The comely British actress returns to the period costume dramas where she’s carved out a respectable little niche for herself these past few years. She’s currently starring opposite Steve Carrell in the apocalyptic comedy “Finding a Friend for the End of the World.”

This time, she’s taking on Leo Tolstoy’s imposing 19th century family novel. I
recall it as the bane of a Russian lit class I took back in my undergrad days. I was always more of a Dostoevsky kind of kid anyway.