Suranne Jones is Delivering Han Solo-Level Sex Swagger on ‘Gentleman Jack’

HBO’s new period drama Gentleman Jack tells the true story of 19th century business woman and lesbian Anne Lister. Astonishingly intelligent and ambitious, Anne bounds through every scene like she’s the 1830s version of Han Solo. Men can’t outwit her and women want to be with her. She has more swagger than anyone on television right now. And all that’s thanks to the incandescent performance of Suranne Jones.

Suranne Jones is well-known in the UK, for roles in shows like Coronation Street, Scott & Bailey, and Doctor Foster. Before Gentleman Jack, her splashiest role stateside might very well have been an iconic guest turn on Doctor Who. She starred as “Idris,” the living embodiment of the TARDIS in an episode penned by Neil Gaiman called “The Doctor’s Wife.” Gentleman Jack, though, is still something of a revelatory performance. Jones plays Anne Lister with utter confidence, strutting through the countryside like a sharp-shooting bandit, and yet underpinning all that swag is a tender heart yearning for companionship.

When we first meet Anne Lister in Gentleman Jack, she is returning to her family home in Halifax after having her heart broken. Her lover Vere Hobart (Jodhi May) has decided to marry, and in 1830s England, that means to a man. Lister wants love, but she also wants to resurrect the splendor of her family farm, Shibden. As she goes toe-to-toe with the scheming Rawsons, she also sets her sights on trying to convince Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle), an heiress with an obvious crush on her, to marry her.

As Lister, Jones is intoxicating. She’s able to deftly portray all of Anne’s contradictions — the modernity of her open sexuality versus her extremely tough views on class and labor, her cool controlling confidence against her soft need for love — and to make her seem superhuman. You understand why men quiver when she speaks to them and why the ladies of Halifax are desperate for her company. She is an alpha, pure and simple, and it’s hot.

My lord, does Suranne Jones play Anne Lister like a sex bomb. I consider myself to be a straight woman, but while watching Gentleman Jack, I found myself crushing hard core on Anne’s charms. Like Ann Walker, I, too, want a stern and self-commanding Victorian lady dressed in gender-bending suits to visit me for tea. She has all the sex appeal of an adventurer as well as the charm of a brilliant intellectual. It’s really a tour de force from Jones, who should, I don’t know, get to play a space pirate or old West sheriff immediately. Do I sound like I have a crush? I THINK I HAVE A CRUSH.

If you’re not watching what Suranne Jones is doing on HBO’s Gentleman Jack, you’re missing the sexiest strutter on TV. You’re missing out on a charm bomb exploding, and you’re denying yourself the opportunity of checking out a star going supernova.

Where to stream Gentleman Jack