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For Ella Bruccoleri, stepping into the role of Mary Bennet in The Other Bennet Sister meant getting to know a character who has spent much of her literary existence in the background. Often remembered as the awkward, overly serious middle sister in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Mary finally has the opportunity to tell her own story, revealing a young woman whose intelligence, insecurities and longing for affection make her far more complicated than her reputation suggests.
Bruccoleri found an immediate connection with Mary's studious nature, particularly her tendency to approach everything with intense preparation. An enthusiastic researcher herself, the actress admits that knowing when to stop can be one of the more difficult parts of her process.
"I do love delving into prep. It's like my favorite bit is prepping rather than filming," she shares.
For the series, that enthusiasm translated into an ambitious reading list of approximately 15 books, alongside the desire to map out the smallest details of Mary's life before filming began. With limited preparation time, however, Bruccoleri had to remind herself that being ready doesn't necessarily mean completing every task she'd imagined.
"I'm getting better as an actor of just being like, 'Okay, you know, you're still going to be ready.' Even if you haven't ticked all the things off that you wanted to do, you can still be ready."
The production also offered something resembling a Regency-era finishing school, with lessons in calligraphy, dancing, sidesaddle riding and piano. Having never played piano before, Bruccoleri was particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity to learn, setting herself the ambitious goal of becoming proficient beyond what the role required. Although her instructor encouraged her to take some pressure off herself, Bruccoleri embraced the challenge, even practicing after long filming days. By the end, she'd learned five songs, a skill she's eager to continue developing.
That dedication extended to tracking Mary's emotional development. Because filming took place out of sequence, Bruccoleri color-coded her scripts to understand where Mary stood at different points in her journey, particularly in terms of confidence, happiness and self-awareness.
What made the process especially rewarding was the freedom to explore Mary's contradictions. Rather than reducing her to the sanctimonious figure some readers might remember, Bruccoleri wanted to portray someone whose personality shifts depending on the people around her.
"No one ever tried to reduce her down to this kind of stereotype Mary Bennet that a lot of people might have held in their heads prior to this," she explains.
Mary's development is far from straightforward, with moments of progress frequently followed by setbacks. Those inconsistencies make her more believable, particularly because she has spent so much of her life adapting herself to other people's expectations.
Nowhere is that more apparent than in her relationship with her mother. Bruccoleri approached Mary's interactions with Mrs. Bennet through a simple but deeply affecting desire for parental affection.
"All she really wanted from these two people was a cuddle and for them to say they were proud of her," she says, referring to Mary's parents.
Mrs. Bennet's constant scrutiny leaves Mary feeling that invisibility is preferable to attracting criticism. Her initially muted wardrobe reflects that instinct to disappear, while her attempts to assert herself intellectually become another way of seeking recognition.
Bruccoleri describes these behaviors as coping mechanisms, with Mary alternating between retreating into herself and trying to establish an identity that distinguishes her from her sisters. The real turning point comes when she begins to understand that she no longer needs her mother's approval to feel secure.
That change is encouraged by Mrs. Gardiner, whose approach to caring for Mary offers a striking contrast to the expectations she's grown accustomed to. While Bruccoleri believes Mrs. Bennet's behavior comes from a misguided desire to help her daughters, Mrs. Gardiner offers something considerably more valuable.
"What Mrs. Gardiner does is just shepherd Mary and kind of allow her to lead. She kind of lets Mary sort of tell her what she wants to do, what she likes."
That distinction was particularly meaningful to Bruccoleri, who found that Indira Varma brought a similar warmth and spontaneity to their time together. She remembers Varma seeking out little moments of joy between filming, whether suggesting an impromptu swim or finding something unexpected to enjoy during the day.
Through the Gardiners, Mary also encounters a different understanding of happiness. Rather than treating it as something entirely dependent on circumstance, she begins to recognize that joy can be actively cultivated.
"You can choose to frame things in a different way. You can kind of choose to remove yourself from situations that aren't serving you and aren't making you happy."
For Mary, that means discovering that the qualities she's been taught to dislike about herself don't necessarily need to be sources of embarrassment. She can embrace brighter clothing, find humor in her imperfections and spend time with people who appreciate her individuality.
That individuality is especially apparent in Mary's unusually direct way of speaking. Bruccoleri was careful to distinguish her honesty from the deliberately cutting remarks of characters such as Caroline Bingley.
Mary might bluntly criticize someone's drawing, but her intention isn't to humiliate them. Instead, Bruccoleri sees an almost childlike sincerity in the way she communicates, frequently writing the word "earnest" in her script notes.
That sincerity becomes particularly memorable in a scene involving a spectacularly unsuccessful drawing of a duck. Bruccoleri reveals that she deliberately asked not to see the artwork before filming, meaning Mary's reaction was entirely genuine. The drawing itself was created by the graphic designer's child after the adults struggled to make their attempts sufficiently terrible.
The show's playful humor also becomes an important part of Mary's romantic relationships, particularly in a woodland scene where she and Tom Hayward, played by Dónal Finn, begin imitating bird calls.
For Bruccoleri, the appeal of the moment lies in how completely the two characters accept each other's eccentricities.
"What a lovely thing that is to meet someone that you can just do this, the oddest kind of behavior, what other people would consider really odd behavior, and that person just kind of meets you on that level, doesn't question it at all."
The scene was equally entertaining to film. While Bruccoleri spent the previous evening carefully researching the sound of a thrush, Finn took a more improvisational approach, arriving with an outrageous bird call that repeatedly made her laugh.
That willingness to embrace Mary's eccentricities becomes an important part of her relationships with both Hayward and Ryder, two men who encourage different aspects of her personality.
Ryder, in particular, introduces Mary to the possibility of occupying space without apologizing for herself. Bruccoleri describes him as an unlikely feminist, albeit one whose progressive ideas are shaped by the privileges of being a man in Regency society.
He encourages Mary to dance, laugh and enjoy herself without worrying about how others might perceive her. For someone who has spent years trying to disappear, that freedom is transformative.
"She's spent her whole life trying to make herself feel invisible, make herself appear invisible, and now she gets to twirl herself around ballrooms laughing at the top of her lungs," Bruccoleri reflects.
Hayward offers a different kind of connection, one that develops gradually through friendship and shared understanding. Although Mary recognizes an initial spark between them, his romantic attachment to someone else allows their relationship to grow without the immediate expectations of courtship.
As her feelings deepen, Mary struggles to reconcile her affection with her principles. Bruccoleri drew on her own experiences of loving someone unavailable to understand the frustration of emotions that cannot be openly expressed.
"Most of the time you are just trying to repress. You're just trying to repress," she explains.
Even when Hayward becomes available, Mary doesn't immediately assume his feelings have changed. Her difficulty interpreting romantic signals means that genuine clarity can only come through direct communication, something she values deeply.
Bruccoleri appreciates that neither relationship exists solely to provide Mary with a potential husband. Both men become important friends who help her discover different aspects of herself, while their eventual rivalry provides some of the series' most entertaining moments.
Mary's romantic journey ultimately becomes another expression of her growing independence. In the final proposal scene, she refuses to overlook Hayward's unexplained disappearance simply because he has returned.
Bruccoleri recalls that writer Sarah Quintrell initially imagined a more immediately romantic reunion, but as the scene developed, Mary's anger became impossible to ignore.
"At that point, Mary has found a strength. She's found a contentment in herself and she's found an inner strength."
Having learned to stand up to her mother and stop seeking validation from others, Mary can no longer accept being treated as someone whose future can be decided without her involvement. Before embracing the possibility of a relationship, she needs Hayward to acknowledge the hurt he's caused.
With Mary's story set to continue in the upcoming Christmas special episodes, Bruccoleri revisited the original series and her earlier research to reconnect with the character and the qualities that make her distinctive. Audiences can look forward to seeing Mary navigate a new chapter of her life, alongside more of the playful rivalry between Hayward and Ryder, a dynamic Bruccoleri particularly enjoys filming with Dónal Finn and Laurie Davidson. The specials promise more of the humor and relationships that made the original series so enjoyable, while offering a glimpse into how Mary continues to grow.
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