Fear the Walking Dead actor Frank Dillane portrayed Nick Clark, a beloved character, in the first spinoff of AMC's post-apocalyptic series The Walking Dead. Recently, Deadline announced that Dillane has been cast for his next role in a new Jane Austen adaptation.
Focus Features and Working Title Films will bring a new, fresh take on an Austen classic, Sense and Sensibility. Filming for the movie, which is directed by BAFTA Award nominee Georgia Oakley, has begun in the United Kingdom. The script was penned by bestselling author Diana Reid. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films will produce with India Flint of November Pictures and Jo Wallett.
Dillane has been cast as John Willoughby, a handsome young man who expects to inherit his aunt's vast estate. Willoughby is in love with Marianne Dashwood, who will be portrayed by Esmé Creed-Miles, and Daisy Edgar-Jones will star as her sister Elinor. Additional cast members include Caitríona Balfe, George MacKay, Herbert Nordrum, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, and Fiona Shaw.
Sense and Sensibility is the first novel by Jane Austen that was published anonymously in 1811. The title page simply states "By A Lady," where the author's name should be. The story, which is thought to be set between 1792 and 1797, focuses on the three Dashwood sisters and their widowed mother, who are forced off the family estate. They move to a modest cottage on the estate of a distant relative, and the story follows the loves and heartaches of the eldest daughters.
There have been numerous adaptations of the novel for stage and screen, and several authors have tried their hand at sequels or variations of the original. In 1995, award-winning actress Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay for a film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility directed by Ang Lee. Thompson portrayed Elinor, the eldest daughter, and Kate Winslet played the role of Marianne. The film also featured an all-star cast including Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Greg Wise, Gemma Jones, Harriet Walter, James Fleet, Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton, and Tom Wilkinson. The film received critical acclaim and was one of the 1990s Austen adaptations, receiving the most recognition.
Dillane is well known for his portrayal of 16-year-old Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In 2022, he starred alongside Tom Hiddleston, Claire Danes, and Clémence Poésy in the gothic romance, The Essex Serpent, which is streaming on Apple TV. He also starred in the Disney+ British historical fantasy series Renegade Nell with Louisa Harland, Adrian Lester, Nick Mohammaed, Joely Richardson, and more.
The actor starred in the Sophie Turner-led Joan, based on the real-life woman who transformed from housewife to criminal mastermind in 1980s London. Joan is a British ITV series that premiered on The CW in the United States in 2024.
Next, Dillane will star in the British drama Urchin that is the feature lenght directorial debut of Harris Dickinson. The film premiered at at the Un Certain Regard section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in May 2025, where Dillane was awarded the Best Actor award.
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