Bridgerton’s Claudia Jessie teases Eloise’s “hurt” reaction to Colin and Penelope’s romance
While on the global press tour in New York City Bridgerton season three, Claudia Jessie indulged in some distinctly American customs. “I love America—the food, it’s so vast,” she said after arriving. Still watching studio for her first podcast interview. “All I’ve done is eat burgers since I got here.” The British actor behind the defiant Eloise Bridgerton describes herself as “very active offline”—and lives up to that description when All-American football player Travis Kelce came up during a conversation about love interests: “I wish I knew what you were talking about,” Jessie said.
The story of Kelce and Taylor Swift It’s been a long time since there’s romantic drama going on this season Bridgerton, revolves around the friendship and lover relationship between Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). At this point in the series, Eloise learns that her old best friend is the secretive gossip columnist Lady Whistledown. But she doesn’t know that Penelope is in love with Eloise’s brother – let alone that the two of them may soon be engaged.
“I just don’t think Eloise is the best listener,” Jessie said VF. “For the reasons that make Eloise so upset, Penelope is a good listener, right? Penelope makes a lot of money listening to people, but Eloise is definitely a talker.” Until now, Eloise has not been “amazingly observant—until she discovers a terrible secret. So this is a good opportunity for her to learn how to listen and this season is really going to give that to her.”
Below, Jessie chats with Still watching About Eloise’s new friendship with Cressida, her initial audition for the role of Penelope, and Eloise’s reaction to the Polin romance that may entail. Please watch the next episode of Still watching, will feature an interview with Lady Whistledown herself, Nicola Coughlan.
Vanity Fair: One of my favorite elements about Bridgerton is the friendship between Eloise and Penelope. By the end of episode four, the two of you still disagreed after the revelation about Lady Whistledown. What was it like filming those tense scenes, since you and Nicola are so close in real life?
Claudia Jessie: I remember at the end of season two, they had big bodies. Like, it was really intense. But in between takes, Nicola and I would say, “Hug quickly? Give me a quick hug, okay?” If I don’t follow the Bridgerton family, I follow Nicola. We spend a lot of time together on set. So it’s kind of strange going into season three and we’ve never filmed together, unless we have really tense situations, still being quite intense with each other. But we would see each other passing in the hallway and I would say, “You did great. We are all very proud of you.” As an actor, debate is fun.
Cressida’s friendship many Bridgerton fans in arms. How does it feel to dive into that surprising dynamic?
I’m really excited to finish the scripts for a new season. [Showrunner] Jess Brownell are doing a great job. And the writers’ room is so talented that we’re excited to see what they have to show us. When I was told, “You’re going to be friends with Cressida,” I said, “This is hilarious. This is amazing,” because we’re playing human beings and crazy things happen. So I’m always ready to go with it. I think it’s funny because in season two, Eloise says she’d rather die, like literally pass away, and then hang out with Cressida. So I like how this is going.
