Ella Bruccoleri gives shy characters a seriousness that stops their discomfort becoming a joke. Her Mary Bennet carries an uneven drama, while her comic partnership in Polite Society makes us hope for more comedy from her.
Fi1m perspective
When Mary Bennet becomes the subject of another joke about her marriage prospects, Ella Bruccoleri lets the hurt register without asking for pity. In The Other Bennet Sister (2026), she makes Mary’s shyness awkward and limiting, with little interest in making it cute. We were moved by how long she seemed to have endured this treatment, because Bruccoleri makes the embarrassment feel familiar and wearing. She makes Mary’s increasing self-respect worth following even without the promise of romance. It is a persuasive lead performance in a programme whose writing is sometimes much less subtle.
Her first major television role was Sister Frances in Call the Midwife (2018–2022), before supporting appearances in Bridgerton (2024) and Paddington in Peru (2024). The move to Mary Bennet puts her at the centre, but Polite Society (2023) is worth keeping in view. In Nida Manzoor’s film, her Alba and Seraphina Beh’s Clara are a comic double act we would happily watch for longer. Their partnership is one reason we recommend a film whose later plotting becomes less persuasive. It would be a waste to cast her only as someone who needs cheering up.
The writing around Mary is less patient than Bruccoleri’s performance. Sarah Quintrell and Maddie Dai make her family so insistently unpleasant that we have little left to decide about whom to support. The repeated concern with her marriageability becomes tiresome once Bruccoleri has made the hurt clear. Dónal Finn’s Mr Hayward gives the romance sufficient appeal, and she makes Mary’s growing self-respect matter alongside it. The programme works when it allows both to develop, and falters when it returns to explaining how badly Mary is treated.
Her preparation extends to instruments, movement and historical context, useful work for an actor frequently cast in period settings. What matters in Mary is how readily we understand her discomfort: the small gestures and expressions keep it clear. We would welcome another substantial comic partnership as much as another period lead. Start with The Other Bennet Sister if a gentle romance appeals, and allow for some tiresome family jokes.
Biography
Ella Bruccoleri is a British actress. Born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, she graduated from the Oxford School of Drama in 2017.
She played Sister Frances in the BBC drama Call the Midwife (2018–2022) and Mary Bennet in the 2026 BBC series The Other Bennet Sister. Film roles include Alba in Polite Society (2023), Rosita in Paddington in Peru (2024) and Jasmine in The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024). She is the lead vocalist of the band Marry Me Emelie!.
