‘Downton Abbey’ star joins cast of ‘Brave New World’ TV adaptation

Jessica Brown Findlay has been cast as the female lead in Brave New World.

The 29-year-old English actress is best known for her role as Lady Sybil in the first three seasons of Downton Abbey.

Findlay has also appeared in Harlots, England is Mine, Jamaica Inn and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

She will next be starring in a new TV series based on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.

First published in 1932, the dystopian novel imagines a Utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself.

Jessica Brown Findlay will be playing Lenina Crowne, “a Beta Plus Hatchery worker, who has begun to question her position within the strict social strata of the New World.”

She’ll be joined by Alden Ehrenreich (Star Wars) and Harry Lloyd (Game of Thrones).

Brave New World was ranked #5 on a list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century in 1999 by 1999, the Modern Library.

The new TV adaptation was given a straight-to-series order by USA Network earlier this year and it’s rumoured to have a budget of $10 million per episode.

The synopsis reads: “As citizens of New London, Bernard Marx (Lloyd) and Lenina Crowne (Brown Findlay) have only ever known a rigid social order, a perfect pharmaceutical called Soma, and a culture of instant gratification and ubiquitous sex.

“Curious to explore life beyond the strictures of their society, the two New Worlders embark on a vacation to the Savage Lands, where they become embroiled in a harrowing and violent rebellion. Bernard (Lloyd) and Lenina are rescued by John the Savage (Ehrenreich), who escapes with them back to New London.

“The arrival of John, a subversive outsider, in the New World, threatens to disrupt the stability of New London’s utopian society.”

The Downton Abbey movie will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 13th September and in US cinemas the following week on Friday 20th September.

While Jessica Brown Findlay won’t be returning as Sybil, the cast does does feature (almost) all the surviving characters from the TV show.

Brave New World will premiere on the USA Network in 2020.

Downton Abbey: The Complete Collection DVD box set is available on Amazon.