Why Kya From Where The Crawdads Sing Looks So Familiar

"Where the Crawdads Sing," the upcoming mystery drama film based on the best-selling book of the same name by Delia Owens, is nearing its release date of July 15, 2022. Directed by Olivia Newman and adapted for the screen by Lucy Alibar, the film follows Catherine "Kya" Clarke, a young woman living in a North Carolina marsh, who raised herself after being abandoned by her parents and older siblings. Kya then bonds with a local boy, Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith), who teaches her to read and write; she soon falls for him. However, when Tate leaves for college, Kya has a brief romance with Chase Andrews, who promised Kya marriage without the intention of ever following through. Soon after Kya breaks it off with Chase (and after he attempts to attack her), Chase is found dead — and all of the evidence is pointing toward Kya.

While watching the trailer, you may have found that the actress playing Kya looks a bit familiar. Having been acting since 2016, she has only been gaining more and more prominence in recent years with her roles. Here's a breakdown of her most notable ones so far.

Daisy Edgar-Jones is the actress who plays Kya in "Where the Crawdads Sing," and she first made a name for herself in her home country thanks to her recurring role playing Olivia Marsden on the British comedy-drama series "Cold Feet." The series follows three different couples as they navigate the highs and lows of their relationships. Edgar-Jones's character, Olivia, first shows up in the 6th season in 2016 and remained a recurring character through the 9th and final season — the show came to an end in 2020. Olivia has a crush on Matthew Williams (Ceallach Spellman) despite the fact that Matthew is dating Olivia's twin sister, Ellie (Ella Hunt). Later on, Matthew and Olvia begin dating and Olivia gets pregnant.

In a 2020 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Edgar-Jones reflected on her time working on "Cold Feet," which she credits with teaching her the ropes of the industry. Edgar-Jones said, "It was my first professional TV job and I'm so grateful for it, as I kind of think of it as my training. When I first started on 'Cold Feet' I genuinely struggled just walking across the screen without being really self-conscious and hyper aware of everything, so it gave me the chance to get used to things, you know, like being able to drink a glass of orange juice naturally."

The actress also declared her love of the project on Twitter in 2019 when she and her castmates wrapped filming on the 8th season. Alongside a few photos from the set, Edgar-Jones wrote, "That's a wrap on Cold Feet series 8 I've loved every year of making this beautiful show...[fingers crossed] for more."

From 2019 to 2021, Daisy Edgar-Jones starred in the first two seasons of "War of the Worlds," the TV series adaptation of the 1898 H.G. Wells novel of the same name. Set in contemporary Britain and France, the series follows the few survivors of a mass catastrophe as they face the aliens invading Earth. Emily is a blind teenager who has the ability to hear the aliens' "pulses," giving the survivors insight into the enigmatic creatures and leading Emily to feel a connection to the aliens. She is even able to regain her sight at certain moments, in connection to the pulses she feels connected to the aliens.

In an interview with SBS, Edgar-Jones revealed what drew her to the role. "It is a great story, a fascinating story. I love a bit of sci-fi and I just love what it can bring to the table and bring up discussions about what's happening in the world today," she said. "We go through life and we follow rules that society gives us, but what if suddenly all the electricity is turned off, everyone around you, most of them, have dropped dead and you have to survive, what would that mean?"

Daisy Edgar-Jones gained international prominence in 2020 when she starred in the Hulu miniseries, "Normal People," which is based on the 2018 best-selling novel of the same name by Sally Rooney. The series introduces Marianne Sheridan (Edgar-Jones), a shy student, and Connell Waldron (Paul Mescal), a popular student-athlete. Despite coming from different social circles at school, as well as different social classes — Connell's mom works as a housekeeper for Marianne's wealthy family — the two begin a relationship. However, at Connell's insistence, they keep it a secret. 

After a messy ending to the high school tryst, the two find themselves coming back to one another in college, when they both attend Trinity College Dublin, and an on-and-off relationship ensues for several years. The series was critically acclaimed and became a bit of a pop culture sensation. Edgar-Jones even received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.

Edgar-Jones told Collider that when she read Rooney's novel, in between her first audition and the chemistry read, she instantly fell in love with Marianne. She continued, "I really did feel that, if I didn't get the chance to play her, I'd find it very hard to get over it, to be honest. Every now and then, you get those auditions that come your way, that you really fall in love with and you imagine your life with that person ... I thought she was really funny and deep and complex, and I was desperate to get the [chance] to play her."

Noting how much the experience meant to her overall, Edgar-Jones added, "I feel like I fundamentally grew as a human being [while filming], which is what the whole story is about, with two people growing up."

Daisy Edgar-Jones had her first starring film role with the 2022 Hulu black-comedy romance horror film, "Fresh." directed by Mimi Cave and written by Lauryn Kahn. The film follows Noa (Edgar-Jones), a young woman who begins a relationship with a charming, yet mysterious man, Steve (Sebastian Stan), whom she meets at the grocery store. Soon into their relationship, Noa agrees to go away for the weekend with Steve, but when she spends the night at his place the night before they plan to travel, Steve drugs her. When Noa wakes up, she realizes that she has been lured by Steve to be used for his sinister business: selling the human meat of women for consumption. "Fresh" was well-received by fans and critics, earning itself an 81% Tomatometer score and an 80% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

In an interview with Variety, Edgar-Jones discussed the themes of "Fresh." After noting that there are so many varying messages that each viewer may take from the film, she elaborated, "For me, arguably it is sort of an allegory for the commodification of women, that we're sort of reduced to just our physical, but it's also a celebration of female friendships and how a shared collective experience can help you overcome situations."

Edgar-Jones also told The Face that two highlights for her were participating in a genre film and getting to work with director Mimi Cave. "We were allowed to bring levity and humor [into everything], and to be in a very stylized piece was cool, too," she explained. "It was undeniably Mimi's vision and I love that feeling of being in someone's creative world."

In her most recent project, Daisy Edgar-Jones returned to television with the FX crime drama "Under the Banner of Heaven," which is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer. The series follows Jeb Pyre (Andrew Garfield), a detective who finds himself questioning his Mormon faith while he investigates a double murder directed associated with the Mormon church. Edgar-Jones plays Brenda Lafferty, the woman who is murdered alongside her infant child.

Edgar-Jones told The Hollywood Reporter that the most challenging aspect of working on this project was making sure that Brenda (who was a real-life murder victim) was fully fleshed out and defined by more than just her death. "I was really keen for this to be an opportunity to also celebrate her life and for her to have a voice," she said. "But the scenes are quite sparing, so, I was making an impact as much as possible with the material and the time that I had. That was something that was really important to me."

Further, she told THR that she was drawn to Brenda because of her many dynamic traits, such as her intellect, wit, and cheerfulness, despite the dark storyline.