I would be remiss not to comment about Rose Williams’ performance in Sanditon. When I wrote about the character of Charlotte Heywood as portrayed in season one, I admired the fictional young lady’s personality. Andrew Davies took a short sketch of a character by Jane Austen and developed her into a wonderful person. Of course, it takes an actress to portray that individual, by infusing life into the character from being mere words in a screenplay to what we actually watch on the television screen. Rose’s enormous talent drew in the audience, allowing us to connect to the character and become invested in her journey. Charlotte came to life for us, and the last frame of her tearful carriage ride of season one stayed with us even after the cancellation of the show.
Now we are back with season two, and Rose has reprised her role as Charlotte Heywood. Thank goodness she was available and decided to return, along with other actors, to give us a continuation of the story that fans campaigned to bring back. From the first scene in season two, it was obvious that Rose was playing a different Charlotte. Instantly, we were aware of her grieving over Sidney’s death, her hesitancy to fall in love again, and her cynical attitude toward marriage as a result of deep hurt. Rose expertly brought all those emotions to the surface, giving us a fantastic performance. Once again, we were witness to Charlotte’s journey of grief, adventure, young love, and painful decisions.
What impresses me as a fan of Sanditon, is that Rose cared about the show and her performance, showing respect for the fans who campaigned to bring it back. In a recent Collider article, Ben Lloyd-Hughes mentioned, “She had ownership of who Charlotte is.” She expressed her opinion on how to make everything better. Like Ben, she took it seriously to give the fans what they wanted — a Jane Austen-inspired continuation of Sanditon, expertly written by the creators and performed with heart by its actors.
If you have the time and ability, I encourage you to express your appreciation to Rose on her Twitter page or Instagram. Below are a few wonder Gifs and a clip from Masterpiece as Charlotte Heywood. Feel free to leave your appreciation of Rose’s performance in the comments below.
The casting for virtually every actor/actress (I’m old-fashioned) in Sanditon seems faultless. Rose Williams is not only extremely beautiful as Charlotte Heywood but she has brought the character to life with her expressiveness. She is gentle yet will always stand up for herself and others, helped by a wonderfully written script. She has added maturity to Charlotte and perhaps the delayed production of Season 2 helped in that respect. I find Season 2 more Austen-ish than Season 1 and I have loved every minute.
Rose Williams plays Charlotte beautifully, becoming a favorite character from any of the books of Jane Austen. Even though Charlotte Heywood was a character in an unfinished novel, Rose brings her to life with a determined personality and Charlotte with her adorable face is so beguiling with that wonderful dimple on her chin one will never forget her! Rose came back to this character after a world wide force of fans demanded she become Charlotte again. She did so with grace and joy! With Season 3 to come… perhaps 4? I would watch Rose play Charlotte until the character became a grand mom! Thanks Rose Williams for your wonderful performance! 👒💐🎩🥰
Rose nailed the part of Charlotte in Sanditon, Seasons 1 and 2. I feel the audience saw her growth from one season to the next. The depths of her emotions were palpable.
I watched Sanditon because I’m a huge Theo James fan!! But Sanditon opened my eyes to all these talented actors & Rose Williams is my favorite now! What an amazing young actress! Her performance on Sanditon is superb & I am now a huge fan of hers!!!
~ I am a huge fan of good British period dramas. After watching Sanditon Seasons 1-3, I am hooked. Once I watch an episode though, I always [make time to] watch it again. There are so many nuances, banter and dialogue that I miss the first time around. As for Rose Williams, wow, what an amazing young actress. I briefly watched her in Reign but not enough to understand the storyline. In Seasons 1-2, I watched her get hurt by Sidney Parker (a jerk); everyone seemed to think they’d have been a great match (not). Young Stringer would have been better suited to Charlotte as they had similar temperaments. And that adorable dimple in her chin; I’ve watched her grow since Season 1 and matured into a woman who chooses to live life on her own terms (not like the hypocrite Lady Denham). Sidney was not right for her; he treated her harshly in Season 1. Young Stringer never revealed his feelings towards Charlotte. Col. Lennox was wrong for her (too much time on the battlefield, perhaps?). And as for Alexander Colbourne, he was a complete jerk in Season 2. I’m glad that the writers decided to change his character, from a reclusive man to one coming out of his shell in Season 3. I did skip ahead and saw their HEA in Episode 6. Looking forward to seeing how it all ties together in the end. ~