Normal People star: I'd like to revisit role

Daisy Edgar-Jones, who starred as Marianne in hit TV series Normal People, has said she would like to revisit the role in the future.

"I love those characters," the British actress, 26, tells BBC News. "It would be wonderful to explore them again."

Based on Sally Rooney's novel, the BBC Three drama charted the on-off relationship of teenagers Marianne and Connell, played by Paul Mescal.

Released in April 2020 at the height of the pandemic, it propelled its young leads to fame. Both are now starring in major new films, Edgar-Jones in Twisters and Mescal in Gladiator II.

"Normal People was a series that was such a lockdown phenomenon," Edgar-Jones says.

"I think it introduced Paul and I to a lot of people and film-makers," she says, adding that she felt "really lucky" for the opportunities it opened up.

I meet Edgar-Jones in a central London hotel, where she is doing press interviews for her new film.

This round of promotion is very different from her experience during the pandemic, when she was "on Zoom for months on end".

"I haven't done that many in-person interviews yet," she says. "It's so nice."

Since Normal People, Edgar-Jones has starred in films like Fresh and Where the Crawdads Sing, true crime mini-series Under the Banner of Heaven, and now Twisters.

For a lot of fans, she remains firmly in their minds as the smart and unafraid schoolgirl Marianne, whose relationship with Connell transfixed viewers.

A few months ago, Edgar-Jones and Mescal almost broke the internet with an Instagram post that appeared to tease a Normal People sequel.

The pair later clarified that, in fact, they were reuniting to host a marathon screening of Normal People for charity.

But Edgar-Jones indicates that she hasn't shut the door on it yet.

"If [Rooney] is up for writing a new story, who knows," she says.

So is she open to the idea? She laughs. "Keeping it open. Always open."

Having shot to prominence during Covid, Edgar-Jones says fame is only now "starting to feel real".

"I can't believe I'm in a film of this scale," she says of Twisters. "It's definitely a pinch yourself moment."

In the film, a sequel to 1996 blockbuster Twister, Edgar-Jones plays Katie Cooper, a retired storm chaser who returns to the open plains in central Oklahoma to test a new tracking system.

Edgar-Jones notes that Cooper, who is haunted by a tragic past encounter with a tornado, bears similarities to other characters she has played.

"I think my characters tend to be, and have been historically, quite introspective. Or characters who have a complex inner life, who are dealing with things that are heavy and emotional," she says.

She relates to those roles, but adds that she has "a bit more craic" than her characters.

"I think maybe I'm more light-hearted. I'm quite silly."

That said, this film did allow her to have some fun, including running and screaming across fields.

"I did do a lot of running. Which isn't my strong suit," she says.

"I've actually got a bit of a weird run, which I've been told, so I actually just tried to practice not looking like an eejit as I was running. That was the main thing."

She also ate a lot of Oklahoma cuisine on set, possibly offsetting all the exercise she was getting.

"I had something called chicken fried steak, which I'd never had, which is steak - actual steak - which they fry in chicken batter, which was cool".

Edgar-Jones stars opposite US actor Glen Powell as Tyler Owens, a social media superstar who shamelessly chases tornadoes for likes.

Powell, who has also starred in Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You and Hit Man, is seen by many as Hollywood's latest heartthrob.

"I feel like I have a habit of starring with a lot of the men of the moment," Edgar-Jones says.

"I've worked with a lot of really brilliant actors who have buzz around them too," she says. She describes Powell as "magical", and adds that Mescal is "one of my all time best friends".

The Normal People co-stars were recently seen together at Glastonbury festival, in pictures posted on social media.

"We had the best time. Glastonbury is maybe one of my favourite places on Earth when the festival's on," Edgar-Jones says.

"It's so much fun. I love dancing, I love being with all my friends, I love camping, I love it all. So yeah. We had such a blast."

Twisters has received mixed reviews from critics. The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey awarded it four stars, praising it as a "comfortingly old school affair" and calling its leads "charismatic".

Meanwhile, writing in Variety, Owen Gleiberman described it as "less awesome than the original".

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave it three stars, calling it a "fun film with some big set-piece scenes" but adding it was "weirdly coy" about mentioning climate change.

Edgar-Jones, for her part, says climate change was definitely a theme in the film.

"There's an element of climate change and what that means for how tornado alley is expanding and how more frequently we're getting extreme weather events," she says.

"And I think the film really touches on that in a way that it's encouraging you to be aware of it and think about how we can be more concerned about how we look after our planet."

And while comparisons with the first film are inevitable, Edgar-Jones says the new version brings something different.

"Its so fun to see what the new technology will bring to this film," she says.

Many of us also remain fascinated with films about the dark side of nature. Edgar-Jones counts herself among that camp.

"I'm fascinated by extreme weather," she says.

"I think growing up in London I'm used to pretty average mizzle, or miserable drizzle, as I call it. So when I was filming in Oklahoma during tornado season, and I saw really extreme storms, it was incredible.

"It's amazing how massive they are and how small they make you feel."

Twisters is in UK cinemas on July 17.