Who played Elinor Dashwood in the 1995 film adaptation of 'Sense and Sensibility'?

Emma Thompson played Elinor Dashwood in the 1995 film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.

Directed by Ang Lee, the film adapts Austen’s 1811 novel about the Dashwood sisters and their struggle with love, money, inheritance, and social expectations. Thompson also wrote the screenplay, making her dual role as screenwriter and lead actor one of the production’s defining features. Kate Winslet played Elinor’s younger sister Marianne, while Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman portrayed Edward Ferrars and Colonel Brandon.

Thompson initially worried that she was too old to play Austen’s nineteen-year-old heroine. Ang Lee suggested changing Elinor’s age to twenty-seven, allowing Thompson to take the part. Her performance earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, while her screenplay won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

A common mix-up comes from the film’s ensemble cast: Alan Rickman played Colonel Brandon, Hugh Grant played Edward Ferrars, and Kate Winslet played Marianne Dashwood. None of those actors played Elinor. The 1995 film became one of the best-known modern Austen adaptations.