She may have starred in steamy TV drama Normal People, but if it’s normal you‘re after, then Daisy Edgar-Jones is not your girl.
The Brit is on a remarkable upward curve and is about to go stratospheric as Hollywood goes crazy for Daisy.
She ditches her English accent for a southern drawl to play Kya in the hotly anticipated adaptation of best-selling novel Where The Crawdads Sing.
The film’s producer – actress Reese Witherspoon – was blown away by North Londoner Daisy, calling her “a once-in-a-lifetime talent”.
Reese, 46, said: “Daisy is a deep-feeling, sentient human who can really morph herself into so many different characters, but you feel her vulnerability and ferocity in this performance.”
The film premieres in the UK in July – hot on the heels of current release Fresh, in which 23-year-old Daisy again has the lead role as a woman navigating the dating game.
Yet unassuming Daisy – whose first big role came in hit ITV show Cold Feet – still doesn’t think of herself as famous.
Director Olivia Newman said: “When we saw Daisy read, we all felt it. It was like hearing Kya’s voice.
“It was just a stunning, stunning audition. She doesn’t see herself as this big famous star.”
Delia Owens’ book Where The Crawdads Sing sold 12million copies globally.
Daisy loved it and devoured it one day. Next morning she self-taped her audition for the role of “marsh girl” Kya.
The heartbreaking coming-of-age story is set in a coastal town in North Carolina.
It follows Kya, an abandoned girl who has lived alone in the marshes for years.
The swamps are home to crawdads – shrimp-like critters better known as crayfish.
They emit a slurp-like sound – “singing” – as water is drawn through their gills.
Kya is suspected of murder after integrating into society.
Daisy says: “I fell in love with that book so, so much.
“So to bring Kya to life is a crazy opportunity.
“It’s also a responsibility, because I just know how beloved that character is to so many people.
“It was a magical time to film. We got to be in the actual marshes in the bayou and be in her boat, in her lagoon and experience bringing that book to life – it was wonderful.
“She has such an inner strength that I would love to have myself. She’s complicated, flawed, brilliant and survives against all odds.”
Daisy, who has a cut-glass English accent, loved mastering Kya’s tones.
She added: “Accents have always been one of the most important parts of my process, if I even have one, because it informs so much about a character. My own accent is slightly self-conscious.
“That’s a big part of the British accent, it’s a little bit sarcastic.
“I found Kya’s accent weirdly easier than the more general American accent, because it’s such a clear sound.”
Superstardom has come pretty quickly for Daisy. When Normal People aired on BBC in the spring of April 2020, the UK was just into its first Covid lockdown.
The show, based on Sally Rooney’s novel, saw Daisy play outcast Marianne opposite Paul Mescal’s Connell.
Back then she lived in a North London flat shared with her then-boyfriend and two friends.
Her bedroom was decorated with a cloud mural and a painting of two nattily dressed crocodiles.
The role proved life-changing, earning Daisy nominations at the Critics’ Choice, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.
She appeared on British Vogue’s 2020 list of influential women and starred in sci-fi series War of the Worlds in 2021.
Now she has a million followers on Instagram. She hit the magical figure last week, and sent a thank you to fans for their support.
Daisy grew up in Muswell Hill with her Sky TV executive dad Philip, a Scot, and Northern Irish film editor mum Wendy.
And she says it was her dad, one of the creators of reality TV show Big Brother, who kept her grounded when overnight fame hit.
She says: “He’s been just the best because when Big Brother was at the top of its game, when you went in you were guaranteed to lose your anonymity. So my dad has always been very good.
“He’d always say, ‘People around you might change, but you never will – you’ll still be you.
“It might feel very strange that people assume they know you or you seem aloof to them... never, ever believe your own hype, you have to keep your feet on the ground and your head screwed on. And never get too big for your boots’.
“It’s been very useful because I’d never want to be like that.” Daisy was a shy seven-year-old when she got the acting bug. A teacher cast her as Anne Boleyn in a play about Henry VIII – done in the style of US talk show host Jerry Springer.
Daisy recalls: “I walked in with a fake head under my arm, and I was all angry that he chopped my head off.
“I remember being really sort of sassy, and really angry, and being like, ‘Can’t believe you did this!’
“It was very different from me. That was when I first had that experience of enjoying and really inhabiting a character. As a seven-year-old Anne Boleyn.”
Daisy joined the National Youth Theatre aged 14 and roles in TV’s Outnumbered and Silent Witness followed.
Her Cold Feet debut came when she was 17 and the Manchester-based show, starring James Nesbitt, was Daisy’s first big test.
And she was so nervous that she almost forgot how to walk. She recalls: “I remember my first job was Cold Feet and I really had such a small part.
"One of the first scenes I ever had to do was just, like, walking somewhere.
“And I remember being so self-conscious and being so aware of, ‘I want to act like I’m walking. I want to look like I’m walking.’
“At least I’ve done it for long enough now that I can confidently walk somewhere and not be terribly self-conscious!”
Daisy split from Ackley Bridge actor Tom Varey in 2021.
There is no word of a new fella on the horizon just yet.
Joking about her dating deal-breakers, she says: “If they don’t ask any questions. Or if you don’t reply to a message straight away and they say you were online! I also have a little hang-up about indoor scarves.”
When she’s not busy acting, Daisy loves to wind down by watching TV, particularly Strictly Come Dancing.
She says she wouldn’t rule out appearing on the BBC dance show – and did have several dance scenes in Fresh.
But she admits: “You can probably see from the film, I’m not a massively brilliant dancer.
“I do have rhythm, so maybe. I’d love to learn how to do the jive.”
As her year goes from strength to strength, Daisy says acting under a female producer and director on Crawdads had set
her thinking. “Maybe I could direct one day too,” she says.
At this rate, Daisy, it’s a given. “At least I’ve done it for long enough now that I can confidently walk somewhere and not be terribly self-conscious!”
