Miss Austen on BBC One: Who plays who in the cast opposite TV favourite Keeley Hawes and Vigil star
By Helen Fear | Fri Jan 31 2025Miss Austen arrives on BBC One this week, and Jane Austen herself would surely give the adaptation her stamp of approval - after all, the cast alone is enough to make us swoon.
The new period drama stars TV sweetheart Keeley Hawes as the less famous Austen sister Cassandra, who famously burned her sibling Jane's letters.
Jane herself is played by Life After Life actress Patsy Ferran. So who plays who in the cast of Miss Austen, and where have you seen them before? Here's everything you need to know.
Keeley Hawes portrays Cassandra in the cast of Miss Austen
Miss Austen centres on the literary mystery of Cassandra Austen notoriously burning her famous sister Jane's letters. Popular TV actress Keeley Hawes portrays Cassandra, giving viewers a glimpse into her bond with and loyalty to her sister, Jane.
Keeley Hawes, undoubtedly one of the UK’s most bankable TV stars, has been on our screens since 1989, when she first appeared as Carol in the TV series Forever Green.
After playing Mandy Harper in Troublemakers, Linda Langer in Karaoke, Stella Jackson in Pie in the Sky, and Angela Harper in The Beggar Bride, she won the role which helped catapult her into the mainstream. In 1998, she played the lead role of Lizzie Hexam in Our Mutual Friend.
She went on to play Diana Dors in The Blonde Bombshell, Cynthia in Wives and Daughters, and then, of course, Kitty Butler in Tipping the Velvet. Who could forget Keeley’s performance in the 2002 BBC drama based on Sarah Waters' book of the same name? At the time, the series was considered quite sexually explicit, and featured same-sex love scenes.
That same year, Keeley won the role of Zoe Reynolds in Spooks, a role she played for two years (and which introduced her to her now husband). She later won over audiences when she played DI Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes between 2008 and 2010.
In 2010, she played the leading role of Lady Agnes Holland in the 2010 revival of Upstairs, Downstairs. She then portrayed a bereaved parent in 2016's The Missing.
Her role as a matriarch in ITV comedy-drama The Durrells was also a hit with viewers. Of course, Line of Duty fans will know Keeley as DI Lindsay Denton.
Other notable roles include Julia Montague in Bodyguard, Ms Delphox in the eighth series of Doctor Who, and Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode in ITV’s Honour.
More recently, Keeley has played the titular character in Finding Alice, Susannah Zellaby in The Midwich Cuckoos, Jo in Crossfire, and Kira Manning on Orphan Black: Echoes. She also portrayed Barbara Stonehouse in Stonehouse, opposite her real life husband Matthew Macfadyen.
In 2024, Keeley - now 48 - starred as Amanda Thirsk in the Netflix film Scoop.
Rose Leslie stars as Isabella Fowle
Scottish actress Rose Leslie, 37, portrays family friend Isabella, the niece of Cassandra's long-dead fiancé.
The Scottish actress is famous for playing Ygritte in Game of Thrones, Maia Rindell in The Good Fight, and Kirsten Longacre in Vigil.
Rose began her career as a 21-year-old in the film New Toon, for which she won a Scottish BAFTA award for Best Acting - New Talent.
Two years later, she was cast in Sky Atlantic/HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones, which propelled her to international stardom. In the series, she played wildling Ygritte - a fierce and passionate wild woman who fell for the heir to the throne, Jon Snow. In real life, the actors fell in love, too, and are now married with children. In fact, Rose's real life pregnancy with baby number two was written into the script of Vigil series 2.
Thanks to Game Of Thrones, Rose' career went sky high. BBC One's The Great Fire followed, as did Luther, and US series, The Good Fight. She was then cast in the US TV series, The Time Traveller's Wife. She played Clare, a woman married to time-hopper Henry (White Lotus' Theo James).
Rose went on to play Louise Bourget in Kenneth Branagh's Agatha Christie adaptation, Death on the Nile. Meanwhile, Downton Abbey fans might also recognise her as Gwen Dawson!
More recently, Rose has starred as Kirsten Longacre in Vigil series 1 and 2, opposite Frauds actress Suranne Jones.
Phyllis Logan plays Jane and Cassandra's mum Mrs Austen
Scottish actress Phyllis Logan, 69, stars as Jane and Cassandra's mum Mrs Austen in the cast of the BBC One period drama.
Phyllis is a much loved TV actress, and has been on our screens ever since 1977 when she appeared in the TV film The Red Dress. After that, she worked as a jobbing actress for year, appearing in films and TV series such as 1984, Bust, and Screen Two.
Between 1986 and 1994, she starred as Lady Jane Felsham in the Ian McShane detective drama Lovejoy. Phyllis went on to portray Sqn. Ldr. Helen Knox in Invasion: Earth, Muriel McKendrick in Holby City, and Annie Gilbert in Hope and Glory opposite Missing You actor Lenny Henry.
Of course, she is probably most famous for playing Mrs. Hughes in Downton Abbey from 2010 to 2015, and the subsequent two films.
Other notable roles among many include Linda in Girlfriends, Maggie Smart in The Good Karma Hospital, Maggie Lynch in Guilt, and Grace Bain in Shetland.
Kevin McNally is Mr Austen
Bristol-born Kevin McNally, 68, stars as patriarch Mr Austen in the cast of BBC One's Miss Austen.
He's probably best known for playing Joshamee Gibbs in The Pirates of The Caribbean film franchise. He is one of the few characters to appear in every single film, playing the devoted First Mate to Johnny Depp's infamous Captain Jack Sparrow.
You might also recognise him from the fourth series of The Crown, where he played Margaret Thatcher's press secretary Bernard Ingham. He played another real person recently, too, when he portrayed former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson in Stonehouse - opposite leading actress Keeley Hawes!
Das Boot viewers will know him for playing Jack Greenwood in the Sky Original drama. His other well known TV roles include James Hollis in Unforgotten, Richard Woodhull in Turn, and Professor Eustacius Jericho in Doctor Who.
Most recently, he played Kenny/Supt Jolliphant in Endeavour series 9, Professor Peter Cherry in Silent Witness, and Max Grendel in Alex Rider. He also voiced Podo in The Wingfeather Saga.
As well as Pirates of the Caribbean, Kevin has been in dozens of films, including Reflections, Curse of the Macbeths, Painted Beauty, Apartment 7A, and Legend. He's been on our screens since 1976, so his career is pretty extensive.
Actor Max Irons stars as Henry Hobday
London-born actor Max Irons - yes, son of Jeremy and Sinéad Cusack - portrays Henry Hobday in the cast of Miss Austen.
Nepo-baby Max has been in dozens of films and TV series, but is perhaps best known for playing the lead role of Joe Turner in the rather good spy thriller Condor between 2018 and 2020.
More recently, he's portrayed Malcolm Foxworth in Flowers in the Attic: The Origin.
Other notable roles include Al in The Little Drummer Girl, Howard Carter in Tutankhamun, Edward IV in The White Queen, and Tommy Pasqualino in The Runaway.
He's been in plenty of films, too, including Dorian Grey, Red Riding Hood, The Host, The Wife, Crooked House, and Terminal.
Miss Austen cast: Calam Lynch stars as Tom Fowle
Warwickshire-born actor Calam Lynch, 30, portrays Tom Fowle in Miss Austen.
Those of who watched the killer thriller Sweetpea in 2024 will know Calam for his role of ill-fated AJ. Like his co-star Max Irons, Calam's parents are rather famous. Namely, actors Finbar Lynch and Niamh Cusack. Eagle-eyed readers might know that Calam's mum Niamh and Max's mum Sinéad Cusack are sisters. So Max and Calam are actually cousins in real life!
Calam has been on our screens ever since 2017 when he portrayed a sailor in Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk. A year later, he portrayed Gordon Wilson in Mrs Wilson, before popping up in one episode of Derry Girls as John Paul O'Reilly.
In 2022, the actor starred as Theo Sharpe in Netflix's rompy Bridgerton. Other notable roles include PC Robert Hydes in The Long Shadow, a young Cary Grant in Archie, and Camnir in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
His film roles have included Stephen Tennant in Benediction, opposite Slow Horses actor Jack Lowden, and George Winthorp in Disney's Black Beauty.
Jessica Hynes plays Mary in Miss Austen cast
London-born actress and comedian Jessica Hynes, 52, portrays Mary Austen. However, she is much better known for her comedic roles.
She is perhaps most famous for co-creating, writing and starring Spaced alongside Simon Pegg. She played Daisy Steiner in the cult hit between 1999 and 2001. Jessica went on to lead the cast of According to Bex in 2005.
Fans of The Royle Family will know here as Cheryl Carroll in the sitcom, before she went on to play Siobhan Sharpe in Twenty Twelve. She reprised the role of the highly irritating BBC press officer in the subsequent spin-off W1A, of which there were three seasons between 2014 and 2017.
Other notable roles include Margaret in Up the Women, Ella Bond in Hooten & the Lady, Katherine Pitt in Hang Ups, Marv in Jack and Dean of All Trades, and Edith Lyons in Years and Years.
More recently, she's portrayed Old Myers in The Witchfinder, Emily in There She Goes, and Steph in The Franchise. She's also been in multiple films, including Seize Them!, Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse, and Shaun of the Dead. She's also in the Nativity, Paddington, and Bridget Jones franchises.
Alfred Enoch portrays Mr Lidderdale
London-born actor Alfred Enoch, 36, portrays Mr Lidderdale - a far cry from his last TV performance in the steamy Channel 5 thriller The Couple Next Door.
Alfred is probably most famous for playing Harry Potter's classmate Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter franchise. Aside from Potter, though, he's made a decent dent on Hollywood.
In 2014, he began starring in How to Get Away with Murder. He played Wes Gibbins, a wait-listed student who begins law school under the tutorage of Viola Davies' Professor Annalise Keating.
He also appeared in BBC and Netflix series Troy: The Fall of a City, as well in Jodie Whittaker medical drama Trust Me.
In 2022, he starred in Sky comedy This is Christmas as Adam, a commuter who wants to bring his train travelling companions together. More recently, he starred as Raych Foss in Foundation.
Other notable roles include Bainbridge in Sherlock, Alex in Mount Pleasant, and Sam Taylor in Broadchurch. As well as the super-popular Harry Potter films, Alfred has also starred in King Lear, Red, Executive Order, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Tigers.
Who else is in the cast of Miss Austen?
Synnøve Karlsen, 28, portrays young Cassandra. The Norwegian-Scottish actress is probably best known for playing Holly McStay in Clique, and Clarice in Medici. Coincidentally, Synnøve also played Keeley Hawes' troubled daughter Cassie Stone in The Midwich Cuckoos.
More recently, she played Nina Karlsson in bizarre ITV drama Passenger, and Polly Hillinghead in Bodies.
Spanish-born actress Patsy Ferran, 35, plays Jane Austen in flashbacks. The drama begins in 1830, many years after Jane has died. Patsy is best known for portraying Mercy in Jamestown, Sister Blanche in Black Narcissus, and Pamela in Life After Life. She's also appeared in multiple films, including How to Build a Girl, where she played Snow Pixie.
Meanwhile, Liv Hill stars as Mary Austen. Twenty-four-year-old Liv is famous for playing Ruby Bowen in hard-hitting drama Three Girls, Young Catherine in The Serpent Queen, and Sasha in Disclaimer. She portrayed the main character of Sarah Taylor in the film Jellyfish, which won her a Best Actor award. The Welsh actress was just 16 when she was cast in what became a huge indie hit.
Lastly, Mirren Mack plays Dinah. The Scottish actress, 27, has played Florence in Sex Education, Kaya in The Nest, Maggie Hewson in Dalgliesh, Merwyn in The Witcher: Blood Origin, Rose in The Doll Factory, and Katherine Manners in Mary & George.
More recently, she portrayed murdered Edie Ledwell in Strike - The Ink Black Heart.
Miss Austen full cast list (for episode 1):
Keeley Hawes stars as Cassandra Austen.
Rose Leslie portrays Isabella Fowle.
Patsy Ferran is Jane Austen.
Jessica Hynes plays Mary Austen.
Alfred Enoch portrays Mr Lidderdale.
Mirren Mack stars as Dinah.
Calam Lynch is Tom Fowle.
Max Irons stars as Henry Hobday.
Kevin McNally stars as Mr Austen.
Phyllis Logan portrays Mrs Austen.
Liv Hill is Young Mary Austen.
Synnove Karlsen plays Young Cassandra Austen.
Queens of Mystery star Madeleine Walker is Eliza Fowle.
Casualty's Emily Hindle is Nancy.
Call the Midwife actor Geoff Arnold plays a coachman.
Felix Scott - aka Patrick Nash in Miss Scarlet and the Duke - portrays Fulwar Fowle.
Clink's Florence Bell stars as Mary Jane Dexter.
Until I Kill You actress Clare Foster is Beth Fowle.
The Crow Girl star Thomas Coombes portrays Mr Dundas.
G'wed star Jake Kenny-Byrne is Frank Austen.
Mia and Me: The Hero of Centopia star Vivien Battley plays Young Anna.
Doctors' Patrick Knowles stars as James Austen.
