Since casting for most of the major roles has been announced, with people I’ve barely heard of filling most of the roles, I decided to offer up a few under-informed opinions:

Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor: I watched some short clips; she has a nice smile and is good at eye-angst and general reflectiveness, which are probably the number one and number two requirements for playing Elinor Dashwood. Is she any good at snark, or conveying inner snark, which is the number three requirement for playing Elinor Dashwood? I don’t know.

Esme Creed-Miles as Marianne: I watched some clips of her as Delirium from the Sandman series; seems like good Marianne material to me. No, I don’t care that Creed-Miles is 20-mumble instead of 17; the obsession in certain quarters with casting actual teenagers as romantic leads in Jane Austen adaptations borders on being creepy. To my mind, Marianne’s meant to be this kind of bold, impulsive, slightly ridiculous personality who dominates any conversation she condescends to join. That force of personality is what makes her eventual decision to marry the vastly more experienced Brandon seem not completely crazy. Based on her Delirium, Creed-Miles could potentially capture that Marianne, with the right script and directing.

Caitriona Balfe as Mrs. Dashwood: I’ve only seen her as Christian Bale’s wife in Ford vs Ferrari, but she’s better known as the female lead in Outlander. Should be perfectly fine as the sad, sensitive, kindly Mrs. Dashwood most versions put out. I would like to see someone play up the absurd side of Mrs. Dashwood, but it’s not as mission critical as playing up the absurd side of Marianne, or the snarky side of Elinor.

Frank Dillane as John Willoughby: I don’t think I’ve seen him since he played teen-aged Voldemort in The Half-Blood Prince; the pictures of him as a grown man seem to present him as an edgy-prettyboy type, which is not a bad look for Willoughby. Dillane has been in Fear the Walking Dead, and carries on the Walking Dead tradition begun by David “The Governor” Morrissey (2008 Brandon).

George McKay as Edward Ferrars: a former child actor (like Creed-Miles), he’s had a fairly lengthy career without making anything I’ve seen. Is apparently considered something of a heartthrob, but the most recent pictures I’ve run across of him show a tall man with a pleasant, kindly expression, a rather forgettable face, and possibly enough neck for Regency collars. To my mind, he looks the part at least.

Herbert Nordrum as Colonel Brandon: Nordrum is a 6’3”, 38-year-old Norwegian with strong, somewhat irregular facial features. Also, probably enough neck for Regency collars. Haven’t seen any clips with him but the stills I’ve seen give off the right vibe. I can even buy him as a combat veteran, which was my main problem with Robert Swann and Alan Rickman, and to a lesser extent Richard Owen and David Morrissey.

Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Margaret Dashwood: From glancing at her instagram, she could probably play a book-accurate thirteen-year-old Margaret, but her previous work has been playing preteens so far as I can tell. At this point, I’d rather have a fresh, interesting take on the young teenager from the book than Cute Moppet #4 (following 1995, Kandukondein, and 2008), but we’ll see where they go with this. Breathnach looks believable as a younger sibling to the women playing her sisters.

Fiona Shaw as Mrs. Jennings: Petunia Dursley from Harry Potter, Sophie Croft from 1995 Persuasion, and the protagonist’s adoptive mother in Star Wars: Andor. Very respected, experienced actress, should be a good Mrs. Jennings.

Characters still uncast that you really can’t omit: John Dashwood, Fanny Dashwood, Lucy Steele, Sir John Middleton, Mrs. Ferrars, Robert Ferrars, and Thomas the servant.

More omittable characters still uncast, in descending order of importance: Nancy Steele, Lady Middleton & children, Harry Dashwood, Henry Dashwood, and Great-Uncle Dashwood.

I’m trying to keep my expectations low, because the ‘20s Austen adaptations have been a pretty mixed bag so far, but the casting director for this one seems to have fairly good instincts, for what it’s worth.