Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2.

The Big Picture

Eloise’s relationship with Penelope is strained due to the truth about Whistledown, adding layers to their dynamic.
Eloise finds new relationships with family members like Kate, showing character growth and development.
Eloise’s arc in Season 3 involves learning to navigate society while experiencing personal growth and sibling dynamics.

Dearest gentle reader, with the premiere of Bridgerton Season 3’s final four episodes now upon us, there’s so much to discuss in terms of the drama that has swept across the ton. Not only does Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) finally choose to reveal herself as popular gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, but her wedding to Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) isn’t the only one that plays out this season, as Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) officially ties the knot with John Stirling (Victor Alli) in a very different kind of ceremony. Amid so many happy endings for certain Bridgerton couples — even Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate (Simone Ashley) are headed to India! — where does that leave other members of the family, like Eloise (Claudia Jessie)? Turns out she’s going to be joining Francesca and John in Scotland, but even that departure doesn’t come without Eloise and Penelope officially patching things up in their friendship (thank goodness!).

Ahead of the premiere of Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2, Collider had the opportunity to speak with Jessie about some of Eloise’s most important relationships — including her surprising connection with the ton’s mean girl Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen), her changing dynamic with Colin, and why her friendship with Penelope is actually one of the season’s biggest love stories. Jessie also discusses her favorite scene of Season 3, why she enjoyed that sweet moment between Eloise and Kate, and more.

Bridgerton Set in the glamorous world of Regency London, the Bridgerton family maneuvers through the opulent and treacherous landscape of high society. Daphne Bridgerton, the family’s eldest daughter, enters the marriage market, sparking a whirlwind romance with the enigmatic Duke of Hastings.Release Date December 25, 2020 Creator Chris Van Dusen Main Genre Drama Seasons 3 Studio Netflix Expand

Claudia Jessie Enjoyed Being at Odds With Nicola Coughlan in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3
Image via Netflix

COLLIDER: When we pick up in Season 3, Eloise and Penelope’s friendship is still on the rocks, and the truth about Whistledown is hanging over both of them and really the big reason why they can’t patch things up. Was there anything difficult about having to play on opposite sides with Nicola, or was it kind of fun to get to lean into the more emotional sides that happen because they’re at odds?

CLAUDIA JESSIE: It’s the latter. I’ve found it quite fun. I remember there was the big falling out scene we had at the end of Season 2, a sort of blazing row we have, and Nicola and I would cuddle in between takes to be like, “It’s okay.” But getting to have this fraught thing is really fun. I’m always a fan of when the audience knows something none of the characters know. It’s just good TV, isn’t it? It’s even more fun when one of the characters knows with the audience. I loved being able to do that. It’s great for Eloise. She’s growing up. It’s quite dynamic, what’s happening. It’s always fun as an actor to do stuff like that. But it was odd not being on set with Nicola as much as I’m used to, but mostly, as well, I’ve got to say, we were all just sort of buzzing for Nicola and Luke and them taking the torch. It’s so exciting to watch them as their castmates. Just felt dead proud during it, as well.

Even though Eloise and Penelope aren’t seeing eye to eye at the moment, Eloise gets the opportunity to develop some other relationships that we see, especially with people in her family. There’s one really nice exchange that she gets to have with Kate later on, which might not have happened otherwise if she hadn’t been at odds with Penelope. I’m wondering if you can talk about filming that scene with Simone [Ashley].

JESSIE: We’ve had a lot of fans travel with the fandom of the books. Those people have traveled to the series, and I’m very grateful for that. In the books, Kate and Eloise are really similar and tight. Eloise will see a lot of herself in Kate and vice versa, and it was lovely to do that. I really love that scene. I really love that scene. I know which one you’re talking about. I just think they’ve got a really good shorthand with each other as characters. We haven’t seen them develop this friendship. They just have this connection that’s clear. Kate’s a great guide for Eloise, and it was great to do that. Obviously, Simone and Johnny did such a great job in Season 2. That’s what’s great about such a big ensemble, as well, is being able to perform with so many different people across the years.

Claudia Jessie Explains Eloise and Cressida’s Surprising Dynamic
Image via Netflix

Eloise’s friendship with Cressida also feels like something that would never have been possible in Season 1 but reveals some interesting things about both of them. Why do you feel like Eloise is drawn to her, and why does she stick around, even when sometimes they don’t have the most in common?

JESSIE: With Eloise, she’s always been quite stoic and immovable. She’s very solid in how she feels. But then, in Season 2, she met Theo and was exposed to this completely different side of society that she learned a lot from, because she’s so sheltered and privileged and nurtured. It awakened this side of her. She’s been used to the same sort of people around her for a really long time, and Penelope’s one of them. [Eloise]’s a learner, she wants to learn things, she wants to expand, and so meeting someone like Cressida, even with all of this baggage that’s there from before… she saw the inside of her house and what she is actually going through, she wants to learn a bit. I think she’s curious. And then it’s obviously a great opportunity for us to see just how suffocating a situation Cressida Cowper is in, and Eloise was shown kindness by Cressida when everything around her had sort of felt like it had fallen apart.

To your point, in previous seasons, Eloise was focused on being an intellectual, being a bookworm, going to these lectures, reading books that proper ladies shouldn’t be interested in, just trying to absorb all this information. In Season 2, she has her coming out in society, so now she’s forced to play these games and be more immersed in the ton in ways she didn’t really want. With where we see her in Season 3, how do you think that story for her changes her worldview? Does it feel like a natural progression of having more exposure to other parts of the world that she didn’t have before?

JESSIE: She’s young and is learning, and she’s learning how to listen — because I think she spent a lot of her friendship talking with Penelope. Obviously, that benefited Penelope massively in her Whistledown escapades. However Penelope decided to use that, it’s still the fact that Eloise was really the talker. I think we all have ideals, especially when we’re younger, as well. Not that I’m saying we become jaded, but we become aware that things change, that we change, and that what we thought was ideal at one point might seem sweet in the future. We might look back and go, “That was really nice that I felt like that, but the reality is different now.” And Eloise, maybe that’s why she’s in this position with this unlikely friendship. It’s sort of this acceptance of, “All of this crap has happened, so I’m just going to accept this thing.” I don’t think Eloise will ever be given the moniker of a debutante or a spinster. I feel like she’s very fortunate and sort of gets to escape that slightly. A lot of it’s to do with how Violet Bridgerton learns how to support each child as well. Eloise is gonna have a lot of very caring, nurturing people around her. I just think she’s growing. She’s doing what we all do, and it’s just sort of follow your nose a bit.

You spoke about how excited everybody was for Nicola and Luke to carry the torch of the big romance this season, but it does feel like Eloise is pretty shocked that things have progressed this way — not just because she and Penelope are at a distance, but realizing how out of touch she’s been with Colin. I really like that she takes it as an opportunity to reconnect with him. We get some nice, quiet conversations between the two of them. What did you enjoy about getting to lean into those moments with Luke? Given that Eloise knows the truth about Whistledown, that’s still a thing holding her back from being truly honest. You, especially, are having to play a lot of different layers in those conversations.

JESSIE: Luke Newton is like a brother to me, although he’s my little brother. It’s so much fun because we do have a very sibling-like relationship, me and Luke Newton in particular. It is really sibling-y between us. I was so excited because I knew before we even got the scripts that I’d have more to do with Luke, and it’s very easy to work with Luke. It doesn’t feel like work when I’m doing that. It’s brilliant. I had a very good time on set with him, and I’m so proud.

That was the best thing is that it was this weird, forgive me, love triangle sort of thing, but with Eloise in a very weird position of being like a protector, and angry, and keeping a secret. I do find it sweet that there’s an opportunity that you’ve get to see them get to know each other more, but obviously, that’s so strained, as well, because it’s not truly sincere, is it, because she’s also harboring a big secret from him? So I think it’s a lot of guilt. It’s a lot of plate spinning that Eloise is having to do this season.

Claudia Jessie Praises ‘Bridgerton’s Female Friendships

I’m glad that you called it a love triangle, though, because, to a point, that’s right. What has become really apparent in Season 3 is that Penelope and Eloise’s relationship — that sisterly, platonic love, affection, whatever you want to call it, is given just as much weight in Penelope’s story as her romance with Colin. I wanted to ask your thoughts about putting these on the same level, the friendship and the romance, where one doesn’t have to supersede the other.

JESSIE: That’s a really lovely way of putting it, and I agree. Shonda [Rhimes] said Penelope and Eloise’s relationship is really the second love story of Bridgerton, which is so touching, isn’t it? What a lovely thing for it to be, and quite right. It’s very pure. That’s why I think it’s quite painful, and it might be painful for people to watch, as well, because even with everybody knowing this sort of bubbling secret, it still felt really pure and true and sincere, and it’s really important. They’ve not just arrived, female friendships, they’ve been here forever, and I’d say it was even more of a community, actually, even than just two people. A female friendship feels a bit more like a community. There’s loads of us out there — we’re a tribe, and I really love how they do that.

They do that throughout with other characters, like the matriarchal characters in the show, as well. If you look at Lady Danbury and the Queen, Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton, Violet Bridgerton and the Queen. There’s all of this connection between them, and they’re all so solid, and so themselves. And that’s time. Only time gives you stuff like that. I don’t think it would be Shondaland if they weren’t really championing those important relationships.

Is there any moment from Season 3 that stands out in your mind as something that was your favorite to film, and who was it with?

JESSIE: I love whenever we’re all together, all of us, and then we’re a proper crew as well. There’s lots of us. [Laughs] What always stands out from this season in particular is the hot air balloon. We had wind machines, it was already quite windy, there were stunts, and Bridgerton’s not a stunt-heavy thing. [Laughs] I just remember that being very funny because both Luke and Nicola have to do quite physical things in that scene, and they handled it so well amidst all of it. And the weather changing — it is British summertime, and it’s unreliable, so that was just very funny. We’re wearing wigs, so then the fringes are just moving like that with the wind. It’s chaos, but we get the job done!

That’s the perfect slogan for the Bridgerton family: “It’s chaos, but they get the job done.”

JESSIE: We get the job done!

Bridgerton Season 3 is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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