Claudia Jessie plays Eloise Bridgerton in Bridgerton.
Biography[]
Claudia was raised by Dawn, a working-class single mother. She grew up with a brother named David, who is five years older than her.[1] Claudia's family moved back and forth between a council estate in London and canal boats in Birmingham. Her family struggled financially and often had bailiffs at the door. Her mother cleaned houses in exchange for Claudia's music, dance and sport lessons. From a young age, Claudia knew she had the ability to make people laugh. For a long time, she considered going to clown college in France.[2]
Claudia enjoyed reading and did well at school, but was introverted. She found the school environment difficult and struggled with bullies.[1] At the age of 14, Claudia left school without any formal qualifications and was homeschooled by her mother.[1]
In her late teens, Claudia worked in a pub, as a promo girl for radio stations and as a dog walker. She started acting classes and hosted comedy nights around Birmingham. There, she was noticed by local playwright, Hannah Phillips, who asked Claudia to be part of some theatre companies she had in Birmingham.[3] When Claudia began acting, she dropped her father's surname, Peyton, as she has no connection with it and has not seen her father since she was 10.[1]
Claudia later moved to London and slept on sofas and in vacant properties for months. After months of rejections, the agent Michael Ford took a chance on her.[1] When Claudia was 20, she was cast in a play, The Fear of Queer, that ran at London’s Drill Hall Theatre. At 22, was cast in Doctors, a BBC medical drama.[4]
On April 4, 2019, Claudia auditioned for the role of Penelope in Bridgerton in person, and ended up landing the role of Eloise.[5] Claudia credits landing the role of Eloise to a working-class casting editor, Cole Edwards, who later became Claudia's partner.[4]
Career[]
Filmography[]
- Booty (short) (????)
- Night and Day (short) (2020)
- Their Finest (2016)
- Copy That (short) (2014)
- Rosie (short) (2012)
Television[]
- Toxic Town (mini-series) (????)
- Bridgerton (2020-2024)
- Defending the Guilty (2019)
- Porters (2017-2019)
- Doctor Who (2018)
- Vanity Fair (mini-series) (2018)
- Lovesick (2018)
- Comedy Blaps (2017)
- Detectorists (2017)
- Line of Duty (2017)
- Carters Get Rich (2017)
- Father Brown (2017)
- Dixi (2014-2016)
- Call the Midwife (2016)
- Josh (2015)
- Bull (2015)
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (mini-series) (2015)
- WPC 56 (2015)
- Doctors (2012-2014)
- The Paradise (2013)
- Casualty (2013)
- House of Anubis (2013)
Notes and Trivia[]
- Claudia is a member of the Extinction Rebellion, an environmental movement that uses civil disobedience to compel government action on climate issues. Claudia first met her publicist at a protest, while almost getting arrested.[6]
- Claudia practices Nichiren Buddhism and finds that it helps with her mental health. Claudia has had panic attacks and extreme anxiety since childhood, as well as depersonalisation disorder.[7]
- Claudia does not use social media.[8] Her TV answer for why she doesn't use social media is, "It's just not for me."[9]
- Claudia's friends show her cat content on social media.[9]
- Claudia originally auditioned for the role of Penelope. Claudia gags at the thought of having to do romantic scenes with Luke Newton, if she had gotten the role of Penelope.[10]
- If Claudia could play any other character on Bridgerton, she would want to be one of Queen Charlotte's pomeranians because they spend all day being stuffed with treats, sitting with Golda Rosheuvel.[10]
- Claudia is close friends with Nicola Coughlan, who portrays Penelope. In the show, Eloise often talks at Penelope, whereas in real life, Claudia is more introverted and Nicola talks more.[11]
- On the first day of filming season one of Bridgerton, during Claudia and Nicola's first scene together, Nicola accidentally stabbed Claudia with a parasol. Nicola was carrying Penelope's dog while wearing really high wedge heels. Ellen Mirojnick, the costume designer, told Nicola that she needed to wear these heels because Claudia was really tall. While filming, Nicola fell over three times because her heels were wobbly and she was walking on grass. At one point, Nicola fell while holding a parasol. Claudia attempted to catch her and the silver spokes of the umbrella went into Claudia's hand, bloodying her white glove. This scene was later cut from the series.[7][12]
- Claudia only wears second hand clothes from thrift or vintage shops, except for underwear, which are ethically sourced and mostly recycled materials. As of 2022, Claudia has not bought new clothes for 6 years.[7]
- In some episodes of season 3, Eloise wore a muff, or hand warmer, despite it being summer, to conceal a cast on Claudia's wrist. Claudia had broken her wrist on set while trying to do a celebratory high-kick in a tight dress.[13]
- Claudia's first acting gig was in a 2013 TV commercial for Ariel, a washing up liquid, which can be watched on YouTube.[14]
- Claudia also appeared in a 2014 Christmas/Boxing Day TV commercial for Boots UK, which can be watched on YouTube.
- Claudia thinks about food all the time. While on set, Claudia often asks Luke Thompson aggressively what he had for lunch.[14]
- Claudia ships Eloise and Benedict the most on the show, despite the two characters being siblings.[14]
- The celebrity that Claudia would be most starstruck to meet is Phil Rosenthal.[14]
- Claudia is a fan of Sister Sledge, an American vocal group. She likes the songs "Pretty Baby" and "We Are Family".[14]
- Out of the Bridgerton cast, Nicola Coughlan is most likely to ask Claudia to bail her out of jail.[15]
- Claudia lived on a boat for 3 years.[15]
- If Claudia were not an actor, she would work with animals.[15]
- Claudia considers her most similar trait to Eloise to be the fact that they're both smokers.[15]
- Claudia's favorite dish is bibimbap, a Korean rice dish. She likes the rice and spicy gochujang sauce. Claudia claims she could eat bibimbap forever.[15][16]
- Claudia's party trick involves her eye. Her left eye can move 360 degrees, but her right eye can only look up and down. This is known as Duane Syndrome.[15]
- Claudia has a female staffordshire dog named Ernie. People often mistake her dog for a boy, due to her masculine name.[16]
- Claudia used to be a dog walker.[16]
- Claudia's first crush was Jessica Rabbit.[16]
- Claudia dislikes swans because their beaks are like two debit cards clacking together. She thinks they're punks and doesn't trust them.[16]
- As of 2024, Claudia has been vegan for 9 years. She has accidentally eaten non-vegan food before and can instantly tell because it tastes delicious. She once ordered pasta with no cheese, but they served it with cheese anyway, explaining to Claudia that the cheese makes it delicious.[16]
- Claudia bought a 57ft houseboat in Birmingham.[1]
- Claudia would most like to be a guest on Somebody Feed Phil with Phil Rosenthal.[5]
- Claudia's favorite outfit from Bridgerton is the first dress she wore with a big bow and ruffles, while screaming "Daphne!" in the episode Diamond of the First Water. She vividly remembers the fitting for it.[5]
- Claudia once watched a woman google Claudia on her phone and send photos of Claudia into a WhatsApp group. The woman turned around to confirm that she was indeed Claudia Jessie, and then proceeded to continue texting.[5]
- Claudia would like to see the Ketchup song in future seasons of Bridgerton.[5]
- Claudia has stolen a lot of toilet paper from the trailers while filming Bridgerton.[5]
- If the Bridgerton tradition of calling on people at their homes the day after dancing with them was brought to modern society, Claudia would like callers to bring her a dog.[17]
- Claudia claims to be good at keeping secrets because she forgets them.[18]
- If the Bridgerton family lived in modern times, Claudia would love Eloise to be into politics, but would not want the family dances to be on TikTok. She doesn't want the Bridgerton family to turn into a Broadway family.[18]
- If Claudia could have any Bridgerton cast or crew member on her dance card, she would like to do the macarena with Jed and Neil and have a disco with Jonathan Bailey.[18]
- If Claudia could request any song to be on future seasons of Bridgerton, she would request Smack My Bitch Up by The Prodigy. She would like a medley of The Prodigy songs.[18]
- Claudia thinks Eloise has started to slide more into society because Eloise feels alone and wants to see what the fuss is all about.[19]
- Claudia loves her job and will be devastated the day she stops playing Eloise.[19]
- When asked whether they would be more of a wallflower or diamond of the season, both Claudia and Hannah Dodd agree that they would just stay at home and not turn up to balls. Instead of FOMO (fear of missing out), they have FOBI (fear of being involved).[19]
- Both Claudia and Hannah have never showed up to a party uninvited before. Claudia would be too nervous.[20]
- Whenever Eloise wears a dress that exposes her back, a make-up artist needs to cover up Claudia's large tattoo of flowers on her back using a tattoo cover and prosthetic.[21]
- Claudia has gone skinny dipping before.[20]
- Claudia once walked out of a Marks & Spencers with a new pair of pyjamas without realizing she hadn't bought them. She went back to pay for them.[20]
- Claudia cheated on a pub quiz once.[20]
- Claudia has never been fired before.[20]
- Claudia has googled herself, cheated in a game, left someone on read and forgotten birthdays before.[20]
- Claudia doesn't often binge watch shows, but she binge watches Somebody Feed Phil. After watching each season, she is starving.[20]
- Claudia has faked being sick to get out of school, but not work.[20]
- Claudia has never used someone else's Netflix account, but many people use hers.[20]
- Claudia has never used a pickup line before.[20]
- Claudia's friend set her up on a blind date with someone who he thought Claudia would get along with because he has a "big sense of humor." They ate fish and chips at the blind date and it didn't work out.[20]
- Claudia, Hannah and Nicola went to Amsterdam in 2024, for the season three press tour. They did interviews and a photoshoot with ELLE Nederland. It was Claudia and Nicola's first time in Amsterdam. The first night they arrived, they went on a canal boat trip.[22]
- Claudia likes Amsterdam because it's flat and the easiest place to cycle. She thinks it's beautiful and loves the canals.[9]
- Both Claudia and Hannah think cycling in London is terrifying. Back when Claudia was broke, she went cycling in East London because she couldn't afford the bus or the Tube. A friend gave Claudia a bike and while Claudia was cycling, a man in a car yelled, "You're not fit for the roads," at Claudia, which Claudia agrees was accurate. She didn't have a bell on her bike, so when she went down a canal, she just shouted the word "bell" repeatedly, though she admits that "bell" could be interpreted as an insult in British slang.[9]
- Claudia thinks the idea that you have to be relentlessly positive all the time is unrealistic because we're all human.[9]
- Claudia likes Regency dresses and the Bridgerton cast.[9]
- Claudia thinks it's nice to share food with people, though she enjoys sitting in bed alone, eating Korean food in her underwear.[9]
- Claudia is unsure whether she likes red carpets, because she feels quite shy and silly and doesn't like too many photos of her.[9]
- Claudia thinks Karaoke can be good fun.[9]
- Claudia and Hannah both enjoyed eating Hagelslag, a Dutch breakfast dish that consists of bread with butter and chocolate sprinkles. Claudia likes eating food on bread.[9]
- Claudia and Hannah both don't like clubbing, but really like dancing.[9]
- Claudia loves watching sport, but is not much of a player herself. Claudia and Hannah took their friends curling, and it turns out Claudia is good at it.[9]
- Claudia loves waking up early and is a morning person, but becomes very tired after 8pm.[9]
- Claudia dislikes afternoon tea (high tea) as it's overrated, takes several hours and costs a lot. Claudia would prefer eating pasta in her underwear in her room.[9]
- Claudia doesn't mind seeing herself on screen if it's a video, but doesn't like still images of herself. Claudia's mother is very proud of her and likes watching Claudia on screen with her.[9]
- Claudia and Nicola made each other Peneloise necklaces.[23]
- Claudia's favorite friends-to-lovers story is Jess and Nick in New Girl.[24]
- Claudia and Nicola's favorite on-screen kiss is Jess and Nick in New Girl. They sent a video of the kiss to Luke, and the kiss inspired Nicola and Luke's on-screen kisses.[24]
- Claudia and the other cast mates are proud to see Nicola and Luke lead season three, but do find the intimate scenes weird to watch.[24]
- Claudia thinks there is a misconception that Eloise is anti-love, because of Eloise's defiance in her idea of what she thinks she should have or want. Claudia loves that season two showed that Eloise can have a connection with someone, like Theo.[24]
- Claudia thinks about her partner all the time. She thinks about things she said many years ago, just before she goes to sleep.[25]
- Claudia thinks that when a woman drops their handkerchief, it's nice to pick it up and hand it to her.[25]
