Ella Bruccoleri shot to fame on Call the Midwife in 2018 and has recently bowled over period drama fans on The Other Bennet Sister
BBC The Other Bennet Sisters stars actress Ella Bruccoleri as Mary Bennet. (Image: BBC)
Ella Bruccoleri has made a surprise confession about her rise to fame as a television actress.
The 36-year-old star recently appeared as the lead in the BBC One drama The Other Bennet Sister, inspired by Jane Austen’s timeless Pride and Prejudice.
Based on the popular novel of the same name by author Janice Hadlow, The Other Bennet Sister turns the spotlight onto Mary Bennet, the seemingly unremarkable middle sister in Pride and Prejudice.
Upon its March launch, the period drama became an instant hit with viewers, with some critics branding Ella’s performance “absolutely lovely” and the show a “must-watch”.
It’s no surprise that Ella captivated viewers with her portrayal of Mary Bennet, as she is no stranger to historical dramas. In 2018, the actress rose to fame when she joined Call the Midwife as Sister Frances, a role she held for 4 years.
The popular character’s final episode in 2022 saw her playing a game with the children at the Mother House to correctly guess the name she had before becoming a nun. On her way back from her day of work, she injured her shoulder after a bike crash.
While she hasn’t been seen since Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) sent her to Chichester to recuperate, viewers did get some closure when they learned her given name is Rosemary.
Following her exit from Call the Midwife, Ella has gone on to play Miss Barragan in the third season of Netflix’s Bridgerton and appeared in all three entries of the recent Strangers horror movie trilogy.
In 2021, she starred as Anabel Dinsdale in All Creatures Great and Small and played a nun in the series The Last Kingdom.
Enjoying great success in her career, Ella has now revealed that she struggled to watch herself on-screen during her earlier acting days, including on Call the Midwife.
She told the New York Times: “The first year of seeing myself on camera, I was just miserable because I was like, ‘I don’t think that looks like me'”. But on The Other Bennet Sister, Ella was happy to retreat from vanity and relished Mary’s characteristic of an unflattering haircut and geeky glasses.
The story of an overlooked and undervalued young woman finally realising her worth resonates with her. “I relate to her a lot, and I see a lot of her in me”, she added.
Earlier this year, Ella also opened up to the Radio Times about her feelings on her earlier work on Call the Midwife, including why she quit the role:
“When I look back at my early episodes, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, that’s not good’. I learnt screen acting on the job, and it was invaluable”, she said. “It felt crazy quitting a great job but I’d started getting different offers, and I realised I love the variety of different things.”
The Other Bennet Sister and Call the Midwife are both available to stream on BBC iPlayer