Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones have thrown their support behind Sally Rooney, whose book “Normal People” would catapult them both to fame following its hit TV adaptation.
The pair — alongside numerous others, including Mescal’s Oscar-winning “Hamnet” co-star Jessie Buckely — have signed an open letter to the U.K. government backing Rooney, whose books are now banned for sale in the country due to her support for Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group proscribed as a terrorism organization by authorities. Last year she said intended to carry on using her royalties to support the group.
Rooney, whose titles also include “Conversations With Friends” and her latest novel “Intermezzo,” revealed earlier this month that efforts to publish her work in the U.K. “could now constitute a serious criminal offence.” Her U.K and Ireland publisher Faber said, “Current legislation in the U.K. has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on U.K. earnings to Sally Rooney for her work,” adding that it was therefore pulling her books from U.K. shops.
The statement — also signed by “Normal People” director Lenny Abrahamson and published in the New Statesmen — starts with: “Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist. Her books must be available to the public.”
It adds, “Their withdrawal from sale, on the basis of ill-conceived and draconian anti-terror legislation, is an affront to basic principles of free speech and expression so long taken for granted in this country. We categorically reject censorship – whether direct or indirect – and urge the government to change course, amending the legislation which has led us to this point of repressive absurdity.”
Other signatories include Jonathan Glazer, Irvine Welsh, Susan Sarandon and Tilda Swinton, the band Kneecap and Massive Attack frontman Robert Del Naja.