NOTE: We recommend not reading this article if you have not watched the Bridgerton series in its entirety.
When it comes to the gossip rags, only the most famous of couples are gifted their own nickname. Bridgerton’s Penelope Featherington and Eloise Bridgerton — played by Nicola Coughlan and Claudia Jessie, respectively — have reached that coveted status and have been so dubbed, #Peneloise. We think Lady Whistledown (voiced by the indelible Julie Andrews) would be proud.
Though Bridgerton — Shondaland’s Regency-era drama now streaming on Netflix and based on the romance novels by Julia Quinn — follows the story of an epic love affair between Daphne (Phoebe Dyvenor) and Simon (Regé-Jean Page) during Regency London’s high-stakes marriage mart, the show highlights other scintillating, scandalous and sweet storylines outside of our lead dashing duo. One such is the absolutely lovely friendship between besties Eloise and Penelope.
The Bridgerton and Featherington families grew up together with their townhouses only a stone’s throw away from one another in Grosvenor Square, Central London. Both Eloise and Penelope know what it’s like to be a younger sister and both would prefer to get lost in a good book than attend another ball. And as Penelope is thrust upon the courting culture that all eligible young ladies must endure as soon as they’re 16, (and has her eye on a certain someone), she’d prefer to stick by her best friend and chat about the great painters or poets, leaving the matchmaking to her elder sisters.
“When we met Julia Quinn,” says Coughlan, “she told us that these books are romance books, but one of the biggest love stories in it is Penelope and Eloise because it’s their friendship that sort of underpins everything.”
Adds Jessie: “Obviously, they’ve got their own battles internally, and there are things that they haven’t quite had the courage to say to one another yet, but I feel like they really accept each other’s journeys. It’s just such a pivotal age for them [and for] this friendship, which, I think, is what Nicola and I found the most enjoyable about [playing them].”
As we’ve said, we suggest watching the full series before reading this full-of-spoilers interview in which Shondaland has a full-on therapy session with the two actors. Coughlan and Jessie talk about their characters, the importance of female friendships on screen and their toughest day of filming (it involved platform shoes on cobblestone streets).
VALENTINA VALENTINI: Do you see any correlations between the dating rituals then and now?
[Long pause]
CLAUDIA JESSIE: [Laughs] This makes us look like we know nothing about anything!
NICOLA COUGHLAN: I mean, it’s probably quite true that we don’t.
CJ: I’m going to have to make some calls and get back to you.
NC: Yeah I’ll need to go talk to one of my cooler friends [laughs]. With friends that I’ve had since I was really little, you experience different stages of friendships. When someone gets a boyfriend or someone is at a different stage, that’s tough, and you see that with Penelope and Eloise. Penelope is sort of in this world of courtship and Eloise isn’t, and that’s where the first of the cracks start to appear.
CJ: But you can never imagine them being jealous or competitive in any way with each other.
NC: No, definitely not. But Eloise doesn’t get it, and, at the same time, Penelope is not explaining it to her. So, I don’t know why Eloise would get it. I’m super excited if we get a second season to see what it’s like when Eloise comes out in society and has to deal with the same things [Penelope is dealing with] like going to the balls and receiving suitors.
CJ: To that point of Eloise not getting it and Penelope not telling her, I think there is this human tendency to wish that all the people around us be telepathic. And that’s fine because we’re all just a bit nervous of being so misunderstood. It’d be great to have the people around us say, “I already know what you’re thinking; don’t worry about it; I totally get you,” so that we don’t have to [be vulnerable].
VV: At least for this season, so far, their friendship is highlighted more than any dating relationship. Why do female friendships matter so much in storytelling?
NC: They’ve been really underrepresented in storytelling for a very long time. I remember auditions from 10 years ago and the scripts I got at that point had such one-dimensional women. The scripts didn’t pass the Bechdel Test. Bridgerton feels like conversations I’ve had with my real friends, it feels like the kind of struggles that we have today, and it’s not presenting a perfect picture of people, perfectly symbiotic, doing the exact right things. There is so much of women on screen that we have yet to see and explore and do.
JC: There’s something genderless about Peneloise; there’s something quite naked about them. They both are so young, and they talk so frankly with one another about exploring their lives and the idea of their futures with each other; they’re these little nuggets in a time of what is to come in the future. It feels like the most stripped back humans, these beautiful enigmas with each other.
NC: There’s an Irish way of describing them: they really buzz off each other. They’re like a yin and yang.
VV: As the cleverest girls in all The Ton, how do you imagine those two growing up together?
JC: I reckon Eloise would have been climbing a lot of things. I can imagine her saying, “You see that tree? I’m going to get up that tree.” And because Penelope is so nurturing, even though she comes from an environment that isn’t the most nurturing, isn’t very warm, she still is. And I think she’d just go, “Okay, better get under Eloise in case she falls.”
NC: Yes! I can totally see Penelope under the tree waiting to catch her if she fell out. Penelope had never experienced someone like Eloise with that level of freedom and honesty of self-expression, I think that it’s magnetic for her. Being around all Bridgertons is. In the books, she sees Colin fall off a horse and she just immediately falls in love. That whole family is intoxicating for her, but she is more of an observer, the introvert; and Eloise is the extrovert.
VV: She wouldn’t necessarily encourage Eloise to climb the tree, but she’d be right there in case anything happened.
NC: One hundred percent she’s behind her friend, whatever she wants to do.
VV: If you two were interviewing each other for this show, what would you want to ask the other one about?
CJ: Why do you think Penelope would keep such a huge secret from Eloise — that she is, in fact, Lady Whistledown?
NC: Me as Nicola, I would never have been able to keep a secret like that. I would feel so bad and stressed out. But Penelope, she grew up very differently to how I grew up and had a totally different relationship with her family. She’s the outsider in that group — her sisters are this double act, her mom has her own thing going on, her dad doesn’t know she’s alive. If she had any thoughts in her home, she’d just have been shut down or shut up. She’s quite insecure and shy and does idolize Eloise on some level, but it comes from a place of real love. She starts doing Whistledown without knowing what impact it will have, and then it snowballs. She’s enjoying it at the start because she has no power, and she’s really good at compartmentalizing. But at some point, the box is going to explode everywhere. I think she’s somehow forgiven herself for it all, but still feels deep guilt. I hope there will be a point that she will just admit it, and doesn’t get found out, because I think that would be just awful.
JC: [Makes retching sound] Oh that would be horrible for Eloise as well! And also, the fact that she’s in love with her brother, too. It’s a double whammy, isn't it?
NC: Yeeeeah. There are two pretty big secrets Pen has, character traits that her best friend doesn’t even know about. But hold on, it’s my turn — I really want to ask you this: Is there a part of Eloise that is afraid she is going to fall madly in love?
CJ: Oh, 100 percent. As I played Eloise, I think I kept that close to me.
NC: I could feel that I swear.
VV: Now, the Bridgerton fans are many and they are loyal. Have you gotten any interesting DMs from anyone?
NC: So, I’m relatively active on social media and I get messages every day asking for me to ask Claudia to set up a Twitter account or Luke Thompson to get an Instagram. And I know that neither Claudia nor Luke want that, but I guess I’m the middleman to them. Some fans ask me if Luke is okay and I’ll tell them, “I’m pretty sure he’s fine, just living his life, don’t worry, he’s okay.”
VV: What was the first scene or the most memorable scene you two filmed together?
CJ: Well, it happens to be the answer to both of those questions, actually! It was our first day of filming, and it was roasting outside. It was a bit terrifying too, it was a massive job, first-day jitters and all. So, we’re standing outside, Nicola was holding a dog and had these huge wedges on. I think they thought that I was incredibly tall and Nicola was incredibly short, but actually, on paper, we’re probably only about five inches difference and we’re fine on camera together, we’re both in the frame. But it was the first day and Nicola goes over not once, not twice, but thrice! Three times that day she fell over!
NC: You know, you always say you want to make a good impression on the first day of your job! [Laughs] I thought they were going to think that I was drunk or have no concept of gravity or just totally weird, that I’m a liability. The worst thing is that the third time, I was carrying a parasol and as I was diligently bringing back a note from the director to Claudia about turning this way or that, I tripped, fell, stabbed Claudia with the parasol, but didn’t realize that I did. And as I was on the ground, looking the most dramatic, everyone helped me get up and I’m apologizing. And then Claudia, like a wounded hero in a war film, sort of just unfolded her hand slowly, blood trickling down and she says quietly, “I think I might need some help?”
VV: That is hysterical and mortifying all at the same time. I’m assuming they stopped making you wear wedges after that day…
NC: They did not last very long after that, no.
VV: What was it like to build these two characters’ relationships?
CJ: As far as rehearsals, there wasn’t much to building this relationship like some of the other characters — we didn’t have dancing scenes together, or horse riding or boxing, so really, the people who are in charge of casting us in these roles are very good at what they do.
NC: We just didn’t have to try very hard. I know you often hear people say that you go, “Oh sure, whatever,” but it genuinely is true. It was always there, I felt like I’d known you forever. We met once, prior to being cast, but super briefly, I think we said hello to each other at a party, but I just thought you were absolutely wonderful.
CJ: I think we’re really similar, too. We really care about this job and our careers in general. We take it really seriously when we’re together. We have a really lovely time, but it means a lot to us.
NC: Yes, that’s it exactly, that’s us. It’s like this quote from Olivia Colman I read in an interview the other day. She said, “Take your job seriously, but don’t take yourself seriously.”
Valentina Valentini is a London-based entertainment, travel and food writer for Vanity Fair, Vulture, Variety, Thrillist, Heated, and The Washington Post. Her personal essays can be read in the Los Angeles Times, Longreads, and her tangents and general complaints can be seen on Twitter at @ByValentinaV.
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