In season 3, we see Eloise a bit hardened and a bit jaded, but Jessie thinks it’s all for the best for her character.
When asked what her journey has been like, having been a part of the Bridgerverse since day one, Claudia Jessie takes a big sigh, pauses, and then lets out a quiet “F–king hell.”
She apologizes for swearing, but there’s no need. We get it. It’s hard to sum it all up in a 20-minute interview.
“I never thought any of this would happen to me, right?” says the Birmingham, England, native in her light Brummie accent. “Like, I really blagged my way in. So, I’ve done all right — better than anyone ever thought it would be for me.”
Jessie has been working as an actor for 12 years now, and she’s sure that one day she’ll be found out. The impostor syndrome seems quite real for her, but at the same time, it doesn’t seem to hold her back. On Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton has become one of the most beloved characters in Shondaland’s hit Netflix series. Her uniqueness, her determination to lead a different life (or at least be open to other lives) than that of her privileged upbringing, and her whip-smart quips all have made her one of those characters you can’t wait to see again on-screen.
In a similar way, Jessie is as nonconformist as her character: She began working in stand-up comedy, never thinking, or even hoping, that she’d go anywhere else; she lived up until only recently on a houseboat she bought in the northwest of England; and you won’t find her anywhere on social media. Landing screen roles — on ITV’s Vanity Fair miniseries, BBC One’s Line of Duty, and a guest appearance on Doctor Who — wasn’t quite on her vision board either. But taking on Eloise has become the biggest joy in her professional and personal lives.
“You’re not always going to come away from a job and be spiritually aligned with everything you did there,” says Jessie. “And you’re not always going to have that choice either. I’m a jobbing actor; I want to work. But sometimes, I feel like a lot of the telly I see feels like it’s made for people that are already in the industry rather than for people everywhere; it’s not representing those people on-screen. I’m working class as piss, so a lot of it nowadays feels chin-strokey to me, rather than just being nice, yummy telly for everyone. And that’s what I think Bridgerton does, and I’m so proud of it. The biggest thing I’ve taken from being in Bridgerton is that I can come away from this job, whenever that day is — and I will be bereft, I will be; I will shatter into a thousand pieces when this job does finish one day — but I know I can come away from it feeling 100 percent spiritually happy with being a part of such an opened-arm job.”
We sit down with Jessie to talk about this season’s tumultuous arc for besties Peneloise, Eloise’s nonconformity (she eats far more than anyone else!), what could potentially happen in Scotland, and a deleted scene that involves ice cream.
VALENTINA VALENTINI: I think I speak for the millions of people watching the show that it is a hell of a shock to the system to see Eloise and Cressida arm in arm this season. And I think we deserve an explanation.
CLAUDIA JESSIE: Well, I’m going to quote Eloise here, when she says in episode one, “Cressida showed me kindness in the summer when no one else would.” We’ve left Eloise at the end of season two, where she’s fallen out with her best mate, she’s lost this situationship she had with Theo Sharpe, and she feels really alone. Cressida has evidently shown her some sort of kindness during that time, and she’s gone with it. I feel like a lot of it is in spite of herself; she sort of wants to see what all the fuss is about. She says she wants to join the winning side, so that to me means really taking part in these bizarre rituals like the marriage mart and promenading and the like. But I still kind of think she only does it in the way that Eloise does.
VV: I was going to bring that up, the whole taking-the-winning-side thing. I mean, she’s reading Jane Austen’s Emma; she is chitchatting with young women she probably despises — she’s done a real 180 from last season, and I’m just wondering if it’s all Pen’s fault.
CJ: I don’t know. It’s such a big blow to the system, finding out such a huge lie. But I also think Eloise could learn how to listen a bit more. It might have been that what happened with Penelope was the catalyst for what ended up happening to Eloise, but ultimately, I think it’s a good thing because they do sort of need to learn who they want to be outside of each other. They are so young, and they might have had a bit of a codependency. I think Eloise certainly did with Penelope. She felt like she was only ever really understood by her. But I think it’s my protectiveness over Penelope — and Nicola, for that matter! — that makes me go, “It’s not all her fault!” But yeah, I think Eloise is raging.
VV: Well, actually, Eloise does bring out some vulnerability in Cressida and helps to move that storyline forward. Tell me about that from a character standpoint but also what’s it been like to share so many scenes with Jessica Madsen this season.
CJ: I think it’s nice for you to see that everyone is capable of all sorts of crap. It becomes evident that Cressida is not in a very nice domestic situation at all. So, it’s no wonder she’s got her back up most of the time or can be icy in some way. Then, for me as an actor, working with Jess was one of the greatest professional experiences I’ve ever had in my life. Of course, everybody knows each other on set, but sometimes I realize that, like, I’ve never spoken to Johnny [Jonathan Bailey] in a scene — we’ve never actually had a one-on-one because there are just so many characters. So, obviously, I knew and loved Jess, but I didn’t know what it was going to be like filming with her. It was honestly the easiest thing I’ve ever done — she’s amazing, she’s so beautiful, she’s so professional. I loved every second of it.
VV: So then, what you’re saying is that she’s nothing like her character.
CJ: [Laughs.] She’s nothing like her character.
VV: Eloise and Penelope’s fights are brutal this season. Like, I got genuinely emotional watching them.
CJ: That’s good to know!
VV: What was it like filming them with Nicola Coughlan since they’re such new territory for the two characters?
CJ: Me and Nicola have spent two seasons where we were constantly together. Pretty much all of my scenes, if they weren’t with the Bridgerton family, they were with Penelope. And I’m so used to spending so much time on set with her that it was bizarre to not be around her hardly ever. And then, the times we were, I’m being really quite extreme with her — Eloise really goes at her. Towards the end of this season, we got to spend more time together, which was nice, but it was unusual to not be in scenes with Nicola so often. One of my favorite scenes is from the end of season two, where Eloise finally cottons on that Whistledown is Penelope; we enjoyed doing that one together. I think it’s nice to show all the sides of the girls.
VV: The whole Lady Whistledown aspect of it all, I found quite stressful to watch — Eloise giving Penelope an ultimatum but then switching and trying to help her toward an end solution, and just the whole mess of the situation. Are you and Eloise alike, happy to put this storyline to rest?
CJ: I dunno. I think about the audience, and I feel like there’s nothing more fun than when an audience knows something that none of the other characters know. That’s wicked for an audience! Then the next best thing is to be in on something that only one character knows. So, I quite like that Eloise and the audience have been together in this situation. I’m probably more sad than relieved to put it to bed. But then again, it’s exciting for what will come next. Because I have no idea!
VV: Right! How weird is it going to be that everyone in the ton knows who Lady Whistledown is?
CJ: I’m intrigued to see where it goes. I can’t imagine it to always be simple, how that’s going to happen. But I’m sad to put it to bed a bit.
VV: Benedict and Eloise have that adorable connection, as ever. And I know that siblings haven’t yet gotten a portmanteau, but what are your thoughts on “Beneloise”?
CJ: Wait. What was that word?
VV: Portmanteau — where you combine two names to make one.
CJ: Is that what that word is?! Okay! Because there was a part of me that goes, “Do I reveal that I don’t know that word, or do I play it off like I do?”
VV: [Laughs] Look, I had to Google it, okay? I knew there was some French word out there that meant combining two names, but I couldn’t remember it.
CJ: Okay, okay. Hmm, so Beneloise. I think because I’ve always associated portmanteaus — aha! I used it! — with romantic coupling … but then again, it happens with Peneloise. But with them, I do think the love that they have is romantic. I do. I think it’s, like, one of the most romantic friendships ever. But Beneloise just feels … uncomfortable? [Laughs.] But I love Luke Thompson with every inch of my body, so I’m okay to be associated with him at any given time.
VV: I do love their meetings on the swings at night.
CJ: We’ve had that in every season. Luke really wanted to make sure that we did. And now it’s our thing.
VV: When I picture Eloise leaving for Scotland, I get very excited for her prospects and what’s next in her life. I’m sure you can’t give us much here about what happens with her next …
CJ: Even if I could, I couldn’t! I don’t know anything. I have no idea what’s happening with Eloise. But I think it’s so exciting that she’s going to become slightly more independent and will learn some new things. I mean, she’s been in the ton or in the countryside, and that’s really it. It’s such a sheltered life. So, it’s good that she’s going to go and find out things and be in the Scottish air.
VV: I just picture her meeting some very burly, big, sexy Scottish farmer. A very Lady Chatterley’s Lover kind of story.
CJ: Ooh, a sexy Scot; I love it. Take note, everyone!
VV: I know this is something you’ve talked about before in interviews, but you’ve brought such an impressive physicality to Eloise that I don’t think we’ve found in the other Bridgerton siblings. Shh! Don’t tell them!
CJ: The good fortune of mine is that Eloise was a bit of a legend on the page anyway. She was always a bit of a maverick and funny. I’m at heart first and foremost a comedian. That was my background. It’s how I started, and it was the only thing I thought I was going to do. So, for me, making things funny is really important. And I don’t mean just like [she puts her hand under her armpit and makes a raspberry sound to mimic a fart] at any given opportunity; she’s a little more than that. From what I knew from the books, she always felt like she was unsubscribing from what everyone was subscribing to. So, I wanted to make sure that you could see her eating all the time. I try and make her eat loads, and I grab things, and I give her a bowl, like when someone’s bowling about. I do sit into it when I get back to work, and it’s so much fun. It’s why I will shatter into a thousand pieces when I don’t play her anymore. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
VV: Did you have a favorite filming moment this season?
CJ: Do you know what? I think it’s been cut, but there was a scene between me and Jess Madsen where we eat ice cream together. And I don’t remember what they used, but it obviously wasn’t ice cream — it was cold, and it maintained a certain shape, but we were rattling by the end of it! We had so much sugar, we were like, “Wow!” That was wild; our anxiety was through the roof at the end of that! But then the balloon stuff was so funny too. Nicola smashed doing that. Because there’s this very slow-moving balloon, and she’s like there pretending in slo-mo to not be able to get away from it. Yeah, she smashed it doing that. And then, any scene I get to do with the Bridgerton family is always my favorite. When we are all together in the drawing room, that’s as close as I think I’ll ever feel to the idea of God [laughs].
