on the mountain. “I like the fact that she’s the first one to say it, feels appropriate for her,” Bruccoleri said. “It feels like that’s her driving force, is that she doesn’t shy away from being the first one to put herself out there.”
Finn pointed out that Tom has been looking for signs of Mary’s interest thus far, but her love confession is when the “floodgates open” for him. “They just want to connect as immediately as possible and say what’s been behind all of the interactions that they’ve had already,” he said.
Thankfully, with everything put out there, Mary and Tom don’t waste any time getting their happily ever after. And it turns out, it’s not the ending of their journey after all. BritBox has announced a three-part Christmas special in 2026, though only Bruccoleri has been confirmed to return as of June 24.
“These Christmas specials give us the chance to spend a little more time with characters audiences have taken to their hearts, and to explore what happens after the wedding bells fade and real life begins,” said Jane Tranter, Executive Producer and CEO of Bad Wolf. (Hopefully, we’ll be gifted a more extensive glimpse of domestic Tom and Mary this holiday season.)
The Other Bennet Sister, Season 1, Streaming Now, BritBox
