I have just dropped a rapid-fire, heavy-hitting bonus episode of The Filmmakers Podcast featuring the phenomenal actor George MacKay. Right now, he is starring as the quietly honourable Edward Ferrars alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones in Georgia Oakley’s fresh, cinematic adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.

While George is known for carrying massive physical and emotional weight in films like 1917, Femme and Captain Fantastic, stepping into a stiff-collared Regency romance presented a completely different set of pressures. In fact, he recently admitted feeling a serious wave of anxiety over whether he was naturally suited to play a classic romantic lead.

But what makes George such a brilliant collaborator is how he leans into the awkwardness, both in his prep and on set.

The Trouser Incident & Building Real Chemistry

We all know that shooting period dramas can be stiff, but George shared a hilarious reality check from the production. During one of his most brooding, emotionally intense romantic scenes with Daisy, his period trousers suffered a massive, badly timed rip.

Rather than ruining the take, the resulting laughter instantly broke the ice. It even became a running joke that Edward’s trousers were destined to rip whenever the emotional stakes got too high.

That ease didn’t just happen by accident. To build their dynamic, George and Daisy did the off-camera work: going for walks across Hampstead Heath and writing letters to each other completely in character to flesh out their shared history. When the cameras finally rolled and the costumes failed, the trust was already there.

Directing the Silence

Listening to George talk about the craft sparked a huge realisation for me about how we operate on set. George highlighted how much he values a director who knows exactly when not to say anything, allowing the unsaid choices to set the tone.

This hits on a massive trap we fall into as directors: the urge to over-direct. We often feel this overwhelming pressure that if we are not actively adjusting, tweaking or giving a profound note after every single take, we aren’t doing our jobs.

But the truth is, the most powerful tool you have on a busy set is silence. If you have done your preparation and communicated your vision clearly, you have to give your cast the physical and emotional space to breathe. Trust the actors you hired to find the magic. When you stop suffocating the process with constant notes, you allow room for brilliant, unexpected choices to emerge.

Middle Ground Films?

George also spoke passionately about the crucial middle ground of filmmaking, lamenting the loss of the £10-20 million mid-budget space and praising Georgia Oakley for bringing genuine arthouse integrity to a larger studio picture. It is a stark reminder that scale should never compromise your cinematic voice.

Go watch George in Sense and Sensibility in cinemas now, and catch the full video interview over on our TFP YouTube channel. Filmmakers Podcast on YouTube