Daisy Edgar-Jones Talks Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Paul Mescal’s Advice, Christmas Traditions, and Her Resolutions for 2025
Daisy Edgar-Jones has lost her voice. When the 26-year-old, London-born star of Twisters, Under the Banner of Heaven, and Fresh, who captivated the world alongside a then-unknown Paul Mescal in Normal People some four years ago, logs onto our Zoom call, she apologizes for her croakiness. It’s more than understandable: Not only does she have a cold, but last night was also press night for her new play, a buzzy, refreshed production of the explosive Tennessee Williams classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Almeida Theatre in London. Directed by Rebecca Frecknall, it features Kingsley Ben-Adir as the troubled Brick and Lennie James as his commanding father, Big Daddy, alongside Edgar-Jones as Brick’s sensual, frustrated wife, Maggie.
Almost feline in her movements and feral in her desires, Maggie is eager to have children with her husband, but he is distant, despondent, and falling into a drunken stupor. Cue a birthday party for his formidable, swaggering father where arguments erupt, secrets come out, and dangerous new plans are hatched.
Stepping into a part immortalized by a scintillating Elizabeth Taylor in the 1958 film adaptation of the same name—and, in subsequent years, everyone from Scarlett Johansson to Sienna Miller on stage—Edgar-Jones seems entirely unfazed. From the moment the lights come up, she is an absolute riot: loud, quippy, riotously funny, and, in truth, a world away from the softly spoken, observant loners she’s often played onscreen.
“That’s exactly what I wanted,” the actor says, laughing, when I make this observation. “I love what I do, but I do often play quite passive, vulnerable, pensive characters, and Maggie is the absolute antithesis of that. She’s angry, she speaks a lot—I speak for 55 minutes straight. So, I really wanted the chance to stretch myself in that way.”
This isn’t her first time at the Almeida, either—back in 2020, she treaded the boards here for a revival of Albion starring The Crown’s Victoria Hamilton, and she grew up performing in National Youth Theatre productions. In many ways, she’s seasoned—though she has found it difficult to unwind after shows. “Maggie is very stressed, so it is difficult to get calm again,” she admits. “I just try to sit and breathe and center myself.” But she and two of her co-stars, Clare Burt, who plays Maggie’s mother-in-law, Big Mama, and Pearl Chanda, who plays Maggie’s sister-in-law, Mae, also love “dancing to old-school musical soundtracks—Guys and Dolls, Meet Me in St. Louis, you name it.”
Also on hand to offer advice was Mescal, who recently graced the same stage with the same director, no less, for another rapturously received take on Tennessee Williams—a dreamy revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. He left it with an Olivier Award for best actor. “I saw that production and I was in awe—he was phenomenal,” Edgar-Jones recalls. “He told me: ‘You’re going to have a blast. Just make sure you enjoy it.’ It’s easy to forget that sometimes.”
The actor has thought about other iconic roles she’d love to take on one day (“Lady Macbeth, when I’m older; Hedda Gabler, who I saw Ruth Wilson play recently; Miss Julie”) but she’s also keen to “take on some new writing, something completely fresh I haven’t seen before.”
Until then, there’s the small matter of getting through this particular run, which will take her through Christmas (“we only have Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day off”) and up to the beginning of February. Her festive plans, she says, consist of staying in the capital with her family and “being silent for three whole days. We watch a lot of TV and we always start Christmas Day with salmon and cream cheese bagels and end the night with tomato soup. Then, Boxing Day is all about playing games and eating leftover sandwiches.”
As for her New Year’s resolutions for 2025? “It’s been an amazing year and I’ve learned a lot about myself,” she muses, before grinning and checking herself. “Sorry, I sound like I’m on X Factor. But honestly, doing this play has been really nourishing for me. It’s been a long time since I felt so… held by a group of people. In the new year, I just want to keep learning. And I never read reviews—I just want to stay in the moment.”
Below, the actor shares a photo diary with Vogue, taking us behind the scenes from rehearsals (where she broke her toe on day two) to opening night.
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Photo: Daisy Edgar-Jones1/17“It’s magic to be back at the Almeida. I did a play here almost five years ago—that was before COVID, before Normal People. My life was very different back then. It was one of my favorite jobs ever, and I remember thinking, ‘If I can do this for the rest of my life, I’ll be happy.’ So, to be back with this play is very special.”
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Photo: Daisy Edgar-Jones2/17“So, this is kind of hilarious… I actually broke my toe on day two of rehearsals for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof! I think we started rehearsals at 10 a.m., we were playing a ball game, I kicked the ball, and then was in A&E for the rest of the day. I was photographed wearing Birkenstocks after that, and it was not a fashion choice—I ended up being in a boot for most of rehearsals. But I am okay now!”
