Dan Jeannotte Tells Us Filming Hallmark's Sense & Sensibility Felt Like Falling (In A Good Way)
Hallmark's Loveuary 2024 event kicked into high gear with films inspired by the works of acclaimed novelist Jane Austen. Movies like "Love and Jane" have deconstructed the channel's typical romance tale by approaching its themes from outside the box and making intriguing tales that aren't just following the same formula. However, its only direct adaptation of one of Austen's books is "Sense and Sensibility," starring Deborah Ayorinde as Elinor Dashwood, Bethany Antonia as Marianne Dashwood, and Dan Jeannotte as Edward Ferrars among several others to bring the classic to life.
The tale of the Dashwood sisters and their romantic woes is timeless, and Jeannotte put a lot of thought into portraying his character. He sat down with us for an exclusive interview to discuss his role, explaining that the production took place in Bulgaria, as well as "a little bit in Ireland." In the story, Edward is really in love with Elinor, but had previously made a promise of marriage to Lucy Steele (Victoria Ekanoye). Jeannotte explained the character's conundrum was "the classic 'the head versus the heart' sort of dilemma."
In approaching that dynamic, Jeannotte said, "[Edward's] a person who has made decisions, made commitments, that his heart is no longer with, but he has made those promises." Edward also feels obliged to follow through with them, despite his feelings for Elinor, the actor said. Jeannotte noted that, in several scenes, he felt he had "a little bit of whiplash — like I'm, I'm kind of like falling. And then I have to remind myself ... what I need to do."
Dan Jeannotte loved working with the cast of Sense and Sensibility
Dan Jeannotte said his character Edward Ferrars in Hallmark's "Sense and Sensibility" has to deal with quite a dilemma regarding his promise to Lucy Steele and feelings for Elinor Dashwood. "There's a kind of getting closer and a pushing away and that was ... definitely an interesting dynamic to play." He enjoyed that it wasn't simply two characters falling in love with nothing stopping them, and appreciated the hurdles Edward and Elinor had to overcome. "This was a kind of an internal obstacle in a lot of ways ... my promises, my previous life's decisions and how they kind of conflict with what I want right now," he said.
Jeannotte also explained the camaraderie that arose between the actors during filming. "We all had time to hang out together and it was a lovely cast and a kind of immediate sense of family and of support," he said. Everyone was fun to work with, Jeannotte said, pointing out that Deborah Ayorinde "was such a great and generous and charismatic scene partner."
"I wish I had more time and more scenes with a lot of the other wonderful actors," he lamented, stating that he got along swimmingly with Akil Largie (Colonel Brandon), although they didn't have any scenes together. "We got along very well off set and we're like, 'Oh, it's too bad,'" Jeannotte said. "We never meet. He gives me a house to live in, but I never actually meet him in the movie."